21 
most cases the humus is more important than the fertilizing elements 
themselves. The use of commercial fertilizers in one case and the 
practice of green manuring in the other will solve both of these 
difficulties. 
METHODS OF DESTROYING WEEVILS IN THE FALL. 
The reader is referred to Circular 95 of the Bureau of Entomology 
for particulars regarding methods of destroying the weevils in the 
fall. In this connection it will be stated that the proper method, in 
general, is to uproot the plants by means of plows, and to burn them 
as soon as possible. Other methods are applicable to different condi- 
tions. As soon as the plants are uprooted they should be placed in 
piles or windrows, which will utilize the leaves in the burning. The 
difficulty in one method of removing the plants—that of cutting 
them off near the surface of the ground with a stalk cutter or ax— 
is that during mild seasons many sprouts soon make their appearance 
to furnish food for weevils that would otherwise starve during the 
fall or winter. If the ordinary stalk cutter be followed immediately 
by plows, some of the desired results will be obtained. The great 
objection is that the innumerable weevils in the bolls and squares will 
be allowed to develop. Nothing but uprooting and burning will come 
near meeting the exigencies caused by the weevil. 
Grazing.—In some cases the grazing of the fields with cattle, sheep, 
or goats can be practiced. This is only a local measure, however, 
since the supply of live stock in regions where the bulk of the cotton 
crop is produced is insufficient for the purpose. 
Sprout cotton.—A most important result of the proper manipulation 
of the plants in the fall is that no stumpage or sprout cotton is 
allowed to grow. The occurrence of such cotton in southern Texas 
and occasionally in southern Louisiana is there the most important 
local difficulty in the control of the boll weevil. Sprout plants are 
sometimes encouraged on account of the production of a small but 
very early crop. This may have been defensible before the advent 
of the boll weevil, but at the present time the practice is undoubtedly 
the worst that could possibly be followed. The sprout plants serve 
only to keep.alive myriads of weevils that could easily be put out of 
existence by the farmer. 
Volunteer cotton.—In addition to stumpage cotton, volunteer cotton, 
in the strict sense, is of considerable importance in weevil-infested 
areas. The seed scattered about seed houses and gins frequently give 
rise to plants, both in the fall and in the spring, that furnish food 
and breeding places for weevils. It is needless to call attention to 
the fact that all such plants should be destroyed. They are merely 
aids to the enemy. 
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