LOUISIANA CIRCULAR No. 5. 



and the examination of cotton seed from heavily infested sections 

 expose prominently the danger of dissemination in shipments of 

 such materials. By preventing the shipment of those materials 

 most likely to disseminate the weevil the Commission has pre- 

 vented the possibility of sporadic infestations in the present un- 

 infested portion of the State. 



II.- THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE BOLL WEEVIL IN THE TER- 

 RITORY ALREADY INFESTED. 



In the territory which is already infested by the boll weevil, 

 the Commission has exerted every effort to furnish all planters 

 and farmers with accurate and detailed information regarding- 

 those farming methods which must be employed to produce profit- 

 able crops of cotton in spite of the weevil. The Commission advo- 

 cates, essentially, the cultural methods perfected by Dr. L. 0. 

 Howard and Prof. W. D. Hunter of the Bureau of Entomology. 

 The dissemination of this information has been through the 

 press, by means of bulletins and circulars, by addresses at fann- 

 ers' meetings, by the co-operation of local business men in the- 

 distribution of literature and by actual field demonstrations in 

 growing cotton in the heavily infested sections under the direc- 

 tions of the Assistant Entomologists in the employ of the Com- 

 mission. In addition to this work, the Commission has conducted 

 rather elaborate experiments in determining the value of the 

 different steps involved in the "cultural remedy," as well as 

 along kindred lines. 



As Paris green has at times been enthusiastically advocated 

 as a sovereign boll weevil remedy, the Commission undertook dur- 

 ing the season just passed, exhaustive experiments in determin- 

 ing the value of this agent in the campaign against the weevil. 

 The results were somewhat surprising, as they showed that not 

 only was the boll weevil not destroyed by applications as heavy as- 

 could be made without destroying the foliage of the cotton plants, 

 but that the application of Paris green in late summer, by kill- 

 ing the cotton caterpillar, indirectly increased the food supply of 

 the weevils, facilitating breeding and furnishing an abundance of 

 food, in the form of squares and young bolls, right up to the time- 

 of entering hibernation, thereby greatly increasing their chances 

 for successful survival of the winter. 



