BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY AND PLANT QUARANTINE 75 
INFESTATION IN THE COASTAL BEND AREA 
The Coastal Bend quarantine district of Texas includes the counties 
of Brooks, Kleberg, Jim Wells, Nueces, and the northern half of 
Kenedy. The first pink bollworm infestation was found in gin trash 
at Kingsville, in Kleberg County, on July 27, 1938. A proclamation 
was issued by the Governor declaring these counties a pink bollworm 
regulated area, and on August 8 an amendment to the State pink boll 
worm quarantine proclamation was issued by the commissioner of 
agriculture, establishing rules and regulations governing the move- 
ment of cotton and cotton products for the remainder of the season. 
There was no seed sterilization at gins during the 1938 season because 
no facilities were available at the time for sterilization of cottonseed; 
however, gins were required to observe all sanitary measures to prevent 
the contamination of lint. Seed sterilization was required for outside 
movement only. 
Effective November 17, 1938, Federal Pink Bollworm Quarantine 
No. 52 was revised to include the counties of Brooks, Jim Wells, 
Kenedy, Kleberg, and Nueces as part of the lightly infested regulated 
area. At the end of June practically all ginners in the Coastal Bend 
district had made definite arrangements for the installation of steri- 
lizers as a continuous process of ginning, and a considerable number of 
these machines had been installed. 
A proclamation was issued by the State of Texas on September 21, 
1938, making the destruction of 1938 stalks mandatory and establishing 
the dead line for completion of such work b} 7 October 15. This date 
was later extended to November 1, however, owing to climatic condi- 
tions. At the expiration of this date stalks had been cut in all fields 
with the exception of 456 acres, most of which was destroj-ed by 
December 1. Also, most of the volunteer or stub cotton was destroyed 
by the end of December. Of the estimated 215,343 acres of 1938 
cotton, only 12,054 acres remained unplowed on November 1. In con- 
nection with the stalk-destruction program, the State Department of 
Agriculture found it necessary to file two complaints for noncom- 
pliance. Stalks in both these fields were destroyed shortly thereafter. 
CONTROL IN THE LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY 
The fight against the pink bollworm in the lower Rio Grande 
Valley of Texas and Mexico is considered by the two countries as a 
common problem. Approximately 260,000 acres were planted to 
cotton in the four counties involved on the American side and 150.000 
in the Mexican regulated area in this valley for the 1938 crop season. 
Gin-trash inspections of the 1938 cotton crop in the lower valley 
area revealed a considerable increase in the degree of infestation over 
that of the 1937 crop. Consequently, a more vigorous clean-up was 
planned and carried out during the 1938 crop season. The State of 
Texas issued an amendment to the stalk-destruction proclamation for 
that area requiring that all stalks be cut by October 1 and that 
the plowing up of roots to prevent stub growth be completed by 
October 15. 
On May 1, 1939, one specimen of the pink bollworm was found on 
a stalk of sprout cotton in a field about 8 miles northwest of Browns- 
