23° 
The careful investigation of this weevil during the past two or three 
years by the Division of Entomology has fully demonstrated the 
supreme importance of the cultural method of control, to which fact 
we gave special prominence in our first circular on this insect. There 
can be no question now that in the proper system of farming cot- 
ton a practically complete remedy for the weevil exists. In the first 
place, it has been established beyond question that the conditions of 
cultivation which make volunteer growth possible also makes the con- 
tinuance of the weevil inevitable. Of first importance is the early 
removal of the old cotton in the fall, preferably in November or earlier. 
This can be done by throwing out the old plants with a plow, root and 
all, and afterwards raking them together and burning them. This 
treatment should be followed, as promptly as may be, by deep plowing, 
say to a depth of 6 or 8 inches. This leaves the field comparatively 
clean of old cotton stalks, facilitates thorough cultivation the following 
year, and, at the same time, collects and destroys all of the weevil larvie 
and pup in the cotton at the time, and also most of the adults. The 
escaping beetles will be buried by deep plowing, and will not again 
reach the surface. Tew, if any, of them will succeed in hibernating in 
the absence of cotton stalks and other ordinary rubbish in which they 
winter. Fields treated in this way have given a practical demonstra- 
tion of the usefulness of the method. 
The greatest danger from the weevil is due to the presence of volun- 
teer cotton, which means early food for the weevils in the spring and 
abundant means for their overwintering, and the effort made to retain 
volunteer and get early cotton, or the “first bale,” is a very serious 
menace to cotton culture within the weevil district. 
This cultural method, if generally practiced, will undoubtedly prove a 
perfect remedy for upland cotton, and will vastly reduce weevil damage 
in the lowlands, where the weevil is more apt to winter, perhaps in 
adjoining woods or roadside vegetation. The early removal of cotton 
by the means suggested is especially advised whenever the presence of 
the weevil shows that the picking of a top crop is problematical. In 
such instances it would be well to uproot and destroy cotton stalks in 
September or October, as would have been thoroughly feasible for much 
of the upland cotton in 1896. If this cultural method can be enforced, 
either by State legislation or by the cooperation and insistence on the 
part of landowners that their renters shall carry out the system out- 
lined, the weevil difficulty can undoubtedly in very large measure be 
overcome. 
In connection with the system of fall treatment of the cotton, con- 
stant and thorough cultivation of the growing crop is of considerable 
value, and is also what should be done to insure a good yield. With a 
crossbar to brush the plants many of the blossoms and squares con- 
taining weevils will be jarred to the ground and buried, together with 
those already on the ground, in moist soil, and a large percentage of 
the material will rot before the contained insects have developed. 
