METHOD OF STUDY. 9 
point at which proliferation begins. In most cases the proliferation 
_ appears to begin very near to the point of injury, but from that point 
it may spread through an entire lock, or to all the inner parts of an 
injured bud. 
METHOD OF STUDY. 
As the significance of these observations came to be more fully 
appreciated it was believed that they contained at least a suggestion 
as to some very promising lines of work in the problem of controlling 
the weevil. Accordingly, it has been necessary to study carefully the 
nature of the phenomenon, conditions of climate, soil, fertilizer, and 
variety of cotton which affected the occurrence of proliferation. 
_ Observations have, therefore, been made upon quite a large number of 
_ varieties, and in locations ranging from Victoria to Dallas, Tex., upon 
various types of soil, and in connection with various experiments with 
fertilizers and different conditions of cultivation. From a comparison 
of the results thus obtained it was hoped that some factors might be 
_ found which could be used practically in increasing proliferation, and 
_ thus rendering it more effective as a factor in controlling the weevil. 
_ In many cases the results of the work have been quite different from 
_ those anticipated, but enough has been learned to justify the assertion 
_. that at present proliferation is a more important factor in retarding the 
_ multiplication of the weevil than are the parasites which have thus far 
been found. 
_ Large numbers of squares and bolls have been carefully examined 
_ in obtaining these records. In the examination of bolls, the lock 
_ has been made the unit rather than the boll. As a general rule, a 
_ larva confines its injury almost, if not entirely, to the lock within 
which the egg was originally placed. Quite frequently two or more 
_ larvee occur within a lock, but even in such cases the injury does not 
_ often extend through the septum or partition which separates the 
— locks. 
In making a comparison of varieties considerable care is required 
in subdividing the classes of observations in order to render the influ- 
ential conditions sufficiently uniform to make the observations fairly 
comparable and wherever possible to reduce the fundamental causes 
or stimuli producing variations in the proliferation to one essential 
factor. While the phenomenon in bolls is of a similar nature to 
_ that in squares, conditions in these two cases are so different that 
the results are not strictly comparable, and therefore separate tables 
have been made for squares and bolls. The effects of feeding and 
_ egg punctures also call for separate classification. This treatment 
of the subject necessarily multiplies the number of tables, but we 
hope that it will render the results more easily intelligible. The 
personal equation of the observer has been equalized by combining 
the records made by a number of investigators. 
31022—No, 59—06——2 
