9 



lalional work. ;is carried out by the Commission in a liberal 

 distribution of literature, in addresses before agricultural meet- 

 iuii's, and in actually demonstrating in the field that cotton can 

 be profitably grown in spite of the boll weevil. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH PARIS GREEX. 



Early in the season plans were made for conducting thor- 

 ough tests of Paris given as a remedial agent against the boll 

 \\eevil. These experiments were made in large cages constructed 

 for the purpose near Keachie, La., and also in the open field. 

 The application of the poison, as well as amounts, dates of 

 applications, etc., was directed by Hon. B. W. Marston, a mem- 

 ber of the Commission, and the observations upon effective- 

 ness, as well as the records of production of the different plats 

 in the experiments, were made by Mr. J. B. Garrett, Assistant 

 Entomologist. Mr. Garrett's results in connection with the cage 

 experiment were afterwards verified by a committee of promi- 

 nent cotton planters who visited the experimental cages and 

 made a searching investigation of the experiment. 



In the vicinity of Keachie the weevils did not emerge from 

 hibernation until after the young cotton had commenced putting 

 on squares, and therefore no opportunity w r as had of testing 

 the effectiveness of the poison Avhen applied prior to the time 

 or squaring. Applications of Paris Green, in various amounts, 

 luive results* which showed the use of the poison in late sum- 

 mer, so far as the boll weevil is concerned, to be not only un- 

 profitable, but to actually result in decreased production through 

 injury to the cotton itself. 



OTIIKR EXPERIMENTS. 



A number of other investigations in connection with the 

 boll weevil have been made, among which may be mentioned the 



*In the ca^es, cotton not poisoned and in which the boll weevils were 

 allowed, to breed unmolested, produced at the rate of <>7> pounds of serd-cotton 

 per acre: cotton to which a total of 2 T-S pounds of Paris screen per acre \v:.s 

 applied produced at the rate ot .VJ.~> pounds seed-cotton per acre, while the 

 cotton which received a total of 10 r>-4 pounds of poison per acre produced 

 only 40(i pounds of seed-cotton per acre. 



In the "field experiment," in which Paris screen was applied to cotton in 

 the open field, poisoned cotton which received three separate applications of two 

 pounds pei' acre each, produced 2O3 pounds of seed-cotton per acre. Unpoisoned 

 cotton, in a field adjoining, produced .")(>." pounds per acre. All these experiments 

 were upon hill land. 



