latter part of the summer are most desirable, as by their 

 "ragging" of the foliage, the sunlight is permitted to reach 

 the unopened bolls and hasten their development and opening. 



On the upland farms, the destruction of stalks can best be 

 accomplished by plowing them up, raking them together in 

 windrows and burning them. On lands that do not wash bad- 

 ly, a thorough plowing with turning plow should follow, not 

 so much because of its direct effect in destroying weevils, but 

 because it places the ground in much better condition for early 

 planting the following spring. 



On tlie bottom lands, the stalks can often be destroyed more 

 economically by cutting them down with the triangular stalk- 

 cutter, afterwards raking them into windrows and burning 

 them. This should be followed by plowing 1 out the "stumps" 

 of the cotton plants, as these latter, especially in the moistsea- 

 sons, produce sprouts which furnish plenty of food for the 

 weevils. 



VI Destruction of Favorable Hibernating Places. 



In Louisiana the situations in which the weevils may suc- 

 cessfully hibernate are so numerous that any systematic at- 

 tempt to burn them over or destroy them effectually is entire- 

 ly out of the question. In the cotton fields themselves, how- 

 ever, ditch banks should be burned over during the winter in 

 those localities where the removal of the vegetation will not 

 result in severe washing. Such things as old and useless 

 "worm" fences and weed-grown lots around tenant houses 

 should be cleaned up, burned, or in some other suitable manner 

 disposed of. Cane or sorghum fields which are adjacent to cot- 

 ton fields should be either plowed well or burned over during 

 the late fall or during the winter. 



Of most importance in this connection is the removal of the 

 "cotton seed houses," or loosely constructed sheds, in which 

 many farmers store their planting seed during the winter, from 

 the cotton fields to more isolated positions. These loose open 

 buildings, with the seed contained in them, offer dry and warm 

 shelter for the weevils through the entire winter, and in a num- 

 ber of instances they have made their first appearance in spring 

 upon thecotton grown adjacent tothesebuildings. Preferable 

 to the removal of the houses from the cotton fields, would be 

 the plan of storing the following year's supply of seed in a 

 building that is made weevil-proof by the use of wire cloth. A 

 cotton seed house and the cotton for which it furnished boll 

 weevils in the spring of 1905 is shown in Fig. 5. 



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