COTTON BOLL-WEEVIL CONTROL IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA. 5 



conditions. If any benefit is going to be derived, it should be secured 

 during this period, and the cost of the operation will be sufficiently 

 low to allow a reasonable margin for profit. It seems hopeless to 

 expect to prevent all weevil multiplication in the field, regardless of 

 how thoroughly the picking operations are conducted, and the best 

 that can be hoped for is to retard the time when the practically com- 

 plete infestation of squares is reached, thus allowing a slightly 

 longer period for the formation of fruit and the safe maturing of 

 the bolls which have already been set. 



The disposal of these infested forms is an important item. Based 

 on the conditions which prevailed in the more western territory, 

 where the parasitic control of the weevil is a considerable item and 

 where smaller amounts of forms are collected, it was recommended 

 that they be placed in screen cages, instead of actually destroying 

 them, thus allowing the emergence and escape of the weevil para- 

 sites in these forms and still retaining for later destruction the 

 weevils maturing from them. In the Delta, however, the conditions 

 are so different that this recommendation is not advisable. Parasitic 

 control of the weevil in the Delta is generally so low that it is of 

 little importance, and therefore comparatively few parasites would 

 be saved by this means. In fact, unless rather elaborate and expen- 

 sive precautions were taken to prevent the weevils' escape from 

 these cages it seems probable that a sufficient number of weevils 

 would be released to more than offset the parasites saved. This 

 consideration is further emphasized by the carelessness of the negro 

 laborer. In addition, the quantity of forms handled in the Delta is 

 so great that the expense of providing cages for their disposal is 

 practically prohibitive. It has already been shown that in the plat 

 tests of 1915 an average of 42 gallons of forms were collected per 

 acre. When it is considered that many of the Delta planters reckon 

 their cotton acres by the hundreds and even by the thousands, it is 

 easy to see what an enormous task it would be to provide screen 

 cages for these forms. In view of these facts it seems advisable to 

 dispose of these forms in the quickest and mo^st effective manner 

 possible. This may be done quite easily by burning or burying them. 



WEEVIL PICKING. 



There are a number of different methods of collecting the adult 

 weevils from the cotton, but it is probably best to consider only those 

 most prevalent in the Delta. In earlier years practically the only 

 method practiced was what is now termed " hand picking." In fol- 

 lowing this method the laborers were each given a box or a bottle and 

 they depended entirely upon being able to see and capture the adult 



