300 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



or reddish-brown snout beetle, hardly over a quarter of 

 an inch in length. In proportion to its length it has a 

 long beak. It belongs to a family of beetles which breed 

 in pods, in seeds, and in stalks of plants. It feeds only 

 upon the cotton plant. 



To understand how this beetle injures cotton and also to 

 understand the methods of trying to destroy the insect, 



we must know the life of 

 the beetle. Let us follow it 

 through a year. The grown 

 weevils try to outlive the 

 cold of winter by hiding 

 snugly away under grass 

 clumps, cotton stalks, rub- 

 bish, or under the bark of 

 trees. Sometimes they go 

 down into holes in the 

 ground. A comfortable 

 shelter is often found in 

 the forests near the cotton 

 fields. The weevils can 

 stand a good deal of cold, 

 FIG. 259. THE PUPA OF THE COTTON- but fortunately thousands 

 BOLL WEEVIL INJURING A SQUARE anc j thousands are killed 



After an original furnished by United each year by CXDOSUre. 

 States Department of Agriculture 



Moreover birds, always the 



friends of the farmer, destroy many ; hence by spring 

 the last year's crop is greatly reduced in number. 



In the spring, generally about the time cotton begins to 

 form " squares," the surviving weevils shake off their long 

 winter sleep and enter the cotton fields with appetites as 



