13 



almost exclusivel}^ by inserting its beak well within the tissue of the 

 fruit, will never be reached by such means. It can not bo stated 

 too emphatically that money paid for these ingeniously advertised 

 substances is wasted. 



In this connection it may be stated that there is no known variety 

 of cotton that is immune against the attack of the boll weevil, not- 

 withstanding the advertising claims of certain seed dealers. The only 

 advantage one variety can possibl}^ have over another is in point of 

 early maturity. 



MACHINES. 



Many attempts have been made to perfect a machine that will assist 

 in destro3ang the weevil. The Division of Entomology has carefully 

 investigated the merits of representatives of all classes of these, begin- 

 ning in 1895 with a square collecting machine at Beeville that had 

 attracted considerable local attention. Up to the present time, how- 

 ever, none of these devices has been found to be practicable or to offer 

 any definite hope of being ultimately successful. The difficulty and 

 expense of working a machine when most needed, as in very wet 

 weather, will probablj^ alwaj^s prevent them from coming into use. 

 If it were not possible to raise cotton profitably without the use of a 

 machine, the situation would be materially changed. But since it is 

 possible, as is shown in this bulletin, to produce the staple without 

 the use of any other means than those that enter into cotton culture 

 everywhere, there seems no hope for these machines. If perfected at 

 all, they will undoubtedl}" meet the same fate as the manj^ complicated 

 devices for destroying or poisoning the cotton-leaf worm with which 

 planters and entomologists w^ere especially concerned about twenty 

 years ago, the wrecks of which may now be found upon any of the 

 older plantations in Texas. 



COTTON-SEED MEAL. 



Recently the report has been circulated that cotton-seed meal exerts 

 a powerful attraction for the weevil, and that they may consequently 

 be killed easily b}^ mixing poisons with it. This report seems to gain 

 credence in some quarters, and unfortunatel}^ may reach as wide cir- 

 culation as did the fallacious theor}^ propounded last Jul}' that mineral 

 paint would kill the pest. The Division of Entomology has experi- 

 mented exhaustively, not only in the laboratory but in the field, with 

 cotton-seed meal and finds that it is totally useless. In the laboratory 

 weevils were confined in cages with meal and squares and in other 

 cages with meal and cotton leaves. In no case during continuous 

 watching for several days was a weevil found leaving the squares 

 or leaves to feed upon the meal. In the field, sacks of meal were 

 placed in five different cotton fields where weevils Avere plentiful; 



