CONTROL OF BOLL WEEVIL IN MISSISSIPPI DELTA. 



37 



SEED-COTTON PRODUCTION. 



The cotton produced on these plats was gathered in three pickings, 

 August 24, September 14, and November 21. The amount secured 

 is shown in Table 32. 



Table 32. — Seed-cotton production, Eureka -plantation, Talluldh, La., 1916, test No. 1. 



Plat. 



Seed cotton produced per acre. 



Aug. 24. 



Sept. 14. 



Nov. 21. 



Total. 



2 



Pounds. 

 286 

 172 

 167 



Pounds. 

 478 

 458 

 562 



Pounds. 

 123 

 175 

 212 



Pounds. 



887 



3 



805 



4 



941 









297 



449 



119 



865 







From Table 32 it is seen that the total range of the plats was from 

 805 to 941 pounds of seed cotton per acre, or a range of 136 pounds 

 of seed cotton per acre. In this series the checks ranked about 

 midway between the extremes. Plat 4 ranked highest of all, while 

 plat 3 ranked lowest. In view of these rankings and the results of 

 the various studies conducted on these plats during the season it 

 seems impossible to attach any significance to the differences of the 

 yields of the various plats. The total range constituted only 18 per 

 cent of the production of the lowest plat and the plat giving the 

 highest yield logically should have shown less benefit than at least 

 one other plat, if the picking operations had been effective. In fact, 

 one of the check plats yielded 849, while the other yielded 881, show- 

 ing a difference of 32 pounds between the checks themselves. Con- 

 sequently, it seems probable that the yield differences were of no 

 significance whatever. At any rate, they fail to show any important 

 beneficial effect from the picking operation. The boll-rot factor 

 which was discussed in connection with the Hecla test was likewise 

 operative in this test, as the checks produced an enormously rank 

 growth, but the reduction in fruiting due to the shaking operation 

 balanced this, so that the yield from the checks was practically equal 

 to that from the picked plats. 



STUDIES ON THE VALUE OF A MECHANICAL COLLECTOR OF BOLL 



WEEVILS. 



Among the many methods of weevil control advocated and adver- 

 tised by various individuals throughout the cotton belt are several 

 mechanical collectors of the weevils. These machines vary widely 

 in form and manner of construction, but most of them are similar 

 in the principle involved. Usually they consist of some type of pan 

 arrangement passing along beneath the plants while at the same time 

 the plants are agitated more or less violently, the idea being to shake 



