also in Guilford, Caswell, Person, Granville, ^ake, Chatham, Orange, Johnston, 
Wilson, Pitt, and Lenoir Counties, IT. C, Prior to 1938 the pest was practically 
unknown on the farms in this Country.' The lofe^es by tobacco growers were prin- 
cipally as follows: (l) Leaves badly damaged by larvae in the bulks and dis- 
carded during stripping and grading; (2) a greater quantity of scrap tobacco^ 
resulting fron grading; and (3) loss in weight and quality of the infested 
tobacco sold. The degree of damage on individual farms ranged from slight injury 
to leaves of the first and second curings to losses .as high as 33-1/3 percent of 
the crop. The season of 1938 was generally* favorable for the development of the 
insect. The populations of moths were larger in storage warehouses of cured 
tobacco than in 1937. Due to* unusual climatic conditions the flue- cured tobacco 
crop matured about 30 days earlier than normal, which brought about a correspond- 
ing early curing season. The abundant moth popnilations and the loncg storage period 
in the growers’ pack houses brought about by the early curing season are believed 
to be important factors causing the serious outbreak on the farms, (V . D, Reed, 
Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarnnt ine, U. S* D. A.) 
BOLL WEEVIL 
The loss caused by the boll weevil, which began a downward trend in 1933, 
continued downward until 19 36 , increased slightly in 1937 , und increased still 
more in 1938. A higher- than-aver age number' of weevils entered hibernation in the 
fall of 1937 , but the percentage of survival in 1938 war much lower than the 
unusually high survival the previous year. In the hibernation cages at Florence, 
S. C., and Tallulah, La., the survival in 1938 was about one-tenth, and at 
College Station, Tex., it was one-fourth as great as in 1937* Despite the lower 
percentage of survival, the larger number of weevils entering hibernation caused 
the weevils to be more numerous in the fields early in the spring in most parts of .. 
the Cotton B e lt than for the past several years. In the States along the Atlantic 
seaboard the 1938 weevil damage was greater than it ’has been for a number of years 
and was particularly heavy in the sea— island cotton in Georgia and Florida, In 
the middle and Delta sections of the Cotton Belt the damage was considerably 
greater than in 19^6 or 1937, but was still below average. Weather conditions in 
these areas were favorable for development during the early season but a hot, 
dry spell early in July temporarily checked the weevils and permitted early cotton 
to nature with but slight damage. Late cotton, however,- was severely damaged. At 
Tallulah, whore the increase in yields obtained by dusting over a period of years 
is used as an index of weevil damage, the average gain was 9* ^ percent, or about 
half as great as the 10-year average of 19,3 percent. In eastern and southern 
Texas, where the damage has been much higher than average for the last 2 years, the 
damage in 1938 dropped t a below normal in southern Texas and to about normal in 
eastern Texas, Early frosts and defoliation by leaf worms ( Alabama argil lacea 
(ITon.)) reduced th- number of weevils that entered hibernation this fall to about 
th>- usual numbers, except in the States along the Atlantic seaboard, where probably 
more than average numbers went into hibernation. (U. c. Loft in. Bureau of 
Entomology and Plant Quarantine, U. S. D. A.) 
BOLLWORM 
^Damage caused by the bollworm was more severe and occurred more generally 
in 193° than for a number of years. Reports of injury were received from prac- 
tically all of the Cotton States from the Atlantic seaboard to the irrigated 
sections of the Southwest. Damage was especially heavy in the river bottoms of 
