ISONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES 
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in the cotton at the time, and also most of the adults. The escaping 
beetles will be buried by deep plowing, and will not again reach the 
surface. Few, if any, of them will succeed in hibernating in the absence 
of the ordinary rubbish in the fields in which they winter. Fields treated 
in this way have given a practical demonstration of the usefulness of 
the method. 
The greatest danger from the weevil is due to the presence of volun- 
teer cotton, which means early food for the weevils in the spring and 
abundant means for their overwintering, and the effort made to retain 
volunteer and get early cotton, or the “first bale,’’ is a very serious 
menace to cotton culture within the weevil district. 
This cultural method, if generally practiced, will undoubtedly prove a 
perfect remedy for upland cotton, and will vastly reduce weevil damage 
in the lowlands, where the weevil is more apt to winter, perhaps in 
adjoining woods or roadside vegetation. The early removal of cotton 
by the means suggested is especi ally advised whenever the presence of 
the weevil shows that the picking of a top crop is problematical. In 
such instances it would be well to uproot and destroy cotton stalks in 
September or October, as would have been thoroughly feasible for much 
of the upland cotton in 1896. If this cultural method can be enforced, 
either by State legislation or by the cooperation and insistence on the 
part of landowners that their renters shall carry out the system out- 
lined, the weevil difficulty can undoubtedly in very large measure be 
overcome. 
In connection with the system of fall treatment of the cotton, con- 
stant and thorough cultivation of the growing crop as late as possible 
is of considerable value, and is also what should be done to insure a 
good yield. With a crossbar to brush the plants many of the blos- 
soms and squares containing weevils will be jarred to the ground and 
buried, together with those already on the ground, in moist soil, and 
a large percentage of the material will rot before the contained insects 
have developed. 
It will be greatly to the interest of all growers of cotton in the prolific 
district lying to the northeast of the region at present infested to urge 
the passage of an act during the session of 1896-97 which will bring 
about the enforcement of remedial work in 1897. This act should pro- 
vide for the appointment of commissioners in each county upon the 
application of a certain number of the citizens of that county. These 
commissioners should be empowered to enforce remedial work, to levy 
penalties, or to have the work done by their own agents, the cost to be 
assessed upon the property. It will be well to let this law have a wide 
bearing and not to confine its apphcation to this particular insect, but 
cover all injurious insects, in case of future emergencies of a similar 
nature. Such a law should be passed in every State in the Union. 
Though it might remain inoperative for years, its application would be 
available in case of any sudden emergency, such as the introduction 
from a foreign country of a new injurious insect, or the sudden maulti- 
plication and spread of any one of our native species. 
L. O. HOWARD, 
Approved : Entomologist. 
Cuas. W. DABNEY, Jr., 
Assistant Secretary. 
WasHINGTON, D. C., February 4, 1897. 
