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CONTROLLING THE BOLL WEEVIL IN COTTON SEED 

 AND AT GINNERIES. 



The possibility of controlling- the l)oll weevil in cotton seed and at 

 ginneries received special attention during the season of 1904. 



The Bureau of Entomology employed a ginning expert, and many 

 experiments were conducted with gins in actual operation. The results 

 of this work have received full consideration in Farmers' Bulletin No. 

 209 of this Department, which ma}' be had upon application. In this 

 connection it is sufficient to state that the facility with which weevils 

 may be transported from infested to uninfested localities in cotton 

 seed has been full}' demonstrated, and the exact points where danger 

 may be avoided in the process of ginnin'g have been deteraiined. The 

 two means of preventing danger from the transportation of weevils in 

 cotton seed are (1) the fumigation of the seed, and (2) the application 

 in ginneries of the devices that will more or less effectually remove the 

 weevils from the seed. For detailed information the reader is referred 

 to Farmers' Bulletin No. 209. 



SUPPOSED IMMUNITY OF MEXICAN COTTONS. 



Reported immunity from boll weevil attack of certain so-called 

 Mexican tree cottons, with their possible value in the cotton-growing 

 States, was investigated by an agent of the Bureau of Entomology 

 during the month of September, 1904. As these cotton trees were 

 said by their promoters to produce their first lint the second season 

 from the date of planting, it was evident that if they were found to 

 be affected by frosts their immunity from the boll weevil, if such a 

 condition existed, could be of no practical value in this country. Per- 

 sistent rejDorts,''' however, concerning the ability of the tree cotton to 

 withstand frosts and its immunity against the attacks of the boll 

 'weevil, made it desirable for the Bureau to obtain reliable information 

 at first hand. 



Tree cotton grown from seed received from the locality in Mexico 

 and from the cotton planter from whom practically all of the above- 

 mentioned reports emanated, was observed by the representative of 



« The following quotation from a daily newspaper illustrates the character of the 

 reports referred to: "The plant begins liearing when five years old and continues to 

 be productive for half a century or more. In some instances a single tree is known 

 to produce as much as 59 pounds of cotton in one season, the fiber being very similar 

 to that of the cotton plant and adaptable to the same uses. It is immune against the 

 boll weevil and all other insect pests, and, under proper conditions, the growing of 

 it may be immensely profitable." The Mexican cotton planter, to whose cotton 

 trees the above and like current reports referred, in a letter to a gentleman in Jlexico 

 City, a copy of which the writer has seen, states that the "tree cotton" begins to 

 produce staple in paying quantities at the age of (wo years. 



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