exas, and then rapidly spread. It is easily
transported from place to place in seed-cotton, and for this reason the
Egyptian government in 1904 prohibited the importation of American
cotton seed. Not only is the pest carried from place to place, but it
also migrates, and in 1907 it crossed from Louisiana, where it first
appeared in 1905, to Mississippi. That the insect is likely to prove
adaptable is perhaps indicated by the fact that in 1906 it made a
northward advance of about 60 m. in a season with no obvious special
features favouring the pest. Its eastern progress was also rapid. "The
additional territory infested during 1904 aggregates about 15,000,000
sq. m., representing approximately an area devoted to the culture of
cotton of 900,000 acres" (_Year-book, U.S. Dept. Agriculture_, 1904). In
1906 the additional area invaded amounted to 1,500,000 acres (_Ibid._,
1906).

The adult weevils puncture the young flower-buds and deposit eggs; and
as the grubs from the eggs develop, the bud drops. They also lay eggs
later in the year in the young bolls. These do not drop, but as the
grubs develop the cotton is ruined and the bolls usually become
discoloured and crack, their contents being rendered useless.

No certain remedy is known for the destruction on a commercial scale of
the boll weevil, but every effort has been made in the United States to
check the advance of the insect, to ascertain and encourage its natural
enemies, and to propagate races of cotton which resist its attacks.
Special interest attaches to the investigations made by Mr O. F. Cook,
of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, in Guatemala. The Indians in part of
Guatemala raise cotton, although the boll weevil is abundant.
Examination showed that although the weevil attacked the young buds
these did not drop off, but that a special growth of tissue inside the
bud frequently killed the grub. Also, inside the young bolls which had
been pierced a similar proliferation or growth of the tissue was set up,
which enveloped and killed the pest. Probably by unconscious selection
of surviving plants through long ages this type has been evolved in
Guatemala, and experiments have been made to develop weevil-resistant
races in the United States. Mr Cook also found that the boll weevil was
attacked, killed and eaten by an ant-like creature, the "kelep."
Attempts have been made to introduce this into the infested area in
Texas; but owing to the winter proving fatal to the "