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CIRCULAR No. 167. Issued January 28, 1913.
United States Department of Agriculture,

BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY.

L. O. HOWARD, Entomologist and Chief of Bureau.

THE MOVEMENT OF THE COTTON BOLL WEEVIL IN 1912.

By W. D. Hunter and W. D. Pierce,
Of Southern Field Crop Insect Investigations.

The movement of the boll weevil during the season of 1912 is of
special interest on account of the checks the insect received by the
very unusual climatic conditions of the winter of 1911-12. Not-
withstanding this setback the insect has made a net gain of 7,300
square miles.

The map (fig. 1) shows the extent of the infested territory in 1912
and in various preceding seasons. There are three points that are

especially noteworthy in connection with this map. One of these is
the failure of the insect to extend into central Oklahoma as far as it
did in 1906. The second is a comparatively small loss of territory
along the northern border in Arkansas and Mississippi. The third
is the fact that the weevil has been able to maintain itself prac-
tically to the western limit of the area of continuous cotton culture
in the central part of Texas. The western limit of cotton culture in
Texas is far beyond the line showing the limit of the weevil-infested
territory, but the intermediate area has very few cultivated fields,
separated by long stretches of pasture lands.

The line marking the limit of the infested territory at the end of
the season of 1912 runs as follows:

In Texas, beginning at Del Rio on the Rio Grande in Valverde County; thence
including Roosevelt in western Kimble County, Menardville in Menard County,
Abilene in Taylor County, Jacksboro in Jack County; retreating between Jacksboro
and Decatur, excluding Arlington in Tarrant County, Letots, Mesquite, Lancaster,
Richardson, Farmers Branch, and practically all of Dallas County, but including
Farmersville in Collin County; excluding Sherman in Grayson County; leaving the
State at the northeast corner of Fannin County.

In Oklahoma, from a point opposite the northeast corner of Fannin County, Tex.,
the line follows the river valley, includes Hugo, and leaves the State in the northeast
corner of McCurtain County.

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ounty, Conway in Kaulkner County, Crarendon in Monro / :

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THE MOVEMENT OF THE BOLL WEEVIL IN 1912.

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MAP SHOWING
SPREAD OF COTTON BOLL WEEVIL

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Fiq. 1.—The spread of the cotton boll weevil\in the United States from 1892 to 1912. (Original. )

THE MOVEMENT OF THE BOLL WEEVIL IN 1912. 5.

In Mississippi the line passes a few miles below Batesville in Panola County, about
2 miles south of Springdale in Lafayette County, through Algoma in Pontotoc County,
just below Plantersville in Lee County, about 3 miles northeast of Amory in Monroe
County, and leaves the State at Galtman.

In Alabama, according to Dr. W. E. Hinds, the line passes near Belk in Fayette
County, through Gordo in Pickens County, across the southwest corner of Tuscaloosa
County and the northeast corner of Hale County, through Sprott in Perry County, 6
miles east of Selma in Dallas County, through Farmersville in Lowndes County, north
of Greenville in Butler County, 4 miles east of Glenwood in Pike County, and leaves
the State 3 miles west of Geneva in Geneva County.

In Florida the line passes about through Prosperity and Ponce de Leon. There is
very little cotton in this section.

The following table shows the gain and loss in square miles in the
various States. Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Mississippi show losses,
while Texas, Alabama, and Florida show gains above the area affected

in 1911.
Total area infested by the boll weevil in 1912.

|Area infested

State. pprea infested | Gain in 1912. | Loss in i912. | “ees

Square miles. |\Square miles. | Square miles. | Square miles.

BUTE RASS oe ole oie ae ae ae a in wa amon aala ain aol 139, 300 11,050 650 | ae
isi 40, 800

We are indebted to Dr. W. Ex Hinds, of the Alabama Agricultural
Experiment Station, for data on the advance of the boll weevil in
Alabama.

Approved:
JAMES WILSON,
Secretary of Agriculture.
WasHineton, D. C., November 29, 1912.

DDITIONAL COPIES ofthis publication
may be procured from the SUPERINTEND-
ENT OF DOCUMENTS, Government Printing
Office, Washington, D. C.,at 5 cents per copy

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES

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