COTTON 
179 
some instinct, that the juice of the boll will soon 
glue the opening shut, and her offspring will be 
protected and safe. Sometimes two or three eggs 
are laid in each boll. In just two or three days the 
egg is hatched, the young larva develops, trans- 
forms to pupa, and eventually completes its cycle, 
this time becoming a beetle— the final stage of 
weevil growth. 
These beetles join the hosts of other workers, 
and soon a vast army, scattered here and there, 
seek new squares and growing bolls, and they too 
lay their eggs, contributing their share to the 
new broods, and to the destructive depredations. 
So then we see that there is a constant succession 
of generations from the time of the earliest ap- 
pearance of volunteer plants until the end of 
the season. This description of affairs readily 
suggests the tremendous hosts at work, destroy- 
ing the crop and blasting the hopes of the cotton 
planter. 
The greatest enemy of the weevil is frost and 
cold weather. When these come late in the season 
the latest broods mature and seek winter quarters, 
in which they may hibernate during the winter 
months. Thus a late season is favorable. On 
the other hand, where frost and cold come early, the 
last broods are caught and nearly all are killed. 
The surviving beetles have secured their winter 
quarters either before, or do so now, and sleep 
silently until spring's choice days bring them back 
again to the strenuous life they fill so well. 
WHERE HELP LIES 
"Is there no hope of ridding the land of the 
pest?" ten thousand people ask. 
