56 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOLL WEEVIL CONVENTION. 



Mr. Davis, of Caldwell, wished to know of Captain Marston how he 

 succeeded in poisoning the boll weevil. 



Captain Marston: This, gentlemen, is quite a long story. If I were 

 to tell you how many years I fought the caterpillar, you would hardly 

 believe it; from 1867, day and night, until I destroyed the caterpillar. I 

 did the same thing with the boll worm. I went to work, and found in 

 every manner, shape and form, the habits of this boll worm. I found 

 that he hibernated in the ground. I do not like to say anything in my 

 own favor, right now, but I think I am the first man that informed the 

 United States Government that the caterpillar hibernaed in this country. 

 It was thought the caterpillar came over from the West Indies, from 

 South America, every year, just as the birds of passage do. I found 

 that the caterpillar hibernated here. I found a cotton caterpillar fly on 

 my window one February day, when the snow was on the ground. I 

 gathered him up and put him in a glass, and I sprinkled the least quantity 

 of paris green on a leaf and put it in the glass with him. He had no- 

 thing else to eat, and the next morning he was dead. I knew we had 

 the honey dew upon the cotton over night, and I moistened a little sugar, 

 and sweetened the leaf for him. 



When I went into my fields to destroy the caterpillar fly I had no idea 

 that I would catch the boll worm, but we did catch every single solitary 

 one of them. I found that every boll worm in my field had been de- 

 stroye^d. 



Now, as to how I got on to the caterpillar. I had a number of workers 

 in my field one day, when the caterpillar was coming, and I did not want 

 to discourage the darkies. So I got the least quantity of paris green, 

 and I went way out into the fields, beyond where the darkies were at 

 work, and I found a full-grown caterpillar nibbling on a leaf, and without 

 any thought of what I was doing, at the time, I dropped the least possi- 

 ble amount of paris green in front of him. Well, in a moment he was dy- 

 ing. I saw him hold up his head, as if it was kind of burning. He 

 stopped eating. I saw that, so I gathered him, and put him on a fresh 

 leaf, but the next morning he was dead. 



The idea struck me that that was the best way to kill them, and by 

 12 o'clock I had twenty negroes walking over my field distributing the 

 poison. 



I believe, notwithstanding what these Texas people say, that the boll 

 weevil can be reached in just the same way. I believe these boll weevils 

 come up at night, and eat the honey dew, and if the cotton is properly 

 poisoned, at the right time, you will catch the grown boll weevil. When 

 they come into the Red River Bottom, gentlemen, I am going for them. 

 (Applause.) 



Just here several voices called for Professor Stubbs, who took the floor 

 and made the following remarks: 



