The Green Forest tribune., 1914-12-25

evil. Fig. 2-cotton Square Punctured . Boil Weevii in Flight.
 many sections, and this is now the basis of all farm demonstration work in this direction
 MT. Hunter has surrounded himself for the past ten years with an ade- quate force of trained specialists who have been watching every phase of the problem. In addition to the boll-weevil problem, MT. Hunter is in charge of all insect investigations affecting cot ton, sugar cane, tobacco and rice. But as if these were not enough to occupy the attention of this exceeding ly active man, he also directs the in- vestigation of insects affecting the health of man and animal, including cattle ticks, stable flies, house flies, and the diseases of malaria, pellagra and Rocky mountain spot fever. He is thoroughly versed in the minutest phases of these problems. A great deal of his time is also taken up as member of the federal horticultu- ral board whose duty Is to protect this country from the importation of injurious plant and animal pests from abroad. MT. Hunter is presi- dent of the Washington Entomologi- cal society and editor of its proceed ings. He is a member of the Cosmos club and of many other scientific or ganizations.
 For the purposes of this article MT. Hunter has furnished the following interesting statement relative to the boil weevil:
 "The boil weevil will undoubtedly reach the border of Georgia during the present season and may extend it's range some little distance within the state. If it had not been for rather unusual circumstances the invasion of Georgia would have been extensive. Among these circumstances was an early frost in 1913 which killed many of the weevils and drove others into Information far ahead of the usual date. Many of these weevils would have continued their flight into unin- fested territory if it had not been for the early frost The other reason for an unusually restricted dispersion of movements in 1914 was the dry weath- CT of August and early September. This prevented the development of many weevils, and is important in connection with dispersion, the ex- tent of which depends largely upon the volume of weevils present in the territory from which the flight takes place. Although the movemeE -' 1914 will not be as extensive aaHt o movements of some other seasGns there will be continuous spread from year to year, and the average distance covered will undoubtedly continue to be in the neighborhood of fifty miles each season.
 'One of the most important recent discoveries about the boil weevil is its occurrence on a wild cotton-like plant in Arizona. This plant grows in mountain canyons and has furnished food for the weevil for many centu- ries. It has been found from expert. ments performed recently that the Arizona weevils need only the pres ence of cotton to transfer their attack against that plant. The importance of the discovery lies in the fact that the Arizona weevil has acquired an ability to stand extreme arid condi. tions. It is the absence of such pow. CT on the part of the form of the boil weevil which occurs outside of Arizona that has prevented the inva- sion of the drier portions of Texas. Tn connection with the recent dis. cussion of the necessity of reducing the production of cotton in the United States it has been proposed by mum. Der of persons that the time is op. perfume for the eradication of the weevil by compelling the abandonment of cotton for one year at least in all of the territory which has been reached by the insect up to the present time. There are very serious practical diff. culties in the way of this plan. Spe- cial legislation would have to be en. acted, and very large appropriation would be required to enforce the regu. lations. Undoubtedly in many localf ties there would be strong disinclina- tion on the part of the planters to ! abandon cotton, and strict measures would be necessary to bring about general action. Moreover, there is much volunteer cotton in the South each year, especially after wild win ters. Seeds which fall from the bolls in the fall frequently live through the winter and are planted unintentionally in the preparation of the ground the following season. About gins and oil mills many volunteer plants grow. Where the conditions are favorable large numbers of such plants are also to be found along the rights-of-way ot railroads. In this case the plants spring from seed that are dropped from the passing cars. Very thorough work would have to be done in every locality throughout the South to guard against the breeding of weevils on vol unteer plants.'