280 FUNDAMENTALS OF AGRICULTURE. 



place. On the contrary, it is only the surplus that 

 leaves for a new locality. There are always enough 

 weevils left behind to continue destroying the crop. 



Hibernation. At the approach of cold weather the 

 adult weevils seek a sheltered place in which to pass the 

 winter. Some crawl into grass and leaves right in the 

 cotton field, others fly away to the woods and crawl 

 into leaves on the ground, while still others push their 

 way into bunches of Spanish moss hanging on the trees. 

 In these protected situations they remain in a dormant 

 condition during the winter, going without food and 

 enjoying their winter sleep until the warm sun of 

 springtime again makes them active. 



The boll weevil eggs, larvae and pupae that are in the 

 field when cold weather comes on are destroyed by the 

 cold and never get to be grown weevils. 



Many Weevils do not Survive the Winter. Many 

 of the weevils that hide away for the winter do not live 

 until the following spring. Some of them die of old 

 age, some are eaten by birds, some are destroyed by 

 cold, wet weather, and still others are found and 

 eaten by " pre-dac-eous " insects. Enough always live 

 through the winter, however, to infest liberally the 

 cotton fields the next spring. In warm winters, in the 

 southern part of the Cotton Belt, from 10 to 20 per 

 cent, survive the winter, but in more unfavorable sea- 

 sons not more than 2 or 3 per cent, live until spring. 



Economic Changes. The invasion of the South by 

 the boll weevil has caused many important changes to 

 be made in business methods in the country districts. 

 Formerly, the average farmer planted nothing but 

 cotton, and in order to provide food for his family and 

 tenants, while he was making the crop, he secured ad- 

 vances from his merchant. In other words, the 

 farmer went in debt for his supply of potatoes, bread, 

 hay and corn, and sometimes even for the milk and 

 eggs used on his table. In the fall when his cotton 

 was marketed it took most of the proceeds of his crop 

 to pay his debt to the merchant. 



