The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1922-09-14

crop. A 1alf lQed Ol lle pOSSlDllillSs
of loss is afforded by the gains which
have secured in recent poisoning ex-
periments where weevil injuries have
been eliminated. Gains of five, six
or even seven hundred pounds of seed
cotton per acre due to poisoning are
not unusual, ard in exceptional in
stances, gains have exceeded thous
and pounds.
Prospects in Newly Invaded Territory
The boil weevil is now distributed
over almost all the important cotton
producing sections, with the exception
of North Carolina. Practically the
only other territory remaining unin-
fected is the zone along the western
margin of the cotton belt. Some OF
this territory has been invaded in the
past, and the weevilS have been driven
back by adverse weather conditions
Whether the weevil will ever become
seriously injurious in this territory
is problematical, but 1T has shown
marked ability to adopt itself to un'
favorable conditions. Just how fan
this adoption will extend is impossi'
BILE to predict.
The progress of the weevil invas'
ion has caused one erroneous impress
sion. When the weevil invaded a new
district, complaint is made of its Sc
rious injury to the cotton crop during
the first two or three years, and ther
little more is heard of it. This nat
urally leaves the impression that the
weevil is seriously injurious in a new
territory for only a few years, ther
passes onward. This impression, how
ever, is not sustained by facts. II
is true that when boil weevils first
invade a community there is nearly
always more or less panic and de-
cided tendency to blame the weevi
invasion for all short crops resardles:
of real causes. Furthermore, the sue
cessful production of cotton in the
presence of weevils requires some
what different methods from those
practiced before the advent of the
weevil and it usually takes the farm
ers two to three years to learn anc
adopt these methods. After fe"
years the farmers become accustomed
to the weevil injury, learn to distin'
guish between loss due to the weevi
and that attributable to ether cause:
and are able to reduce weevil injury
somewhat by proper farming prac
tices, the first fear has been overcome
and comparatively little is said on tht
subject. Farmers on the eastern por
tion of the cotton belt even expires:
the idea that the boil wevil is M
longer doing any damage in Texas.
Description and Life-History of the
Boil Weevil.
The adult weevil is about one-fourtf
of an inch long, varying from one
eighth to one-third of an inch, with
breadth about one-third the length
This measurement includes the snout
which is approximately half the length
of the body. Variation in size is due
to the amount of food the insect ha:
obtained in the lava stage. 1ndivid'
uals from bolls are therefore nearly
always larger than those from the
squares. The color (grayish OF
brownish) depends upon the time that
may have elapsed after transforma'
tion to the adult stage. The re-
Gently emerged individuals are light
yellowish in color, but this changes tt
gray or nearly black in few weeks
time.
Hundreds of species of weevils may
be easily mistaken for the boil weevl
Many erroneous reports about the oc-
curance of boil weevils far outside
the infested area have been due to
this similarity. The only sure way to
determine whether an insect is the
boil weevil is to send it to an ento-
moligist for examination.
HibernatiOn.
AS has been pointed out, the boil
weevil passes the winter in the adult
stage. At the time in the fall that
frosts occur, immature stages may
still be found in the squares or bolls
If the food supply is insufficient,
many of these immature stages con-