46 



still further by the statement that in spite of the frequent and care- 

 ful removal of weevils from these cottons during the entire season 

 none of the non- American varieties made a single boll of good cotton, 

 so great was the actual weevil injury to them, while American cotton 

 with the same treatment developed a large number of bolls. 



The results are still further sustained b}'^ observations upon larger 

 areas of American and Egyptian cotton under field conditions in three 

 localities in Texas, no weevils being removed from either kind. At 

 Victoria, Tex., on August 26, 1903, an examination showed that 96 

 per cent of Egyptian squares were infested, while an average of 13 

 fields of American showed 75.5 per cent. At Calvert, Tex., on Sep- 

 tember 4, Egyptian showed 100 per cent infested, while the American 

 varieties growing alongside showed 91 per cent. Similar results were 

 found at San Antonio. Though growing in close proximity, the Egyp- 

 tian produced no staple whatever, while the American gave better 

 than an average yield in spite of the depredations of the weevil. 



In accordance with these observations, it appears that in developing 

 a variety of cotton which shall be less susceptible to weevil attack by 

 far the most promising field for work lies among the American varie- 

 ties, and of these the very early maturing kinds are most promising. 



The question of choice of different varieties for food was tested in 

 the laboratory by Dr. A. W. Morrill, by placing squares of two kinds of 

 cotton, American and Egyptian, in alternate rows in a breeding cage 

 (PI. XII, fig. 48), so lettered and numbered that each square could 

 be exactly located. Weevils were then placed so ^hat they could 

 take their choice of these squares, and observations from 8 a. m. to 6 

 p. m. were made upon the location and activity of the weevils. 

 Though this experiment was repeated four times, no positive evidence 

 was obtained to show that weevils had any choice as to which kind of 

 squares they fed upon. Table XI presents a summary of these results. 



Table XI. — Breeding-cage observations upon iveevil choice of American and 



Egyptian squares. 



