The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-21
PSYCHOLOGISTS REPORT
Feared That Insects Spread
 Cannot Be Prevented.
Ehe Years Work of the Experts of the Agricultural Department Has Not Been Without
 Some Result, However.
Advertiser Bureau,
 Colorado Building,

Advertiser Bureau,
 Colorado Building.
 Washington, Nov. 70. The Department of Agriculture today publishes an important bulletin on the Mexican cotton boil weevil and the dam ge it has caused this season. The publi- fatton is as follows: The most serious menace that the cot on planters of the South have ever been fompelled to face is the Mexican boil Teevil. which is ravaging the cotton elds of Texas. The weevil has not been ound outside that State. except in the Instance which occurred at the Louisiana Bugar Experiment Station at Audubon Park. in the environs of New Orleans.
 Tn that case the circumstances have ed the Louisiana authorities to the con- Fictions that the pests were purposely laced in the cotton plots by some inter &sted person. The station authorities Promptly destroyed all the cotton of the experimental plots by picking the fallen ruit, uppooting and burning the plants, nd subsequently, plowed and flooded the and after 1t had been thoroughly sprayed Eith crude petroleum.
 ''As tSere are no cotton fields within len miles of Audubon Park, and several nominations by the station entomologist ailed to reveal any weevils, it Is very robable that the colony was completely xterminated.
 The difficulties in the way of controll- lg the boil weevil lies much in It's hab- s and manner of work as in the pecu- lar industrial conditions involved in the reduction of the staple in the Southern tates.
 Habits of the Weevil.
 The weevil lives in all stages. except ha of hn 1lanf FeIl protected from any poison that may e applied. and in that stage takes food ply by inserting its beak within the lbstances of the plant It is remark bly, free from sthe attacks of parasites nd diseases, occupies hut fourteen days or development from egg to adult and ae sgrOaeny of a sstnass iSsSsI ia a stssss son iay reach ls4iWo.OOo Of individuals.
 ''The weevil adapts itself to climatic coalitions to the extent that the egg tage alone in November may occupy as nuch time as all the immature stages bgether fin July or August. These fac prs combine to make it one of the most ifficult insects to control
 ''The territory at present affected by he boil weevil is entirely in Texas. The earest approach to the Louisiana line
 in immediate vicinity of Timpson. twenty-five miles away. The nearest ap- roach to Shreveport is Wood County. bout 100 miles distant. On the north it as been found in the vicinity of Sher- nan, just south of the Red River, in the seion between the latitude of Greenville nd the Red River. The weevil Is only ,atteringIy present and has caused no eneral dama age. It will require nearly vo years for it to reach such numbers s to materially reduce the normal pro- uction.
 Percent of Destruction.
 "Although many conditions make 1t very ificult to reduce to figures the damage 4used by the weevil, calculations made
 the divisions of entomology of the nited States Department of Agriculture, ased upon statements showing the pro- uction of cotton in ten leading counties in exas when the boil weevil was absent nd when 1t was present. and showing the lcrease in ten other counties when the eevil was absent at both similar peri ds. appear to justify the estimate that 1e total damage caused by the insect is bout 50 per cent. Upon this basis tEA exas planters have suffered loss of B. 00O 900 during the present season, and his estimate. it is stated. agrees with hose of conservative cotton statisticians. "As the normal cotton crop of the nited States is estimated to represent value of 900. th~ probable ulti- ate damage when the pest has become bread over the entire cotton belt. pro ding nothing were done to check it, ould be in the neighborhood of $250, 0,o01. IO annually. Nevertheless, there are con lions at work that seem to indicate nat planters in weevil regions are grad lllv adopting changes in their system producing the staple that have ten- nncy to avoid damage.
 ''The work of the United States De- ,rtment of Agriculture with the boil eevil consists of field experiments and boratory investigations. w. D. Hunter the Division of Entomology, assisted several entomologists, has charge Of he investigations in Texas.and E A. ,hwarz of the division has conducted udies in Cuba.
 Work in tn Field.
 "The field work comprises tracts of tton grown in such manner as to con- flute demonstrations of the means nec- sary in order that the staple may be oduced profltably in spite of the weevil. he fields are located at six different hints representing the five regions in pxas, which. by reason of variation in innate and soil. constitute as many dis net cotton districts.
 Tn these fields every eXpedient that hS been found 10 De uSeIul m dNOlulnB image by the weevil Is being tried. The ork of the division of entomology dur 2 the season of 1902 demonstrated that is possible to produce cotton profita- V in spite of the weevill; the work of 2 present season shows this again un- IT different conditions of climate and n and in addition furnishes practical monstrations of the value of the rec nmenda tlons of the division to planters six different points in the State.
 In the laboratory the life history of e pest is being carefully investigated. addition, MT. Schwarz has spent sev- al months of the present year in Cuba udying the manner in which natural nditions. whether of parasites. diseases, matic conditions. or of bringing about degree of resistance on the part of the ant control the insect where it has isted as an enemy of the cotton plant much longer period than in the nited States. He found what he sup ees to be the original food plant of the