The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-21

a. +E-.-iieM OF no blooms are to Be seen
49,, ne pants. A field may be in fuu
III, v,'Iiil, buI as soon as the insect gets
v-@--t- t .iea9 over II and accomplishes its
affeH ~ 4e sl.s, bloom viii be seen soon
~ - LHe sqlares are attacked thew most
~ tlEh yellow and fail TO the Ground
9L-tno1 or Hibenation-Tt seems urob-
e@,ole that a considerable percentage of
c-ll- "-JFlis winter over in bOlls. i'm the
csils which they have formed therein
S..lleI as transformed Weevils or as pupae
~ perhaps even as larvae. That they
may sometimes winter as Larvae serr,ls
proven from the finding. as above mem
1Io.eu q very small larvae from the
le-sL OF november 10 the middle of De-
Celnper- They probably winter more fire.
luentiy as pupae. the latetr having been
roeHd IN the bolls as late as any exami-
--s-t ~ were made, I. G.. up to the middle
Of December. Newly Transformed adults
I were found plelufully in the boIls also
Tt,olllis the whole time Of my investiga-
But there are many other individuals
Delonglng to the earlier broods which have
iss1ea and certainly will not re-ealter the
DctLs 70 hibernate. The question is.
1 where do these hibernate2 In san Juan
Ailenue, where the fields are irrigated,
mere are many cracks in the earth,
caused by the rapid drying of the. soil
dIler lrrlgaung. on a cold day there il
was found that some of the WeeVils had
cIdWied into these cracks, and many
WeeNlls hibernate in such cracks ana un-
refuse.
Weevils were also found in Auende on
| the cold day above referred TO (NoV. %
| fallen leaves.
In fields where neither cracks, clods,
/ nor fallen leaves exist, as happens often
| in Southern Texas, where the plants re-
main green until late in winter, many
weeVils probably winter in the squares
and under the leaves at the base of the
| bolls. At Alice and Benavides, Tex, the
| plants were perfectly green Dec. II, there
having been no frost. In field there,
on that date, many weevils We're found
inside the squares, as many as four in
one square; also at the bases of the bolls
Many were neither feeding nor oviposit-
ing, but were perfectly Inactive. The
squares afford excellent protection to the
weevils in cold or in rainy weather. Dur
ing the rainy weather in San Juan Al
lende (Noy. % weevils were found nu-
merously huddled in the squares by threes
and fours.
in March, showing that the insect can
successfully withstand quite severe cold.
The weather bureau record show that
twice during the past winter severe frosts
were experienced all over the infected re-
The natural spread of the insect BY
fight is slow. and il is questionable
whether it would have travelled from its
original home to the regions now IN
tested by flight alone, since the cotton
growing regions are widely separated by
districts in which no cotton is grown.
1t may have other food plants although
as previously state. none have yet been
discovered. Should it be found that IL IS
confined to cotton, 1t has probably been
carried from one cotton-grOWing region
to another in loads of unginned cotton
when being taken to the gin. 1t Is by
such artificial portage that large share
of its future spread Will be brought about
though when it has once entered re
gion or more or less continuous cotton
fields, il will spread by flight from one
field to another season after season.
Twelve years ago a few, specimens OF
this weevil were sent to the department
of agriculture from Mexico, with the
bare Statement that it was known TO feed
upon cotton No details were given,
however, which indicated that an inVesti-
cation was necessary. In the summer or
1894 it was sent to the department by
several cotton growers in Texas, and II
was at once realized that unless checked
the insect would become very serious
enemy to the cotton crop Of the United
States. An investigation was Immediately
begun. A special agent, Prof. G. H.
Tyler Townsend, was appointed who
travelled through the affected regions or
both Texas and Mexico, and gathered the
information upon which this circular IS
based. He has been temporarily stationed
at Brownsville, Tex, for the purpose OF
studying the life history OF the insect the
year through, in the hope that such an
investigation will reveal some point in
the habits of the species which will rem
der the suggestion of some practical
remedy possible The attention of the
Texas state authorities has been called
to the Importance of the insect, and TO
the apparent danger of allowing it to In
crease and spread. The legislature. dur
ing it's present session, will consider the
aQNlSlDllty OF adopting quarantine ana
restrictive measures, and of enforcing re-
medal work.
II is early at yet to suggest remedies,
since the department has not had an
opportunity to conduct any extensive eX~
periments. So much yet remains to be
found out about the life history of the
insect that anything which can be said
in this direction at present must be
largely theoretical. Living, as the larYa
does, in the interior of the bud or boil
it cannot be reached by ordinary insects
cides, although an application of paris
green or london purple, as for the cot
ton worm, made when the bolls begin
to form, may kill a certain percentage
of the adult weevils, since these feed, to
some extent, on the outside of the bols.
A great deal of good, however, can be
done and the insect can be largely re-
duced in numbers by picking all affected
bolls at the time of the cotton picking
and burning them. If each cotton picker
be provided with a separate bag in which
to collect the infested bolls it would not
involve a great amount of extra labor
to gather these as the cotton is picked.
In regions where other crops can be
grown, it will be well to practice rota-
ton of crops, and not grow cotton two
seasons in succession upon the same
land. r. NJ. d.