6 FARMERS BULLETIN 848, 



The average yield per acre in Texas from 1893 to 1901 (when the 

 weevil had not done damage sufficient to affect the general produc- 

 tion) was 0.40 bale. Tlie average since that time, 1902 to 1915, was 

 0.35 bale. By comparing these periods we have a reasonably accurate 

 basis for estimating the damage the insect has done. The chfference 

 is 0.05 bale, or 25 pounds of hnt per acre each year. At prices cur- 

 rent tlirough the period tliis means an annual loss, without consid- 

 ering the value of the seed, of at least $2.70 per acre wliich has been 

 sustained by the cotton planters of Texas. Assuming that the area 

 planted in cotton in Texas has averaged 10,000,000 acres, the annual 

 loss for the State for the period from 1902 to 1915 has been $27,000,000. 



Another indication of the manner in which the weevil has affected 

 cotton production is revealed by a comparison of statistics from 

 Louisiana and Texas. From 1899 to 1904 the acreage in Texas and 

 Louisiana increased at about the same proportion, but the crop in 

 Texas decreased at the same time that the crop of Louisiana was 

 increasing. There is an exception to this statement in the years 1900 

 and 1904, in which the production in Texas did not decrease, but 

 these years were exceptionally unfavorable for the weevil and at the 

 same time very favorable for the general growth of the cotton. In 

 1907 the yield per acre in Texas (0.24 bale) was the smallest in his- 

 tory. Tliis followed a winter so mild that more than the usual num- 

 ber of weevils overwintered. 



Before the general invasion of the Texas cotton fields by the boll 

 weevil, the average yield of lint per acre in that State was 187 pounds. 

 A steady decrease in production per acre took place until 1908, at 

 wliich time the production had become reduced to 175 pomids of 

 lint per acre. In 1909 a tendency to increased production per acre 

 began to develop. Up to 1915, however, this had not reached the 

 average before the invasion of the weevil. 



In Louisiana the production per acre before the invasion of the 

 boll weevil was 262 pounds. Beginning \nth 1903 a sharp reduction 

 began and continued until 1909, at wliich time the production per 

 acre was 181 pounds. The yield per acre in tliis State has continued 

 to decrease since 1909, but the falling off is not nearly as marked as 

 for the period from 1903 to 1908. 



In connection watli the reduction in yield in Texas and Louisiana, 

 it is very interesting to note a constant tendency toward increased 

 production per acre in the eastern States. For instance. North Car- 

 olina averaged 225 pounds of lint per acre from 1895 to 1907. At 

 that time a sharp increase in production began, reaching 285 pounds 

 per acre in 1913. It is thus evident that the effect of the boU weevil 

 on the production of cotton in the United States has been masked 

 by reason of the fact that the yield per acre in the eastern cotton 



