COTTON 
255 
which led to experimental work. Headquarters are main¬ 
tained at Victoria, Texas; Dallas, Texas; and Tallulah, 
Louisiana, to study the life, history, habits, and methods 
of controlling the pest under actual farm conditions. The 
following preventive measures are recommended by Agri¬ 
cultural workers and should be followed by active farm¬ 
ers in controlling the boll weevil: 
1. Collect and burn all cotton stalks and other rubbish 
where the boll weevil may hibernate during the winter. 
2. Practice fall plowing. 
3. Select good seed and plant early maturing varieties. 
4. Plant the cotton as early as possible but try to 
avoid killing frost. Plant in rows wide enough to permit 
late cultivation. 
5. Practice crop rotation so that cotton will not follow 
cotton. 
6. Use fertilizer to hasten the growth and fruiting of 
the crop. 
7. Cultivate timely and thoroughly. 
8. Get your seed from areas free from the boll weevil. 
Poisoning the boll weevil with dry calcium arsenate 
is very effective and economical in areas where we have 
sufficient moisture in the form of dew to collect and dis¬ 
solve the calcium arsenate powder. Where it is not prac¬ 
tical to use calcium arsenate many farmers are applying 
commercial spray mixtures and mixtures of their own 
make with fair results. 
Another familiar cotton pest is the boll worm. This 
insect may best be controlled by planting rows of corn 
through the cotton field at distances so as to attract the 
insect when it makes its appearance. 
Cotton Diseases.— Cotton is subject to several fun¬ 
gous diseases such as, boll rot, cotton wilt, and cotton 
rust. The best method of handling these diseases is to 
