14 



There arc many interest in g^ features connected witli the relation 

 between the damage of the weevil and the present ver}^ large cotton 

 crop (estimated by the Bureau of Statistics of this Department, Decem- 

 ber 3, 1904, as 12,162,000 bales). The question has been raised as to 

 why the weevil is a great menace in vieAV of this large production, and 

 the fact that the pest has now invaded at least 32 per cent of the cot- 

 ton acreage in this country. The following appear to be the principal 

 reasons for the present large production: 



(1) The high price of cotton just prior to the time of planting the 

 crop of 1904 undoubtedlv had the effect of increasing the acreage 

 considerably. 



(2) The boll weevil has not yet reached numbers in all its range 

 sufficient to appreciably reduce the crop. The map on page 12 outlines 

 the total area in which an}' weevils are known to occur. In perhaps 

 ilO per cent of the territory thus considered infested only isolated 

 colonies occur, and the general production has not yet been curtailed. 

 Tn *>ome of the northern counties of Texas the production could not 

 .have been reduced by the weevil, although the statistics show consid- 

 erable variation between the crops produced for the past several 

 years on account of changes in acreage and the ravages of other insects, 

 like the boUworm. 



(3) Throughout the portion of Texas where the bulk of the crop is 

 produced — that is, north of about the latitude of Bremond-- various 

 conditions combined, to cause an unusually' small number of weevils to 

 hibernate successfully during the winter of 1903-4. The principal 

 factor in this situation was the very early date of the first killing frost, 

 which was about thirty days prior to the average date for the past fif- 

 teen years. This earh' frost destroyed a great number of immature 

 weevils in the squares and bolls which would otherwise have passed 

 through the winter to damage the crop in spring. 



(4) An important factor which has contributed to the production of 

 a largo crop in the region just mentioned ha,s been a lessened degree of 

 damage l)y the bollworm. It is estimated by Mr. A. L. Quaintance, 

 >who has been in charge of a special investigation of the bollworm, that 

 the pest could not have caused more than half the damage in 1904 that 

 was caused b}' it in 1903. 



(5) The growing season was unusually favorable. The average 

 conditi_on of the growing crop in Texas, from May to September, 

 inclusive, as published by the Bureau of Statistics of this Depart- 

 ment, was 82 in 1904, as against 72.5 in 1903. The average condition 

 for 1904 was, in fact, much higher than in even the season of the 

 largest crop ever produced, namely, 1900, when the average condition 

 reported for the months mentioned was 77,6. 



210 



