21 



much better than untreated ones, though this appearance is altogether 

 deceptive, and due to the uninterrupted growth of tlie plants treated. 

 However, the greatest source of error has been the one mentioned 

 in the introduction, namely, i^hat the destruction of the few weevils 

 found upon the plants before any squares have been set represents but 

 a small fraction of the total number that will later emerge from hiber- 

 nating quarters to damage the crop. That the number found early in 

 the season is but a small portion of the whole, is shown b}' the follow- 

 ing table: 



Table VI. — (iradual emergence of ireerils from hibernniion at Victoria, Tex. 



Date collected. 



1904. 



Mar. 18 



Mar. 25 



Mar. 31 



Apr. 5 



Apr. 12 



Apr. 16 



Number 

 of wee- 

 vils 

 taken. 



Per cent of 

 total num- 

 ber taken. 



Date collected. 



2.72 

 2.86 

 10.88 

 5.01 

 8.59 

 5.73 



1904 



Apr. 26 



Mav 1 



May 11 



May 17 



May 19 



May 21-24 



Number 

 of wee- 

 vils 

 taken. 



15 

 24 



152 

 95 

 60 



102 



Per cent of 

 total num- 

 ber taken. 



2.14 

 3.43 



21.77 

 13.60 

 8. .59 

 14.61 



The above table records 12 examinations, in which 098 w^eevils were 

 taken. Of this number 37.06 were collected before May 1 and 62.04 

 after that date. The plants began to put on squares numerousl}' about 

 May 1. These hibernated weevils were collected from seppa plants 

 scattered over 4i acres of ground planted with cotton in 1903. The 

 block examined was surrounded on three sides by cotton ground and 

 on the fourth side bounded by a road. All seppa cotton on the sur- 

 rounding area was kept down, so that there was no chance of any 

 breeding, and no other fields were near enough for weevils to have 

 come from them. All the plants were examined and the weevils col- 

 lected to prevent the recounting of weevils. In Table VI the total 

 number of weevils collected is called 100 per cent, although the large 

 number taken at the last examination shows that even then many 

 weevils were still coming out of hibernation. 



An impression equally as mistaken as that all hibernated weevils 

 emerge at the same time is that the boll weevil moves from the squares 

 at night to feed upon the dewdrops upon the leaves. Abundant obser- 

 vation has shown that the insect moves very little at night, being almost 

 entirely diurnal. 



CONCLUSION. 



Repeated tests have shown that about 30 per cent of the weevils on 

 the plants may be killed by a heavy application of poison when the 

 plants are small and without squares. But since the gradual emergence 

 of weevils from hibernation extends over a period of from six to ten 



211 



