9 



may be planted to cotton several years in succession Avithout a thor- 

 ongb breakino- up, B}^ reason of the tenant system of farming, culti- 

 vation has, on the whole, been insufficient, and the plant has thus been 

 least able to put on an excess of early fruit, so as to insure a crop in 

 spite of insect attack. 



The situation is aggravated b}^ the use of seed which has not been 

 selected for earl}^ fruiting or other desirable qualities, often from 

 public ginneries and of absolutely unknown variet}'. 



The principal crops grown, namely cotton and corn, are tlie two 

 preferred food plants of the bollworm. As a general lule the agricul- 

 tural practices of the States and Territories mentioned result in condi- 

 tions theoretically most favorable for the development of this insect. 

 The serious ravages of the bollworm which this territory, and to a less 

 extent other portions of the cotton ])elt, have suffered, have their 

 explanation in prevalent methods of farm practice. The movement for 

 diversification of crops, now well under way in Texas, and other 

 improvements in farming must gradually l)ring about that condition of 

 relative immunity from injury enjo3'ed by the older, more eastern 

 cotton -belt States. 



DESTRUCTIVENESS OF THE BOLLWORM. 



Bollworm injury varies much from year to year, depending on the 

 relative earliness of the cotton crop, the character of the weather, and 



Fig. 1.— Map showing approximately the area of bollworm injury in 1904. 



other factors. Not for many years have its depredations been more 

 widespread and serious than during 1903. The heavy and general 



212 



