State Crop Pest Commission 



Of Louisiana. 



CIRCULAR No. 5. January, 1906. 



The Circulars of the State Crop Pest Commission are sent free of charge to 

 all farmers and fruit growers of Louisiana who make application therefor. 



THE WORK OF THE STATE CROP PEST COMMISSION WITH 

 THE BOLL WEEVIL 



BY WILMON NEWELL. 



It is universally recognized that any undertaking which 

 requires for its complete success the co-operation of many indi- 

 viduals must be clearly appreciated and understood by all those 

 whose interests are vitally concerned. 



In its work of preventing the artificial dissemination of the 

 boll weevil and in its attempts to mitigate the weevil damage in 

 the territory already infested, the Crop Pest Commission has 

 found no cause for complaint in the reception accorded its efforts 

 by our citizens. At the same time, however, there are many who 

 do not possess a clear understanding of the lines along which 

 the Commission has inaugurated its campaign against this pest. 



At present the boll weevil is not sufficiently abundant in 

 more than one-thirtieth of the cotton-producing area of Louisiana 

 for its destructiveness to be fully realized by the planters. Yet 

 within a year, or within two years at most, the insect will have 

 reached its maximum abundance in fully one-fifth of the cotton- 

 growing area of the State. 



To be concise, we are rapidly approaching the thick of the 

 fight, the fight from which either the boll weevil or the Louisiana 

 otton planter will emerge victorious. At no time in the future 

 will concerted action in waging a vigorous warfare against this 

 <jnemy be of greater importance than during the coming two 

 years. 



