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do not feed upon exposed surfaces, but eat a small hole to the inside 
and feed on the inner portions. In the spring, before squares are 
formed, they feed, when driven by necessity, upon almost any portion 
of the plant, but almost invariably the outer bark is first rasped and 
peeled off before feeding underneath. On account of this peculiar 
habit, it is at once evident that poisons and powders, either sprayed 
or dusted upon the plants, can be of little or no service, because the 
surface on which they are found is taken off and thrown aside. 
Another grave error relates to the manner of spraying. Practically 
all designs for spraying apparatus which are at all adapted for use on 
field crops are modeled upon the principle of horizontal supports for 
the spraying nozzles. Many of these machines have been tested and 
found useless, and for the following reasons: The cotton plant has a 
tendency while young to make a large plant and profuse leaf growth. 
The leaves overlap in such a way as to offer a more or less unbroken 
surface, protecting everything underneath. Hence spraying from 
horizontal supports downward over the plants would reach and cover 
only the upper surface of the leaves. The solution applied also has 
a tendency to run off like water from a duck’s back. When the weevil 
travels in search of squares it crawls on the stems and limbs, rarely if 
ever getting upon the top of a leaf. These stems and squares being 
largely protected by the foliage overhead, the cotton may be thor- 
oughly drenched in the ordinary way and yet the weevil may safely 
go about its business without ever coming in contact with the sprayed 
surface. The folly of this kind of spraying must therefore be 
apparent. 
Spraying against boll weevils has been brought somewhat into dis- 
repute by recommending remedies which, in themselves, may be effi- 
cient, but failing at the same time to devise and advise the proper 
apparatus with which to apply them. 
SUCCESSFUL SPRAYING. 
The errors just pointed out indicate the conditions under which 
spraying will be successful. As the weevil eats its food in a manner 
that it can not be made to eat poison along with it, the problem then 
is: Can it be induced to eat poison when presented in the form of a 
food itself? The fondness of most insects for sweets is well known, 
and the weevil is no exception. It has been ascertained that the pest 
is fond of cane or sorghum molasses when applied to the cotton. 
Hence, if any suitable poison in soluble form be included with this 
molasses the weevil will be poisoned and fall a victim to its appetite 
for sweets. Experiment has definitely proven in practice that the 
weevil accepts the poisoned molasses and is destroyed. 
To reach the stems and the squares over which the weevil travels, 
the spraying must be done at right angles to the vertical axis of the 
