14 CONTROL OF THE BOLL WEEVIL. 
The use of a crossbar attached to the cultivator to jar the infested 
squares from the plants has frequently been recommended. Under 
some conditions this practice should be followed, but under others it 
is worse than futile. It has been found that in the humid region, 
including Arkansas, Louisiana, and the eastern portion of Texas, the 
mortality in hanging squares is greater than in fallen squares. For 
this reason it is better for the squares to remain on the plants. There 
is another reason why they should be allowed to remain on the plants, 
which applies especially to the moist region in which the boll weevu is 
now doing great damage. This is that the hanging squares aremuch 
preferred by the boll-weevil parasites. The records have invariably 
shown a higher rate of parasitism in hanging squares than in fallen 
squares. In this way the hanging squares furnish a means for the 
breeding of parasites and their establishment in the field. 
It will be noted that the means of repression of the boll weevil may 
be divided into two classes, namely, direct and indirect. 
The direct means of control are the destruction of the weevils in 
the fall by destroying the plants and burning or burying the immature 
stages, hand picking of weevils and squares under some conditions, 
poisoning with powdered arsenate of lead, the burial of the infested 
forms at the time of maximum infestation, and the burning of the 
hibernating weevils in their winter quarters.’ 
The indirect means of control are early planting, the use of early 
varieties and of fertilizers that will accelerate growth, the improvement 
of the soil by the incorporation of humus, the selection of fields where 
the soil is suitable to rapid development, frequent shallow cultivation, 
the encouragement of the parasites of the weevil by placing the 
infested squares that may be picked by hand in cages instead of burn- 
ing them, and the use of machinery which facilitates the various opera- 
tions in preparing the land and cultivating the crop. These have the 
effect of increasing the acreage that a hand may cultivate. In view 
of the fact that the boll weevil forces a reduction in the acreage per 
hand, this is a consideration of some moment. 
1 Poisoning the adults with powdered arsenate of lead, judging by experiments now under way, will also 
serve asa direct check. Definite advice can not be given until the field experiments are completed. 
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