270 AGRICULTURE 



to destroy boll weevils. The most important of these are 

 the swallows and orioles in summer and blackbirds and 

 meadow larks in winter. 



The best way to fight the boll weevil is to make certain 

 improvements in farm practice. The most important step 

 is to hasten the cotton plant to early maturity, so that the 

 bolls formed early in the summer may become well grown 

 by the time the weevils become very numerous, the 

 middle of July or first of August. The boll weevil does 

 not do much damage to well-grown bolls while there is 

 an abundance of squares in which eggs have not already 

 been laid. 



The maturity of cotton may be hastened 



1 i ) By planting varieties or selections that mature early, 

 or that form bolls early in the summer. 



(2) By early planting and frequent and thorough culti- 

 vation. 



(3) By the liberal use of fertilizers. Generally acid 

 phosphate hastens the maturing of cotton. 



The farmer who adopts the intensive system of cotton 

 culture and who produces two thirds of a bale or more of 

 cotton to the acre before the boll weevil reaches him will 

 probably be able to grow cotton profitably after this 

 insect comes. But the farmer, who before the coming 

 of the boll weevil gets only a third of a bale or less 

 from an acre, will scarcely be able to continue to grow 

 cotton in the old way after the pest reaches him. 



The second step in fighting the boll weevil consists in 

 destroying the green parts of the plants or in plowing un- 

 der the cotton stalks as early as possible in the fall. This 



