290 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 45 



damage from year to year always arouses the hope that this will 

 be a light weevil year and a crop can be made without dusting. 

 Other growers have used calcium arsenate improperly or used it 

 when not needed and failed to make a profit. Also before the acre- 

 age-adjustment program was inaugurated it was a common practice 

 to plant extra acres of cotton for the boll weevil and to harvest 

 what the weevils left. The use of calcium arsenate also increases 

 with the price of cotton. In 1931, when farmers received about 6 

 cents per pound for cotton, the production of calcium arsenate in 

 the United States was 26 million pounds, while in 1912, when cot- 

 ton sold for about 19 cents per pound, the production of calcium 

 arsenate increased to 68 million pounds. The average yield for the 

 United States was 211 pounds of lint per acre in 1931 and 272 pounds 

 of lint per acre in 1942. 



The cotton-insect survey conducted during the past 3 years fur- 

 nished the most complete picture of current weevil conditions that 

 has ever been obtained. About 25,000 infestation records were ob- 

 tained each season through the cooperation of volunteer farmer crop 

 reporters, 4-H Club members, vocational agriculture teachers and 

 students, county agents, Federal and State entomologists, and others. 

 This information was tabulated and interpreted by experienced en- 

 tomologists at weekly intervals as an aid to State and extension 

 entomologists in advising growers of the need for weevil control and 

 industry in distributing insecticides to the areas where most needed. 

 Besides furnishing information on the current need for weevil con- 

 trol at the time when damage could be prevented, the survey was 

 of permanent educational value in teaching farmers and future 

 farmers to recognize damage and the value of control. The 4-H 

 Clubs have added insect reporting to their list of projects for which 

 credit and certificates are awarded to participating members. 



RECENT TRENDS IN WEEVIL CONTROL 



After 50 years of boll-weevil damage, cotton continues to be the most 

 important cash crop in the South and is the most important source of 

 income for iy 2 million farm families and hundreds of thousands of 

 others employed in the ginning, marketing, manufacturing, and dis- 

 tribution of cotton and cotton products. The American cotton indus- 

 try is now facing serious competition from increasing production of 

 foreign cotton and increased use of synthetic fibers. It is generally rec- 

 ognized that the future depends on decreasing the cost of production 

 and improving the quality of cotton. Both of these objectives can be 

 aided by better insect control (pi. 9, fig. 2; pi. 10, fig. 1) and the State 

 and Federal programs are being reorganized to emphasize insect and 



