6 



THE STATUS OF THE COTTON BOLL WEEVIL IN 1909. 



western boundary of the eastern Texas area. Central Texas consists 

 of 45 counties" and comprises 38,868 square miles. It is for the 

 most part prairie country, although there are wooded valleys and 

 occasional strips of timbered uplands. Western Texas comprises the 

 remainder of Texas, beginning with the line marking the end of the 

 area of 32 inches normal annual precipitation. It is largely a prairie 

 region, though wooded valleys are numerous. Another factor in 

 differentiating western Texas from central Texas is the increased 

 elevation. 



A careful study has been made of the manner in which the weevil 

 has affected the production of cotton in the three regions mentioned. 

 Use has been made of the census records of production from 1899 to 

 1909, a period of eleven years, as shown in the accompanying table: 



Eastern, central, and tvestern Texas cotton production compared, 1899-1909, from 



United States Census. 



[500-pound bales.] 



a Including counties grouped by census under "All other." 



In eastern Texas the production for five years ending with 1903 

 averaged 24 per cent of the total crop of Texas. During the same 

 series of five years western Texas averaged 19 per cent of the total 

 crop. For the six years ending with 1909 the eastern Texas pro- 

 duction dropped to 16 per cent of the total crop of Texas, while the 

 production in western Texas advanced to 29 per cent of the total crop 

 in Texas. In other words, the portion of the Texas crop produced 

 in one area has decreased 24 per cent and in the other it has increased 

 74 per cent. Tliis increase in the west, where the dry climate reduces 

 boll-weevil injury, served to offset the loss in eastern Texas, and 



a Central Texas counties: Cooke, Grayson, Fannin, Denton, Collin, Hunt, Tarrant, 

 Dallas, Rockwall, Kaufman, Johnson, Ellis, Bosque, Hill, Navarro, McLennan, Lime- 

 stone, Bell, Falls, Williamson, Milam, Robertson, Brazos, Travis, Lee, Burleson, 

 Washington, Hays, Bastrop, Caldwell, Fayette, Colorado, Austin, Guadalupe, Gon- 

 zales, Lavaca, Wharton, Dewitt, Goliad, Victoria, Jackson, Refugio, Calhoun, Mata- 

 gorda, and Aransas. 



