PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD EXTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 449 



liave been found breeding in ratoon plants which were growing indivi- 

 dually on the outskirts of villages or in quite out-of-the-way places. 

 If food-plants are available the bollworms develop in these in sufficient 

 numbers and attack the crop when the plants are grown up in the fields. 

 During July and August a large number of plants are affected and these 

 have their tops blanched or withered. The tops of affected plants, if 

 allowed to remain on the plants, soon tiller into fresh shoots which in 

 turn are again affected by the bollworms. In such cases the growth of 

 the plant is retarded considerably and it fails to put forth the normal 

 number of bolls. Such plants present quite a characteristic appearance 

 in the fields and can soon be spotted. If, however, at this stage such 

 plants be pulled out and, instead of being thrown away on the field 

 embankment to allow the worms to breed and thereafter to emerge as 

 adult moths to lay eggs again, they be burned, considerable good will be 

 done. In all the important cotton-growing tracts in India where the 

 cultivation is done intelHgently, every cultivator after sowing the seed 

 in lines, thins out the plants a foot to a foot and a half apart when they 

 are from a foot to a foot and a half high. In such tracts this practice 

 forms a regular part of the cultivation. If, however, the cultivator 

 ^ould be induced, or rather educated, to the extreme necessity of pulling 

 out such plants first as show signs of withering, considerable good would 

 be done. After the withered plants have been removed, he could then 

 space out the rest to a distance of a foot or a foot and a half, as the 

 practice may be locally. To do this still more effectively and without 

 detriment to his interests, it would be advisable to use a larger seed- 

 rate than is in use at present and, as the cost of seed is not much, it is 

 expected that the cultivator will not be a loser by a small initial extra 

 outlay in the seed. This extra cost will however be recouped later on 

 by the extra produce obtained from the fields. If this practice can be 

 brought home to the cultivators much good is likely to accrue and the 

 baneful eft'ects of the attacks of the Bollworms, if not totally reduced, 

 will be greatly minimized. This measure has appealed to us most after 

 seven years' work with the Cotton Bollworms at Pusa, and we think it is 

 a measure fraught with much good if adopted efficiently. Since the Boll- 

 worms are already present in the land, it is not possible that, with the 

 . adoption of this measure only, miraculous effects will follow. It all 

 depends upon the way the question is tackled. Patient and continuous 

 work for years together is required to produce any appreciable result. 

 The cultivator, as a rule, is very conservative and as such is loath to 

 take to novelties unless he is convinced that they are effective and thus 

 likely to compensate him for his extra expense and labour. Once he is 

 convinced of this, he is quick to adopt the measure and to practise it 



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