METHODS OF CONTROL FOR GENERAL APPLICATION. 99 



bugs are doubtless eradicated by the methods of destruction of cotton 

 stalks advocated by the Bureau of Entomology, i. e., by piling in wind- 

 rows and burning. In addition to the direct destruction of the insects, 

 many nymphs would fail to reach maturit}^ in a well-cleared field, 

 and the adults would be deprived of favorable conditions for hiber- 

 nation oifered by cotton plants left standing in the fields during the 

 winter. 



Associated mth these methods, and probably of equal importance, 

 is the practice of destro}dng earl}^ in the season wild food plants of 

 the plant-bugs which attack cotton, thus checking the multiplica- 

 tion of the insects which later turn their attention to the cotton 

 bolls. The mde range of food plants known for nearly all the species 

 dealt with in this bulletin indicates the strong advisabihty of clean 

 cultivation and the prevention of the growth of weeds along fences 

 and roadsides close to cotton fields. 



DIRECT METHODS OF COMBATING PLANT-BUGS IN COTTON FIELDS. 



Under certain circumstances contact insecticides may be of use 

 against plant-bugs in cotton fields, but only when they occur in 

 such excessive abundance that all methods of collecting are imprac- 

 tical. Kerosene emulsion will probably prove the most effective 

 spray, but before using on a large scale preliminary tests should be 

 made to determine the required strength. 



Hand-picking of the conchuela has already been discussed and 

 detailed information regarding this measure given. The good re- 

 sults obtained by the use of this method of control against the 

 cotton stainer or ''red bug" in Florida have also been referred to- 

 This is in many cases the only practical method of protecting the 

 cotton crop against severe injurj^. Its success is dependent for 

 the most part on the size and conspicuousness of the species dealt 

 WTth and on the efficienc}^ with which the work of the pickers is 

 supervised. The foregoing detailed discussion of the destructive 

 capabilities of plant-bugs indicates the amount which a cotton 

 planter can afford to invest in hand-picking. The season of the 

 year must be taken into consideration in the estimation of this 

 point. In general, it may be said that in midsummer from 10 to 25 

 cents per hundred, according to the abundance of the pests, ^ or day 

 labor at the rate of 50 cents to $1.25 per day is not too great an 

 investment for collecting the larger species of plant-bugs which 

 may be found attacking cotton bolls. Such expenditures, judi- 

 ciously made, vnW undoubtedly result in saving from destruction 



oThe scarcer the bugs the more one can afford to pay per 100 collected, owing to 

 greater individual destructiveness heretofore explained. 



