180 COTTON 
“There is,’ the scientific people say, “but you 
must give us time.” 
“And in what way?” 
“We can tell you, so far, only indefinitely, but 
several things are being tried,” comes back the 
answer. 
And many things are being done. Every sug- 
gestion having merit is considered. Experts from 
the Department of Agriculture at Washington, 
Experiment Stations, and private parties, all are 
exerting themselves to the utmost that this question 
may be answered, and some practical remedy 
applied. 
Some one heard of an ant in Guatemala that is 
a natural enemy of the Boll Weevil, and parties 
were at once dispatched to study it and to make 
friends with this new-found ally. 
The ant was found and brought to our shores 
where a hospitable welcome awaited it, but the 
climate was colder than it was accustomed to, and 
many of the specimens died. But some are adapt- 
ing themselves to their new environment, and in 
course of time the ant may become indeed a 
friend and ally to the cotton planter. In the mean- 
time we must wait and not neglect other ways of 
ridding the land of the fatal beetle. 
“What more can be done, and how can we help ?” 
the farmer asks. 
“You can help in many ways: you can make 
life miserable to your enemies. See how they use 
your property—grass, brush, rubbish—for winter 
quarters: will you permit them to do this ?”’ 
And you can disturb them much: old rubbish, 
grass, and brush you can burn and so destroy 
thousands; for in destroying their winter quarters 
you subject them to hardships that in the end will 
