6 BULLETIN 382,, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



weevils on the plants. This method was exceedingly slow and labori- 

 ous and, owing to the large number of weevils actually overlooked, 

 and the additional number escaping by " possuming " and falling to 

 the ground upon the first disturbance of the plant, this method was 

 not very effectual. Within the last few years, however, a semime- 

 chanical method of collection has been devised by some of the Delta 

 planters and its use has spread rapidly. This is what is commonly 

 termed the " bag-and-hoop," or " hoop-and-sack " method of collec- 

 tion. It consists of shaking the plants into a sack, the mouth of which 

 is held open by a barrel hoop. This method proved to be much more 

 effective and less expensive than hand picking. 



To determine the relative efficiency of these two methods of weevil 

 collection a number of comparative tests were conducted. These 

 show the hand picking to require four times as long as the bag-and- 

 hoop, while the latter collected more than twice as many weevils as 

 the hand picking from the same area. In addition to this, in the 

 course of the weevil collection with the bag-and-hoop a large number 

 of infested forms are gathered, thus making the operation in reality 

 a combination of weevil picking and square picking. Thus it can 

 readily be seen that there is no question of the great superiority of 

 the bag-and-hoop method over hand picking. 



The apparatus required for the bag-and-hoop collections is the 

 simplest possible. A burlap seed sack with a barrel hoop some 24 

 inches in diameter sewn into its mouth is all that is necessary. A tub 

 or barrel of water with a small amount of kerosene on its surface 

 may be placed on the turnrow and the bags emptied into it about 

 every second row. 



It was found that there was considerable difference in the results 

 secured from the different methods of handling this bag-and-hoop. 

 Comparative observations have shown the following to yield the 

 best results: The bag should be placed against the base of the cot- 

 ton stalk with as little disturbance as possible. Then the plant 

 should be gently bent well into the mouth of the bag and shaken 

 several times rather sharply from side to side, that is, at right 

 angles to the length of the bag instead of back and forth into its 

 mouth. It was found that there was considerable difference in the 

 weevils collected when these two methods of shaking the plant were 

 compared. As a result of shaking the plant lengthwise of the bag 

 a number of weevils are evidently thrown away from the bag in- 

 stead of into it, while other weevils actually thrown into the bag 

 strike against the hanging back and bounce out again. On the other 

 hand, when the plant is shaken across the sack, all weevils falling 

 from it are retained. 



More elaborate devices resembling the bag-and-hoop in principle 

 were tested, but it was found that none of these was as efficient as 



