6 
tions given in this circular. The principal ones are the almost uni- 
versal hope for a top crop and in the labor conditions consequent 
from the more or less universal tenant system of producing the staple. 
These difficulties are increased by the general scarcity of labor in the 
South, which is becoming more and more a serious problem in raising 
cotton, 
Planters in infested localities must understand that with the pres- 
ence of the weevil there is no longer any hope of a top crop. It is 
true that after considerable cotton has matured, and after the plants 
have applied their energy to the formation of seeds and lint, fall 
rains often stimulate the production of a great number of squares. 
Many planters are misled by this into the hope of gathering a large 
{op crop. The joints of the plant are short and the squares are 
formed rapidly and close together. Though weevils may have been 
exceedingly numerous in the fields, the presence of this abundance of 
food causes them to scatter, and they are consequently temporarily 
somewhat less:in evidence. In many cases blooms appear and the 
hope for a top crop increases. Nevertheless, this production of 
squares also contributes to the production of a large number of 
weevils late in the season and just at the time for their successful 
hibernation. Asa result of this fact great injury is done to the crop 
of the following season, with no gain whatever, or a very small one, 
in the yield of the euaieuh season. From these considerations 1 
seems plain that within the weevil territory all hope of a top crop 
inust be given up and the destruction of the plants be practiced as 
early in the fall as possible. 
Another important difficulty hes in the tenant system. It is 
usually the practice to terminate the work of the tenant with the 
picking of the cotton, leaving the clearing of the field for the next 
cropper. At present, after the cotton is picked the tenants fre- 
quently move to other plantations or to other parts of the same plan- 
tation. It should not be a difficult matter for planters to induce 
their tenants to practice the fall destruction of the plants as the last 
step in the production of a crop. In any case the plants have to be 
removed before the ground can be prepared for planting the follow- 
ing season; and the’ present recommendation merely involves apply- 
ing, at a time some months earlier, the same amount of labor as is 
necessary in the spring. The best. solution of the difficulty arising 
from the tenant system would be in the inclusion, in the agreement 
between the landlord and the tenant, of a provision which would 
bind the latter to clean the land thoroughly before leaving it. 
In a comparatively small area in southwestern Texas it might be 
considered that there would be a further objection in the practice 
which some farmers have of encouraging the growth of volunteer or 
seppa cotton in the hope of procuring an early, and inexpensive crop. 
As has been repeatedly pointed out by the Department of Agriculture, 
this is beyond question the worst possible practice In w eevil-infested 
regions. The disastrous experience of several counties in the southern 
portion of the State during several seasons has abundantly demon- 
strated the force of the warnings that have been issued from time to 
time. The staple produced by “volunteer plants is short, kinky, and 
undesirable. Before the advent of the weevil the only reason for en- 
couraging such growth was to procure the first bale. Now, on account 
[Cir. 95] 
