305 



region known to be infested by the weevil. If there are in the infested 

 regions any wild malvaceous plants (which is doubtful) in which the 

 weevil could breed, these should be destroyed. In this way the insect 

 would be starved out. It might exist for one year under these con- 

 ditions, but two (preferably three) years of such treatment would 

 probably result in its extermination. 



The great drawback to rotation of crops is that in most of the infested 

 region there is not enough rain to mature any crop except cotton, and 

 irrigation is impossible except at Brownsville. But rye and barley 

 could, I believe, be produced in this region. 



Application of arsenites. — Paris green or London purple, applied 

 in solution of one pound of poison to 150 gallons of water when 

 the bolls begin to form, may kill a certain per cent of the weevils, 

 if good judgment is used in its application. As the weevils do 

 not feed on the leaves, the application of it simply to the foliage 

 will give no result. It will be practically impossible to apply it so 

 that it will reach the inside of the squares in sufficient quantity, there- 

 fore its application before the small bolls appear will be practically 

 useless. But if a coating of the poison can, by means of spraying, be 

 put on the young bolls as soon as the flo-ver drops, the weevils, in eat- 

 ing through the skin to feed or deposit their eggs, will doubtless be 

 killed. This is on the same principle as spraying* young plums to kill 

 the plum weevil. Though the cotton weevil is very tenacious of life, 

 if it eats a certain amount of the jjoison it must necessarily succumb. 

 Much practical experiment may be needed to determine the time and 

 method of application of the arsenites which will secure the. best results, 

 but it seems certain that it will be hopeless to try to reach the weevils 

 by these means while they are engaged within the squares. 



ACCESSORY REMEDIES. 



Plckinff and burning the bolls. — If during cotton picking time all the 

 infested bolls are gathered in heaps and completely burned, great num- 

 bers of the weevils will be destroyed with little extra labor or expense. 

 Each cotton picker could be provided with a separate receptacle far 

 receiving the infested bolls, and it would iuvolve little extra labor to 

 gather these at the same time that the cotton is picked from each 

 l>lant. As soon as the held is picked, the heaps of infested bolls (,'an 

 be burned. This would kill a very large percentage of the weevils, 

 and if thoroughly done at each picking, it would almost dispense with 

 the necessity of burning the fields over in the winter. It is too late to 

 do this now, and that is why the cotton fields should be burned over 

 at once this winter. 



Dusting lime and ashes in the squares. — Either ashes alone or a mix- 

 tureiof one part of lime to two parts of ashes, if it could be dusted on 

 the i)lants in such a way as to enter the squares, would undoubtedly 

 repel the weevils to a considerable extent. It should be applied as soon 



