8 THE STATUS OF THE COTTON BOLL WEEVIL IN 1909. 



Mr. F. W. Gist, of the Bureau of Statistics of this Department, has 

 made a very careful study to determine the center of cotton produc- 

 tion in Texas for each year from 1899 to 1908. As woukl be sup- 

 posed from the figures that have been given, it was found by Mr. Gist 

 that the center of production had moved considerably to the west- 

 ward. In fact, this center moved from 30.78 miles east of the ninety- 

 seventh meridian in 1899 to 19.14 miles west of this meridian in 

 1908. This was a westward movement of practically 50 miles. The 

 center of production in 1899 was on a line passing north and south 

 through the eastern portion of Grayson County, in Texas. In 1908 

 the center had moved to a line passing parallel with the other through 

 the western portion of Cooke County, in Texas. 



The situation in central Texas is most interesting. This area in 

 the five-year period ending with 1903 produced 55 per cent of the 

 Texas crop. For the six-year period ending with 1909 it produced 

 53 per cent of the Texas crop. This shows that for practical pur- 

 poses the production in the central portion of the State has been 

 maintained in spite of the weevil. This has been ver}^ largely due 

 to the efforts that have been put forth by the Department of Agri- 

 culture, and indicates that in central Texas the control of the weevil 

 for practical purposes is an accomplished fact. 



In this connection attention may be directed to the fact that there 

 is a tendency to attribute to the boll weevil more damage than is 

 rightly chargeable to the insect. Climatic conditions, changes in 

 acreage, and other factors, including the work of the bollworm and 

 leaf worm, caused great variations in production in any locality, from 

 year to year, before the advent of the boll weevil. Careful allow- 

 ance must be made for the effects of such factors in determining the 

 extent to which the boll weevil has affected the crop. In the state- 

 ments made in this paper a careful attempt has been made to avoid 

 overestimating the effect on the crop due to the boll weevil. 



THE CHAIN CULTIVATOR. 



Though not perhaps strictly connected with the status of the 

 weevil, the oj)portunity is taken to discuss briefly an important 

 machine for use in weevil control. As the result of many examina- 

 tions to determine the natural mortality of weevils in cotton fields, it 

 was found that when infested squares fell to the middles, where 

 they were exposed to the unobstructed rays of the sun, the great 

 majority of the weevils perished in a remarkably short time. Under 

 natural conditions the bulk of the squares fall in the shade of the 

 plants. Therefore attempts were at once made to devise a machine 

 that would carry the infested squares from shaded areas to the 

 middles, where they would be exposed to the sun. After a great 

 deal of study and experimentation Dr. W. E. Hinds, now professor of 



