THE PINK BOLLWOKM. 23 



were undoubtedly due to the Mexican seed which had been shipped 

 to the United States in 1916, The infestation in Chambers County, 

 however, can not be attributed to such shipments. It was found to 

 extend around Galveston Bay from Smiths Point to the vicinity of 

 Texas City. It was heavier near the Bay and diminished regularly 

 toward the interior. After considerable investigation, in which all 

 possible theories have been investigated, the conclusion has been 

 reached that this infestation was probably due to Mexican bales of 

 cotton which were shipped to Galveston in 1915. During this year 

 several thousand bales of cotton from the Laguna in Mexico reached 

 Galveston by way of El Paso. This cotton was on the docks at 

 Galveston at the time of the hurricane of August, 1915. With sev- 

 eral thousand bales of Texas cotton it was washed from the docks 

 and distributed around the shore line, in some cases 75 miles away. 

 Many of these bales were broken open by the force of the water. It 

 is well known that Mexican bales contain large numbers of seeds, 

 and cotton plants were found growing along the high water line 

 during the fall of 1915 and the spring of 1916. .This theory, while 

 not altogether satisfactory, is considered by Mr. August Busck, who 

 has paid more attention to the study of the pink bollworm than any 

 other entomologist, to be adequate to explain the known situation at 

 the present time around Galveston Bay. 



As soon as the presence of the pink bollworm in Texas was dis- 

 covered the Federal Horticultural Board, in cooperation with the 

 Department of Agriculture of the State of Texas, undertook active 

 measures to eradicate it. The work consisted at first of scouting 

 to determine the limits of infestation, the destruction of any possible 

 infestation remaining in the fields, and the safeguarding by various 

 means of the cotton produced in the infested fields and in neigh- 

 boring ones during the season of 1917. 



Entomologists were obtained from various sources. Twenty-five 

 were engaged in the scouting work in Hearne, and later about 50 in 

 the work in southeastern Texas. As the result of this work it seems 

 practically certain that the infestation in Hearne was limited to the 

 immediate vicinity of the oil mill. In southeastern Texas infesta- 

 tion was found from the vicinity of Beaumont, in Jefferson County, 

 to Areola, about 7 miles from the Brazos River. The northernmost 

 point infested was in Liberty County, about 18 miles north of the 

 town of Liberty. This area includes all of Chambers, Galveston, 

 and Jefferson Counties, and portions of Liberty, Harris, Brazoria, 

 and Hardin Counties. 



The work of removing any possible infestation from the fields 

 consisted of uprooting or chopping down the plants, the collection 

 by hand of all locks or portions of locks which were found on the 

 ground, and the burning of all the accumulated trash with the use 



