TIIK I'INK IIOI.I.WOKM. 
HOW THE INSECT SPREADS. 
The moth which is the parent of the pink bollworm is a fragile 
insect and, can fly no great distance. II' the spread of the species 
depended upon the flight of the adult its dispersion into new regions 
would he very slow. However, the fact that the immature stages occur 
in cotton seed, furnishes a ready means of artificial spread over great 
distances. (Sec fig. 2.) In Egypt experiments have shown that the 
larvae may live within the cotton seed for as long as seven months. 
Tins would allow the insect to he transported to the most remote 
quarters of the earth. It is altogether likely that the original home 
of the species was in Asia and that various parts of Africa have 
become infested by ship- 
ments of seed from that 
country, as was the ease in 
the Hawaiian Islands. 
OCCURRENCE OF INFESTED 
SEED IN BALED COTTON. 
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Fig. 3.— The cotton belt of the United States, from which 
all shipments of Egyptian cotton seed are excluded by 
quarantine. (Original.) 
During the course of the 
investigation of the possible 
introduction of the pink 
bollworm into the United 
States it was found that a 
considerable number of 
seeds are to be found in the 
bales of Egyptian cotton. It appears that a certain number of seeds 
pass around the ends of the rollers in the gins, and some may pass 
between the roller and the knife through small openings due to wear. 
When the possibility of the introduction of the pink bollworm, in 
seeds in bales of lint, came to attention an investigation was made in 
certain mills in New England and the South where Egyptian cotton is 
used. The picker waste from37baleswasohtained and examined care- 
fully. The number of seed recovered varied from 27 to 600 per bale, the 
average per bale being 215. It was noticed that the number of seed 
found in the picker waste depended upon the grade of the cotton — 
the lower grades having many more seeds than the better ones. 
In the seed recovered from the picker waste of 37 bales 15 dead pink 
bollworms and 1 live one were found. The great majority of the seed 
appeared to be uninjured by the compression of the cotton. Baled 
cotton is therefore dangerous and the danger, of course, is greatest 
in the case of mills located in the cotton belt where cotton fields are 
frequently in close proximity. (See fig. 3.) 
