pi 
DESTRUCTION OF WEEVILS IN HIBERNATING PLACES. 
After the weevil-infested plants have been removed from the field 
in the fall the farmer can add strength to the blow he has given the 
insect. As has been stated previously, many of the hibernating 
weevils are not to be found within the cotton fields nor in their im- 
mediate vicinity. Nevertheless, most of those remaining in the field 
can be destroyed, and this is undoubtedly well worth the effort that it 
will cost. In many cases surprising numbers of weevils have been 
found hibernating in the trash and rubbish on the ground in cotton 
fields. In January, 1907, in one instance, 5,870 weevils per acre were 
found, of which 70 per cent were alive. This was undoubtedly ex- 
ceptional, but most of the many examinations made showed more than 
1,000 live weevils per acre in old cotton fields. The insects so found 
are largely at the mercy of the farmer. He can destroy many by 
carefully raking up the trash and burning it. Plowing and subse- 
quent harrowing of the land will add to the destruction. This work 
would well be worth while on general agricultural principles if no 
weevils whatever were destroyed. With the weevil present, that 
farmer invites loss who does not clean the fields to the best of his 
ability. 
Of the multitudes of weevils that fly out of the cotton fields for 
hibernation not all are beyond the reach of the farmer. Many are 
to be found along turn-rows, fences, hedges, and old buildings. The 
cleaning and burning of hedges, fence corners, and in general the 
removal of trash from the vicinity of fields will destroy many weevils 
that would live to assist in the destruction of the crop. 
Old sorghum fields, on account of their roughness and the fact that 
the heavy stubble catches trash moved about by the wind, have been 
found to furnish very favorable winter quarters for the weevil. The 
farmer should pay special attention to such fields. They have fre- 
quently been found to be the source of the first weevils to damage the 
cotton in the spring. A little work in the fall or winter will result 
in the destruction of practically all of the weevils found there. Old 
cornfields, while not as important as sorghum fields, also furnish 
favorable hibernating quarters and should be carefully cleared by 
the farmer who desires to minimize the weevil damage. on his place. 
A very practical illustration of the danger of trash in aiding in the 
hibernation of the weevil has occurred repeatedly on the experimental 
farm of the Bureau of Entomology near Dallas, Tex. Across a 
narrow lane on one side of the experimental cotton field of 40 acres 
is a small peach orchard in which the weeds have been allowed to 
grow unchecked from year to year. Every season the first weevil 
infestation in the cotton is found in the immediate vicinity of the 
orchard. In fact, the infestation always starts at that point and 
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