8 BULLETIN 1320, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
ara A hand gun was used in dusting the plants, the poison 
eing applied at the rate of about 8 pounds per acre. It remained on 
the plants until June 17, when most of it was washed off by a light 
rain. No further poisoning was attempted during the remainder 
of the season. 
A comparison of the development of plants in the four plantings 
was made on June 15, three days after squares had been removed 
and poison applied.- Data on the height of plants, the number of 
nodes on the main stalk, the total number of squares that had been 
formed to June 15, and the actual number of squares on the plants 
are presented in Table 5. 
TABLE 5.—Developmeni of cotton plants, showing the average number of squares 
formed on each plant on June 15 as grown in successive plantings at San Antonio 
on four different dates 
| Average number of 
| Squares on plants 
Height = 
Date planted, 1923 (centi- pee 
| meters) Formed | Remain- 
| to June | ingon 
15 | June 15 
THREE acs a 
7 PT SR Te ASMA S ORAS SESE NN G BNI WN 6S SONA SI ag ce See 28.6 11.2 10.6 | 5. 
DYESS £ 20SS TN A yh A SS EL a As ee A SE 28. 0 9.2 6.5 | 5. 
u \, Eh ay a Paes eens Apne ane G1 wae Lee AY aim NEMS bam By |” Hae eregeenen ee 27.8 8.6 557) 5 
ds LES 9 9d 7a ein lath Ph SEs a A deren I OS wl hs NR ed a OE 24.3 5.9 chew fis | aE 
The difference between the total number of squares that had been 
formed by June 15 and the number actually on the plants at that 
date represents the loss through square removal and shedding. 
Considerable shedding of very small squares occurred in the April | 
19 planting, practically all of the squares formed prior to June 1 
haying been shed by June 8. 
WEEVIL INFESTATION AFTER STRIPPING SQUARES 
Although the young squares on the first three plantings had | 
developed within a week after stripping and poisoning to a size | 
which would render them susceptible to weevil injury, no indication | 
of infestation was detected for another week, or until June 25. Three © 
small areas of infested plants were observed on that date in widely. 
separated parts of the field. | 
The absence of weevil infestation for a period of nearly two weeks © 
after stripping and poisoning indicates that the control measures 
had practically exterminated the weevils present in the field on June 
12. It is probable that the slight infestation which was first noted 
on June 25 resulted from weevils that had emerged from early-punc- — 
tured squares. Some of the squares on the first planting which had 
been punctured during the first week in June were shed before the 
plants were stripped. Some of the squares which had been shed 
previous to stripping might have been missed by laborers. 
Several scattered points of infestation appeared within a few days | 
after the first trace of weevil damage was noted, most of these points | 
occurring in the first planting. Infestation increased slowly, and by 
the middle of July evidence of weevil injury could be found through- | 
out the field. 
