PROTECTION OF SEEDS BY LINT. 65 



Moreover, it seems that the adult weevil does not come out through 

 the wall of the boll, but waits to be liberated when the boll opens to 

 maturity. This would mean that if proliferation can exclude the 

 weevil from breeding in the squares it would afford a practical solu- 

 tion of the problem, since instead of merely delaying the emergence 

 of the first brood of weevils for two or three weeks, none of them 

 would be able to set about the work of destruction until the crop had 

 begun to ripen, and all danger of appreciable damage would have 

 passed. It seems, therefore, that the proliferation in the squares is 

 the much more valuable characteristic to be considered in seeking for 

 a weevil-resistant cotton. Proliferation in the bolls is very desirable, 

 but the absence of it should not be allowed to figure very largely 

 against a variety which might have a pronounced tendency toward 

 proliferation in the bud. Nevertheless, other factors must enter the 

 calculation, for thin-walled bolls might allow the weevils to escape 

 earlier. In moist weather the bolls might not crack open, but give the 

 weevils comfortable shelter all winter, as would seem to have been the 

 case in the spring of 1905. when various observers noted that some of 

 the weevils seemed to have the appearance of having emerged only 

 recently from the pupal condition, their very light color showing that 

 their outer covering of scales was still in place. 



The probability is. however, that the proliferation in both places 

 will be found to depend upon the same internal factor or quality, 

 so that it will be safe to assume that a high degree of proliferation 

 in the bud could be taken as an index of what might be expected 

 from the bolls. This would simplify the problem of selection by 

 permitting us to confine our attention to the buds. 



PROTECTION OF SEEDS BY LINT. 



Like the large leafy involucre, the lint is also a peculiar feature 

 of the cotton plant which may prove to have a practical connection 

 with the weevil. Cotton is the only food plant of the boll weevil, 

 and only the cotton, of all the related plants, has an abundant pro- 

 vision of lint. Some of the species of Hibiscus have the seeds 

 slightly silky, but the cotton stands quite alone in the length and 

 abundance of the hairy covering which grows out from the seeds at 

 the time the bolls are most subject to weevil injuries. 



From the standpoint of those who believe that all characters are 

 useful to the organisms which possess them, the interpretation of the 

 lint as a weevil-resisting adaptation will not appear unreasonable, 

 since it can scarcely be claimed that there is any other use of the lint 

 so important to the plant as protection of the seeds from the weevils. 

 In other respects the lint seems rather a disadvantage than other- 

 9902 — No. 88 — 05 m 5 



