NATURAL HISTORY. 



When a bird or a wild animal is killed, that is the end of it. If photographed, it may still live and its 

 educational and scientific value is multiplied indefinitely. 



THE BOLL WEEVIL A NATIONAL 

 CALAMITY. 

 The cotton industry is the most impor- 

 tant one in the United States, and is of 

 interest to every one. It contributes more 

 to the prosperity of all the people than 

 any other 2 commodities. Being in round 

 numbers about one-third of our total ex- 

 ports, it pays a greater tribute to the trans- 

 portation companies than any other com- 

 modity, and it is the only one of which no 

 part is consumed where it is produced. 



The boll weevil is the most serious pest 

 that has ever affected any agricultural pro- 

 duct. Under separate cover, I send you 

 Farmers' Bulletin No. 189, issued by the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. From 

 page 7 I quote the opening paragraph : 



"The work of the Division of Ento- 

 mology for several years has demonstrated 

 that there is not even a remote probability 

 that the boll weevil will ever be extermi- 

 nated. Although the large yields of cot- 

 ton of former times may no longer be pos- 

 sible, it is nevertheless entirely feasible to 

 produce cotton at a margin of profit that 

 will compare favorably with that made 

 in the production of other staple crops of 

 the United States by following what have 

 become known generally as the cultural 

 methods." 



Had Mr. Hunter added after "the cul- 

 tural methods" "the protection and pre- 

 servation of birds;" he would have offered 

 the only known remedy. 



On page 11 is a map showing the boll 

 weevil area in Texas. During 1904 this 

 pest has gone 100 miles into Louisiana. 

 From page 22, I quote as follows : 



"The steady extension of the territory 

 affected by the weevil from year to year, 

 until the Northern boundary is far North 

 of the center of cotton production in the 

 United States, has convinced all observers 

 that it will eventually be distributed all 

 over the cotton belt." 



Statistics show us that in the South the 

 average yield of cotton per acre is decreas- 

 ing each year. 



For the entire United States the yield 

 has decreased from 40-100 of a bale per 

 acre in 1899 to 34-100 of a bale in 1903; 

 and with the exception of North Carolina, 

 every State shows as great a decrease in 

 yield, and some a greater. During this 

 period of 5 years, S l A million acres have 

 been added to the cotton fields of the South, 

 while the production has only increased 

 650,000 bales. 



In Texas, the yield in 1899 was 49-100. of 



*3 



a bale per acre, and in 1903 was 30-100 of 

 a bale per acre, a reduction of 25 per cent. 

 While all of this is not chargeable to the 

 boll weevil, the larger part is. Say that 

 20 per cent, is due to the boll weevil ; you 

 can appreciate what a calamity it will be 

 to the South and to the United States when 

 the boll weevil infests the cotton fields to 

 the Atlantic ocean. 



The cotton farmers should do 2 things, 

 adopt cultural methods that will increase 

 the yield, and protect their birds. 



The boll weevil is much like obnoxious 

 weeds and grasses and must be treated in 

 the same way. Any one familiar with cot- 

 ton growing knows that unless the farmer 

 fights the weeds and grasses from the be- 

 ginning, they will take his crop, and in 

 some instances they do take the crop. Sta- 

 tistics show us that about 3 per cent, of the 

 cotton acreage is abandoned every year. 

 The larger part of this is because the weeds 

 and grasses have taken the crop. 



Oswald Wilson, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, Ft. Worth, Texas. 



OUR NEWEST GAME PRESERVE. 



FRANK M. MILLER. 



Last August I made a cruise among the 

 islands of the Gulf of Mexico lying to the 

 Eastward of the delta of the Mississippi 

 river. I sailed from Pass Christian, Miss., 

 in a 6 ton schooner owned and run by a 

 bird hunter of 15 years' experience. Each 

 year he has killed and shipped to the whole- 

 sale milliners of New York and Baltimore 

 some 30,000 skins of the royal tern, laugh- 

 ing gull, least tern and other wild sea birds. 

 About a year ago he ran afoul of the Lacey 

 law, enacted by Congress as a result of the 

 persistent efforts of the L; A. S., and the 

 Audubon societies, and he quit the business. 

 He told me he had had enough ! 



After we got out among the islands I 

 found bird destruction going on every- 

 where, and to cap the climax of cussed- 

 ness the glue makers had boats out gather- 

 ing gull eggs for their business. This 

 trade amounts to between 50,000 and 75,000 

 eggs of the royal tern and the laughing 

 gull every breeding season. I also learned 

 that the market men who had been driven 

 out of Louisiana by our new game law in- 

 tended to move out to the islands belong- 

 ing to the National government in order to 

 supply the market with game birds, and 

 as that trade amounts to between 300,000 

 and 500,000 wild sea ducks each season I 

 concluded the time had come to do some- 

 thing to stop the slaughter. 



