14 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOLL WEEVIL CONVENTION. 



the known facts associated with the life and habits of the 

 weevil in order that he may scrupulously avoid its importation 

 and understand the very best means of eradicating it, should 

 isolated outbreaks appear. For a number of years the United 

 States Department of Agriculture and the Experiment Station 

 authorities of Texas have been earnestly at work to develop methods 

 of successfully combatting the weevil. The result of these investigations 

 have so far established that insecticides are useless, and that the clean 

 culture of early varieties of cotton make it possible to grow a profitable 

 crop The number of weevils in infected fields is limited by these cul- 

 tural methods until the cotton plants have had time to mature their 

 fruit. When these cultural methods are adopted the natural range or 

 overflow of the weevil is minimized, but, unfortunately for Texas, and 

 to the great regret of the planters of Louisiana, these suggestions have 

 riot been universally put into practice, and the consequent increase of 

 the infected area has become alarming. The weevil area of Texas has 

 spread until it is only a few miles from the western border of our State, 

 and from this time out it behooves us to guard zealously our borders, 

 quarantine against infected products and to adopt reasonable methods 

 of preventing the natural and general spread of this pest throughout 

 Louisiana. 



Had we in Louisiana, in our present perturbed condition, all power 

 to completely eradicate the weevil and set at rest all of the uninfected 

 cotton-growing area in the United States, we would have the infected 

 district of Texas go out of cotton for at least one year. We are not 

 permitted to do, this, and the good folk of Texas are not disposed to 

 look at the situation through Louisiana glasses, and other methods of 

 protecting our State must be inaugurated. 



At the present time 



A NON-INFECTED COTTON ZONE 



lies between the borders of Louisiana and the weevil fields of Texas. 

 This zone will protect us in a very great measure from gross infection 

 next year, provided the utmost care is exercised in preventing infected 

 products, particularly cotton seed, hulls, hay and corn, from entering 

 our State. The most serious impediment to the prosecution of pre- 

 ventive measures is the indifference of many of our farmers and planters 

 as to the seriousness and extreme gravity of the situation, and hence I 

 wish again to emphasize the great need of an educational campaign 

 along the western border of our State that will arouse every man to 

 the necessity of intelligent, uniform and immediate action. 



Should the weevil appear next spring and summer in isolated fields 

 of the western border of this State, such fields should be immediately quar- 

 antined, and all infected plants destroyed. The adult weevils may be 



