The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-11-22
HISTORY OF BOIL WEEVIL
AND RAVAGES 1T WROUGHT

In view of the coming invasion by
the boil weevil, the following history
of the bill weevil by State Entomolo-
gist Worsham, of Georgia, Will be or
interest:
Sixteen years ago, the attention Of
the officials of the United States Du-
reau OF entomology was directed to
an unfamil ar beetle damaging the
cotton crop in the vicinity of Browns
willie, Texas. This proved to be the
cotton boil WeeVil, long known IN
Mexico, but up to that t me unknown
in this country. It's enormous ca
pacity for damage and the fact that it
threatened the very existence Of the
cotton industry were at once appre-
ciated, active experimental researches
were undertaken to determ ne its
Ia bits, and the best method of con-
troll.
Evidence indicates that the orig.~1l
home OF the boil weevil was in the
plateau region of Mexico or Central
America, which may, likewise, nave
been the original home of the cotton
plant. 1t crossed the line into Texas
about 1892. and since that time has
been steadily spreading its range over
the cotton belt. Starting from
Brownsville as q center, the limits OF
the infested territory have been eX-
tended in all directions, but especially
toward the northeast, from 40 to 10,
or eVe more miles per year, g the
average increase amounting to $50
square miles per annun. BY 1908,
western Louisiana had been reached;
by 1907, the western line of Missis-
sippi; by last year the extension
along the immediate gulf coast being
except onaily great, the Alabama line
marked the eastern boundary of the
boil WeeVil territory. Today several
Of the western counties OF Alabama
are infested, and the weevil seems
likely to reach half way across the
State by the end Of the magistration
Of this fall. With UGH advance, it
seems probable hat the boil weeVIi
will reach Georgia by the end Of 1911
1t is both certain and inevitable that
from two to three years nor at the
latest. southwest Georgia will be in
vaded.
We have had other cotton pests
which threatened to be most serious,
but artificial means have been found
to check them. Often, the course
of years, nature herself has checked
their raVages. Unfortunately in the
case of the boil Wevil, no such hope
can be extended. There are certain
factors in it's economy which preclude
any hope of our being able to devise
means to cXterminate it, to prevent
its ultimate spread throughout the
cotton belt or even to aprec ably dl-
minish its numbers, nor are there any
grounds for expecting that nature,
even in the course of considerable
time, will reduce it to the role of an
unimpOrtant pest, as she has done
W tn other insect enemies.
1t is scarcely necessary to relate the
statistics of the damage done b. the
weevil III Texas and other southwest
ern States, facts already familiar to
the cotton grower and to the general
public. When the weeVil first invadeS
Il district, the loss to fire.
quently 80 per cent Of the crop. Later,
as the planters learn how to cope with
the WeeVi1, destruction is decreased.
and in some infested diStr cts of Texas
the planters are producing as much
as tehy did before the advent of the
wceVil, although at an increased cost
Of production. AS the WeeVil is reach
ing the eastern States, owing to the
different nature of the country, the
prevalence of much brush and timber
and the humid climate, it is proving,
as predicted, very much more de-
structiVe and difficult to combat than
in the arid, open prairies of Texas.
Measures Of control that were appl-
cable cannot always be practiced here.
The total loss occasioned by the
WeeVil is estimated for 1908 at $780,
coo, 900. This loss was proportiOnate-
ly much heavier in Louisiana and
Mississippi than in Texas.
Cotton production in Louisiana,
1901-1909:
1901, 1902. 1909. 1904. 10
Bales produced
..., 49,. 49,. ~1,0S0,526 513,
$50 262 223 265
Az. lbs per acre for entire cotton belt
1870 1885 174.5 204>9