300 



miles south of Eaj^le Pass (see map), on the Mexican International 

 Kailway. It was known in this locality long- before it was heard of 

 elsewhere in Mexico. 



Don Jesus R. liios writes ine, from information he has received from 

 Monclova, that the weevil first appi'ared there in 185G. For six years, 

 from 1856 to 1862, it was so bad that cotton planting was abandoned 

 thereafter in that district. The insects were said to appear there in 

 the.tields as early as May, and by July to liave comi)letely infested the 

 crop. I received information from anotlier source stating that the 

 weevil was known in Monclova'as early as 1847, and in Matamoras as 

 early as 1851, but I am inclined to believe that my informant was mis 

 taken in the insect, and that these data refer perhaps to the boll worm. 



Maj. B. Ooopwood, who was engaged in cotton raising at Hermanas, 

 Coahuila, in 18(57, informed me that the weevil was known there in 

 that year, and that it destroyed much of the cro]^. He stated that it 

 appeared about the last of June or first of July. 



In Sabinas the weevil has been known to be injurious for three years. 



At San Juan Allende, Morelos, and Zaragoza, it was not known until 

 1894. At Zaragoza the weevil was first seen in the fields, according to 

 Mr. Rios, the last of July, but in Allende not until the last of August. 



When it first appeared in Matamoras is uncertain. Mr. H. Nielsen, 

 of that city, writes me that he has known of it in that locality for the 

 last few years, but in less numbers this year. 



From Matamoras it came across to Brownsville, and within the past 

 two years or more spread north into the whole cotton region of south- 

 ern Texas. 



The Agricultural Department received the first notice of the inju- 

 rious nature of this insect about ten years ago, when Dr. Edward 

 Palmer sent specimens from the state of Coahuila, with the information 

 that they were bred from cotton bolls. 



In the neighborhood of Matamoras a good deal of cotton has been 

 raised for the past ten years, but I am informed that not much was 

 raised before that. At Zaragoza and Allende cotton has been raised 

 for many years. In the San Diego region it has been cultivated in 

 any quantity for only four or five years. 



PRESENT SPREAD IN TEXAS. 



At present this weevil is known in the Brownsville region, and 1 

 found it December 10 in all the cotton fields along the stage road up 

 to 36 miles north of Brownsville. No fields were to be seen on the road 

 beyond that. It is reported also to be as far up the Rio Grande on the 

 Texas side as Hidalgo, but this needs verification. 



It occurs from Corpus Christi to Benavides, along the Mexican 

 National Railway, particularly around San Diego and Alice. It is 

 known for 20 miles north of San Diego; at Amargoza, about 12 miles 

 northeast of San Diego, and at La Rosita, 12 to 18 miles west of the 



