COTTON 179 



some instinct, that the juice of the boll will soon 

 glue the opening shut, and her offspring will be 

 protected and safe. Sometimes two or three eggs 

 are laid in each boll. In just two or three days the 

 egg is hatched, the young larva develops, trans- 

 forms to pupa, and eventually completes its cycle, 

 this time becoming a beetle the final stage of 

 weevil growth. 



These beetles join the hosts of other workers, 

 and soon a vast army, scattered here and there, 

 seek new squares and growing bolls, and they too 

 lay their eggs, contributing their share to the 

 new broods, and to the destructive depredations. 



So then we see that there is a constant succession 

 of generations from the time of the earliest ap- 

 pearance of volunteer plants until the end of 

 the season. This description of affairs readily 

 suggests the tremendous hosts at work, destroy- 

 ing the crop and blasting the hopes of the cotton 

 planter. 



The greatest enemy of the weevil is frost and 

 cold weather. When these come late in the season 

 the latest broods mature and seek winter quarters, 

 in which they may hibernate during the winter 

 months. Thus a late season is favorable. On 

 the other hand, where frost and cold come early, the 

 last broods are caught and nearly all are killed. 

 The surviving beetles have secured their winter 

 quarters either before, or do so now, and sleep 

 silently until spring's choice days bring them back 

 again to the strenuous life they fill so well. 



WHERE HELP LIES 



"Is there no hope of ridding the land of the 

 pest?" ten thousand people ask. 



