4 BULLETIN 918, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
has to be well prepared and thoroughly cultivated in order to con- 
serve the moisture. The cotton planting begins about February 15 
and may continue until June if there are June rains or water in the 
river. The land is planted as soon as possible after it dries out, as 
this is necessary to secure germination. 
Cotton is the principal crop grown in this section, and while there 
are small areas devoted to corn, wheat, beans, and alfalfa, most of 
the planters use their land year after year for cotton and buy the 
feed for their domestic animals elsewhere. No very reliable data 
are available on acreage and production in the Laguna, but the an- 
nual production varies from 60,000 to 150,000 bales, with an aver- 
age crop of from 75,000 to 80,000 bales. The yield varies from one- 
fourth bale to 2 bales per acre, with an average of from one-half to 
three-fourths of a bale. All of the cotton is of the short-stapled 
varieties, as it has been found by experience that these give better 
results than the long-staple or Egyptian varieties. 
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PINK BOLL WORM. 
The species is widely distributed throughout the cotton-producing 
world, and according to Gough {12) z is now known to occur in India, 
Palestine, Mesopotamia, Ceylon, Burma, Straits Settlements, China, 
Japan, the Philippine and Hawaiian Islands, East Africa, Zanzibar, 
Egypt, Sudan, West Africa (Southern Nigeria, Sierra Leone), Brazil, 
Mexico, and Texas in the United States. It has more recently been 
found in a limited area in western Louisiana adjoining the infesta- 
tion in eastern Texas. 
INTRODUCTION INTO MEXICO. 
The pink bollworm was introduced into Mexico in 1911. During 
that season two importations of Egyptian seed were made. One 
consisted of 125 sacks and was planted near Monterey, in the State of 
Nuevo Leon. The other, consisting of 6 tons, was planted near San 
Pedro, State of Coahuila, in the Laguna district. From what is known 
of the abundance of the pink bollworm in Egypt in 1911 it is probable 
that both shipments of seed were infested and that both of them con- 
tributed to the present infestation in Mexico. Cotton culture has not 
been continued in the vicinity of Monterey, but the crop of Egyptian 
cotton produced there in 1911 attracted considerable attention and 
much of the seed was shipped to the Laguna. 
At the present time the pink bollworm is generally and uniformly 
distributed in the Laguna. 
PRESENT DISTRIBUTION IN MEXICO. 
Outside of the Laguna district the pink bollworm is known to be 
established in three localities in Mexico. One of these is at Santa 
3 Italic numbers in parentheses refer to " Literature cited," p. 57. 
