Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-06
GUATEMALAN ANTS
EIGHTY-NINE COLONIES 10 BE
TAKEN TO TEXAS.
They Will Be Experimented With in
Killing the Boil Weevil on Gov.
eminent Reservation.

| Eighty-nine colonies Of the boll-weevil-
Killing Guatemalan ants have arrived In
| New Orleans under the care OF DR. O. r.
Cook, tropical botanist of the Department
OF Agriculture, who discovered them and
are to be set at work at once In Texas.
They are said to be harmless creatures,
| save to boil weevils, will eat from the hand
and otherwise behave themselves with de-
corum.
These now famous ants were accidentally
found by DR.. Cook during his travels In
Guatemala. He had been sent there by
the Department of Agriculture TO make a
study OF the rubber industry, when he dis
covered cotton growing luxurantly despite
the presence of the devastating weevi
He thought the variety of cotton one i'm
mune to the insect, but after considerable
study learned that such was not the case,
but that the weevils were killed by myriads
Of ants which inhabited the cotton fields
The ants are fond of the juices within the
heart of the cotton boil, but In eating do
not injure the plant. The weevil is also
fond of this juice, but he not only drinks
the juice, but eats the tender heart of the
boil as side dish. Adopting the principle
that self-pyeservation Is the first law OF
nature, the Guatemalan ants lie In wait
for the weevil and put him out of business
with few carefully planted thrusts OF
their stings. The nectar Is then at the
disposal of the ant.
Will MOI AuJuro the COttOu.
They are guaranteed not to injure
cotton, man or beast, and their introduction
into the Texas fields and their work there
are awaited with intense interest, not only
by the scientists of the Department of Agri-
culture. but by the entire commercial world.
The small weevil has become q fearsome
monster In the eyes of the cotton growing
peoples of the earth and all sorts of RENEE
dies have been suggested. Not until the
discovery of the Guatemalan ant, however,
has anything been found that was not as
bad or worse than the weevil
OF course, the scientists of the depart
ment are not prepared to assert that this
ant will do the same work In his
tive haunts, but unless there is legal in
reference he will be given a fair trial.
This interference is threatened from Tex
as, where Ross l.. Clark, a cotton planter
living near Houston. has applied to the
courts for an injunction to restrain DR..
Cook from turning his ants loose the
soil Of Texas within the jurisdiction OF the
court. 1t is not expected by the govern
ment officials that the injunction will pre-
vail and the experiments will be begun at
once on the government agricultural reser-
walton, Professor Hunter being given
charge of the creatures.
No Cause for Fear.
B. T. Galloway, chief OF the bureau OF
plant industry of the Department of Agri-
culture, under whose directions DR.. Cook
has been working said that the fear OF
Mr.. Clark was, from what he had learned.
unfounded and that the ants were not at
all destructive to anything of value to
man, and only killed the boil weevil. They
will not be turned into the cotton fields OF
any planter unless request is made or
the department and the experiments under
the direction of Professor Hunter will be
exclusively carried out before even this
much is done. 1t is not known just how
the imported ants will act when they get
foot loose on the free soil of America, and
until their characters have been fully prov
en- they will be kept under strict surveil-
lance and not be permitted to wander from
the limitations of the government expert
ment station.