THE PINK BOLLWORM 21 
specimen was found in a field near the oil mill at Beaumont by 
inspector H. C Millender, and on October 25 specimens were taken 
at Anahuac, in Chambers County, by H. S. Hensley. The first 
two of these infestations were undoubtedly due to the Mexican 
seed which had been shipped to the United States in 1016. The 
infestation in Chambers County, however, can not be attributed 
to such shipments. It was found to extend around Galveston Bay 
from Smiths Point to the vicinity of Texas City. It was heavier 
near the bay and diminished regularly toward the interior. Aftei 
considerable investigation, in which all possible theories were 
weighed, the conclusion was reached that this infestation was 
probably due to Mexican bales of cotton which were shipped to 
Galveston in 1915. During this year several thousand bales of 
cotton from the Laguna in Mexico reached Galveston by way of 
El Paso. This cotton was on the docks at Galveston at the time 
of the hurricane of August, 1915. With several thousand bales of 
Texas cotton it was washed from the docks and distributed around 
the shore line, in some cases 75 miles away. Many of the bales were 
broken open by the force of the water. It is well known that 
Mexican bales contain large numbers of seeds, and cotton plants 
were found growing along the high-water line during the fall of 
1915 and the spring of 1916. This theory, while not altogether 
satisfactory, is considered by August Busck, who has paid more 
attention to the study of the pink bollworm than any other entomol- 
ogist, to be an adequate explanation of the present situation around 
Galveston Bay. 
As soon as the presence of the pink bollworm in Texas was dis- 
covered, the Federal Horticultural Board, in cooperation with the 
Department of Agriculture of the State of Texas, undertook active 
measures to eradicate it. The work consisted at first of scouting to 
determine the limits of infestation, the destruction of any possible 
infestation remaining in the fields, and the safeguarding by various 
means of the cotton produced in the infested fields and in neighboring 
ones during the season of 1917. 
The work of removing any possible infestation from the fields 
consisted in uprooting or chopping down the plants, the collection 
by hand of all locks or portions of locks which were found on the 
ground, and the burning of all the accumulated trash. In this work 
1,624 acres of land in the vicinity of Hearne was cleaned, and 7,170 
acres in southeastern Texas. The work was not confined to fields in 
which infestation was actually discovered, but included fields at a 
considerable distance beyond the outermost points found infested. 
It involved the employment of an average of about 500 laborers for 
the months of November, December, January, and February, and a 
portion of March. In many cases the laborers were assembled in 
'•amps and housed and provisioned by the department. In other 
cases, where the work was in the vicinity of towns, it was possible 
to employ local labor. The safeguarding of cotton products from 
the infested areas in 1917 consisted in the milling of the seed under 
supervision al certain mills selected because their construction would 
enable the work to be done witli practically no danger of disseminat- 
ing the pest. The baled cotton, as far as possible, was caused to be 
exported or shipped directly to northern mills. 
