11 



Second. Early planting not followed by thorough cultivation is of 

 no avail, as illustrated in case of Field II (fig. 2). From this comes 

 the important suggestion that planters should exercise the greatest 

 care to avoid allowing a tenant more land than he can cultivate 

 thoroughly. " Overcropping" would destroy all the benefit of early 

 planting. 



Third. The bad effect of late planting can not be remedied by wide 

 spacing, by subsequent thorough cultivation, nor hj spra^dng. But, 

 nevertheless, late planting with thorough cultivation is better than 

 early planting with careless cultivation, as is shown by comparing 

 the results in Fields IV and V with those in Field II (fig. 2). 



Fourth. In case the main crop can be planted early, the trouble and 

 expense of planting trap rows for the weevil is entirely unnecessary. 



Without going fully into details, it can be said that the work of the 

 Division of Entomology has demonstrated several other very impor- 

 tant points. Among these is the fact that the use of Northern seed 

 and the seed of especially early-maturing varieties will increase the 

 advantage of earliness in planting. It is ver}^ likely that in Field I, 

 by using certain seed, the yield could have been brought up to at least 

 three-fourths of a bale to the acre. 



At Victoria early fall destruction of the plants the preceding year 

 was found to bring about a very noticeable decrease in the number of 

 weevils. For instance, as late as October 10, in a field upon which 

 plants of the previous year had been destroyed by September 20, about 

 33 per cent of the squares were uninjured, while on fields in similar 

 situations, planted about the same time, but upon which the plants 

 had not been destroyed in the fall, it was impossible to find a case 

 where more than 8 per cent of the squares were uninjured at that time. 



It was also shown at Victoria that the weevils caused less damage 

 in cotton planted only moderately early (week ending March 10) on 

 land upon which the plants of the preceding season had been destro3"ed 

 by burning early in the fall than in fields planted late (week ending 

 April 30) on land that had never been in cotton and which, moreover, 

 were measurably isolated from other cotton fields. 



There are two methods of destroying the plants, namely, grazing, 

 and burning after uprooting by plowing. There are three important 

 general difficulties in the way of grazing: (1) It is not at present feasi- 

 ble in the portions of Texas where the bulk of the cotton crop is pro- 

 duced on account of the small number of cattle present; (2) in fields 

 where Johnson grass is starting, cattle, by spreading it, would prob- 

 ably do much more harm than good; and (3) in man}^ fields the nature 

 of the soil, if tramped upon by cattle, would make it impossible to 

 carry on thorough cultivation the following season. But burning the 

 stalks by October 1, thereby preventing the maturing of many fall 



