
15 
tion the economy and practical utility of the gathering and burning 
process. 
Furthermore, the adoption of the early trap-row strategy materi- 
ally lessens the task. As heretofore stated, the adults in spring seek 
the early trap cotton and begin their ravages and their egg laying 
upon it. This confines the first gatherings of fallen squares to the 
few trap rows. The immense saving in labor is apparent and should 
appeal to every thoughtful planter. 
PICKING OFF THE SQUARES. 
«. very effective method which can be resorted to with certainty of 
good results is that of actually picking off all the early squares which 
are produced before the cotton begins blooming. As has been noted, 
early in spring the weevils feed upon and among the terminal leaf buds 
before squares are. developed. As soon, however, as these are pro- 
duced the weevils take refuge in them and begin their ravages. As 
the squares are produced rather sparingly at first and the adults are 
found nowhere else, it is plain that practically the entire lot of weevils 
which withstood the winter may be collected and destroyed by this 
method, the important point being to delay this picking long enough 
to make sure that all living hibernating weevils have emerged. It is 
also important that this picking should be done early in the morning 
before the adults begin traveling in search of fresh squares for the day. 
This method can be made especially effective upon the trap rows if 
they have been properly developed and managed. On these especially 
should it be resorted to in connection with gathering up the fallen 
squares, and to continue the war against the adults which escaped the 
pan-shaking method practiced before squares are formed. 
This process involves a slight loss of squares intended for early fruit- 
ing, but the advantage gained in the greater certainty of eradicating 
the pest early, and the consequent immunity of the squares set sub- 
sequently, more than offset the slight possible loss involved. 
PLOWING UNDER THE FALLEN SQUARES. 
To avoid gathering up the fallen infested squares some planters 
practice plowing them under in the hope of destroying them. To 
ascertain the real merit of this process, specially designed cages were 
made, andadult weevils buried at various depths from 2 to 6 and 8 inches. 
The results uniformly showed that most of the weevils worked their 
way out from the shallow depths. This was especially true of the 2 
and 3 inch depths, from which a healthy uninjured weevil rarely failed 
to escape. From a study of the actual cultivation and plowing opera- 
tions in the open field it developed that by the ordinary sweep cultiva- 
tion there could be no hope of plowing anything under to a greater 
depth than 2 to 3inches. On black land soils especially will the depth 
