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there is often one for every boll in the field. [Illustration: FIG. 175. THE LARVA OF THE COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL INJURING A SQUARE] This weevil is proving very hard to destroy. At present there seem but few ways to fight it. One is to grow cotton that will mature too early for the weevils to do it much harm. A second is to kill as many weevils as possible by burning the homes that shelter them in winter. [Illustration: FIG. 176. PUPA OF COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL FROM ABOVE AND BELOW Greatly enlarged] [Illustration: FIG. 177. THE PUPA OF THE COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL IN A SQUARE] The places best adapted for a winter home for the weevil are trash piles, rubbish, driftwood, rotten wood, weeds, moss on trees, etc. A further help, therefore, in destroying the weevil is to cut down and burn all cotton-stalks as soon as the cotton is harvested. [Illustration: FIG. 178. A COTTON BOLL WITH FEEDING-HOLES OF WEEVIL, AND BEARING THREE SPECIMENS OF THE INSECT] [Illustration: FIG. 179. THE MEXICAN COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL, SHOWING STRUCTURE] This destroys countless numbers of larvae and pupae in the bolls and greatly reduces the number of weevils. In addition, all cornstalks, all trash, all large clumps of grass in neighboring fields, should be burned, so as to destroy these winter homes of the weevil. Also avoid planting cotton near trees. The bark, moss, and fallen leaves of the tree furnish a winter shelter for the weevils. [Illustration: FIG. 180. A SERIES OF FULL GROWN WEEVILS, SHOWING VARIATIONS IN SIZE] A third help in destroying the weevil is to rotate crops. If cotton does not follow cotton, the weevil has nothing on which to feed the second year. [Illustration: FIG. 181. MAP SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF THE COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL IN 1913] In adopting the first method mentioned the cotton growers have found that by the careful selection of seed, by early planting, by a free use of fertilizers containing phosphoric acid, and by frequent plowing, they can mature a crop about thirty days earlier than they usually do. In this way a good crop can be harvested before the weevils are ready to be most destructive. CHAPTER VIII FARM CROPS Every crop of the farm has been changed and improved in many ways since its forefathers were wild plants. Those plants that best serve the needs of the farmer and of farm animals have undergone the most changes and have received also the greatest care and attention in their production an
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