METHODS OF CONTROL FOB GENERAL APPLICATION. 99 
bu"-s arc doubtless eradicated bv the methods of destructioo of cotton 
stalks advocated by the Bureau of Entomology, i.e., bypilingin wind- 
rows and burning. In addition to the direct destruction of the in- 
many nymphs would fail to reach maturity in a well-cleared field, 
and the adults would be deprived of favorable conditions for hiber- 
nation offered by cotton plants left standing in the fields during the 
winter. 
Associated with these methods, and probably of equal importai 
is the practice of destroying early in the season wild food plants of 
the plant-bugs which attack cotton, thus checking the multiplica- 
tion of the insects which later turn their attention to the cotton 
bolls. The wide range of food plants known for nearly all the species 
dealt with in this bulletin indicates the strong advisability of clean 
cultivation and the prevention of the growth of weeds along fences 
and roadsides close to cotton fields. 
DIRECT METHODS OF COMBATING PLANT-BUGS IX COTTON FIELDS. 
Under certain circumstances contact insecticides may be of us* 1 
again>t plant-bugs in cotton fields, but only when they occur in 
such excessive abundance that all methods of collecting are imprac- 
tical. Kerosene emulsion will probably prove the most effective 
spray, but before using on a large scale preliminary tests should be 
made to determine the required strength. 
Hand-picking of the conchuela has already been discussed and 
detailed information regarding this measure given. The good re- 
sults obtained by the use of this method of control against the 
cotton stainer or "red bug" in Florida have also been referred to- 
This is in many cases the only practical method of protecting the 
cotton crop against severe injury. Its success i< dependent for 
the most' part on the size and conspicuousness of the specie-- dealt 
with and on the efficiency with which the work of the pickers is 
supervised. The foregoing detailed discussion of the destructive 
capabilities of plant-bugs indicates the amount which a cotton 
planter can afford to invest in hand-picking. The season of the 
year must be taken into consideration in the estimation of this 
point. In general, it may be said that in midsummer from 10 to 25 
cents per hundred, according to the abundance of the pests, a or day 
labor at the rate of 50 cents to $1.25 per 'lay is not too great an 
investment for collecting the larger species of plant-bugs which 
may be found attacking cotton bolls. Such expenditures, judi- 
ciously made, will undoubtedlv result in saving from destruction 
a The scarcer the bugs the more one ran afford to pay per 100 collected, owi] 
greater individual destructiveneaB heretofore explained. 
