344 Elementary Principles of Agriculture 



industry. The first public boll weevil convention was 

 held at Victoria, Texas, in 1895, and in 1903 the Texas 

 Legislature offered a reward of $50,000 for the discovery 

 of a remedy for the boll weevil. Later, several important 

 conventions were held in Dallas, Texas, and Shreveport 

 and New Orleans, La. The Federal and State govern- 

 ments made large appropriations, and a corps of entomol- 



Map showing spread of Mexican 

 cotton weevil over cotton growing 

 area of United States, 1892-1912. 



Fig. 215. Cotton growing area of the United States exclusive of Arizona and 

 California, with lines in heavier shaded portion showing spread of Mexican 

 cotton weevil. After W. D. Hunter, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



ogists and cotton specialists began investigations and the 

 result was the present satisfactory means of control. 



508. The Spread of the Boll Weevil. Figure 215 shows 

 that the advance of the boll weevil has been northward 

 and eastward, into the humid regions, rather than west- 

 ward. There is no doubt that the weevil will continue to 

 advance rapidly eastward, but will move slower toward the 

 north, owing to the climatic obstacles that the weevil will 

 have to overcome. The dry summer and cold winters of 

 1910-1912 reduced somewhat the northward advance as 



