the weevils seemed to have a marked fondness for sweets, such as 

 molasses, and would eat the latter when smeared on cotton stalks or 

 young shoots either with or without an admixture of arsenic. After 

 eating the poisoned sv/eets the beetles *died within eight to twentj^-four 

 hours. After some weeks of experimentation in the field, chiefly at 

 Cuero, Tex., Professor Townsend recommends and indorses very heartily 

 two formulas, one for the treatment of young planted cotton and the 

 other for the destruction of the overwintered beetles on the volunteer. 



FORMULA FOR VOLUNTEER COTTON. 



The undiluted molasses is mixed with one-fourth its volume of 

 arsenic and applied to the volunteer stalks in spring when the leaves 

 are beginning to appear. The molasses must be kept well stirred to 

 prevent the arsenic from settling, and may be smeared on the stalks 

 of the volunteer cotton with a stick or brush. All untreated plants 

 must be killed and only a few poisoned plants should be left to the 

 acre. This applies to districts where the foliage of the cotton is 

 killed in winter. In warmer districts, where the foliage is not always 

 killed in winter, all but a few of the plants should be killed and up- 

 rooted, and the remainder smeared with the poisoned molasses, all 

 squares and bolls having been removed to insure the quickest effect. 

 It is believed that the weevils will be attracted to these poisoned plants 

 by the molasses and will be killed, and this will obviate the necessity 

 of treating the young planted cott.on. 



FORMULA FOR PLANTED COTTON. 



White arsenic (arsenious acid) 1^ to 2 ounces boiled in a gallon of 

 water until thoroughly dissolved ; two or three gallons of the cheapest 

 grade of molasses, and one barrel (40 gallons) of water. Stir the 

 molasses into the water, then add the dissolved arsenic and mix the 

 whole thoroughly. Apply to the plant with a force pump and spray 

 nozzle as in spraying for the cotton-leaf worm. 



This mixture is designed for use particularly on young cotton 

 plants, and' may also be used for the' poisoning of volunteer cotton 

 with a knapsack sprayer or larger apparatus, as described in the 

 quotation from Circular 18. The only advantage of the sweetened 

 or sirupy wash over Paris green, London purple, or arsenite of cop- 

 per, as ordinarily used, is in its being supposed to attract the weevil ; 

 so that, even although the entire plant might not be wetted with the 

 mixture, the weevil would be attracted by the sweetened bait to the 

 parts struck by the liquid. 



