THE BOLL WEEVIL PROBLEM. 23 
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 be well 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 so 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 
‘adiates into the field. If it were possible to eliminate the hibernat- 
ing quarters across the lane—and this means only the prevention of 
the growth of weeds—there would evidently be a considerable redue- 
tion in weevil damage, especially early in the season when it is most 
critical. 
LOCATING FIELDS TO AVOID WEEVIL DAMAGE. 
The illustration just given emphasizes a method of averting dam- 
age by the weevil that can be followed in many individual cases. All 
planters that have had experience with the weevil know that the por- 
tions of their properties near the timber or other hibernating quarters 
512 
