Then, during the years from 1916 to 1918, the trickle swelled to a flood, and except for a brief period immediately after the war the torrent persisted for more than a decade. Cotton the encyclopedia of oklahoma history and culture. The boll weevil is best known for causing severe damage to cotton production. The southeast boll weevil eradication program was designed to eradicate the boll weevil from about 500,000 acres of cotton in the remaining part of north carolina and in northern south carolina. Ecological principles solve the boll weevil problem. By the 1920s anthonomus grandis, the boll weevil, was causing more economic damage than any agricultural pest in u. Giesen is published by university of chicago press. Boll weevil blues will make an important contribution to our understanding of american history, particularly the agricultural, social, and racial history of the cotton south.
Boll weevil the insect known as the boll weevil anthonomus grandis decimated the cotton based agriculture in alabama and the rest of the cotton growing states in the south beginning in the early twentieth century. May 31, 2017 why an alabama town has a monument honoring the most destructive pest in american history the boll weevil decimated the souths cotton industry, but the city of enterprise found prosperity instead. The portal to texas history a gateway to rare, historical, and primary source materials from. Both cotton growers and scouts must remain aware of how to identify boll weevils and the damage they cause, as well as how to scout for this pest. On december 11, 1919, the citizens of enterprise, alabama, erected a monument to the boll weevil, the pest that devastated their fields but forced residents to end their dependence on cotton and to pursue mixed farming and manufacturing. Many songs about the boll weevil were recorded by blues musicians during the 1920s through the 1940s.
Between the 1890s and the early 1920s, the boll weevil slowly ate its way across the cotton south from texas to the atlantic ocean. Between the and the early the boll weevil slowly ate its way across the cotton south from texas to the atla. A 2020 journal of economic history study found that the boll weevil spread between 1892 and. Cotton production declined steadily for another 60 years, and only rebounded when the boll weevil was finally chemically eradicated in georgia in 1990.
Although the boll weevil has been successfully eradicated from mississippi cotton fields, it must never be forgotten. Ten years later, one estimate revealed that 700,000 bales of cotton were ruined by the boll weevil population in one year, totaling costs of 42 million in texas. Giesen destroys the myth that the boll weevil ruined cotton production, causing us to rethink the reasons for the failure of cotton farming, as well as its. Boll weevils are black, reddishbrown, or gray in color. A 1961 adaptation by brook benton became a pop hit, reaching number. During the late 1890s and early 1900s, an insect called the boll weevil made its way from texas to the rich cotton plantations of the mississippi delta. These weevils measure an average of 6 mm in length.
Cotton production moved in advance of the weevil, creating a boom in cotton plantings in areas that were weevil free. The book includes four roughly chronological case studies tracking the boll weevil from. In conjunction with mechanical harvesting, defoliants were sprayed to eliminate plant leaves. The weevil went through four stages of development, taking about 25 days to mature. This was followed in 1987 with a program in the remainder of south carolina and in florida, georgia and southern alabama. The boll weevil be damnedthis book will leave its mark on the field of southern history. This was followed in 1987 with a program in the remainder of south.
Boll weevilthe insect known as the boll weevil anthonomus grandis decimated the cotton based agriculture in alabama and the rest of the cotton growing states in the south beginning in the early twentieth century. At that time cotton was the primary crop in a largely agrarian region, but cotton. Read boll weevil blues cotton, myth, and power in the american south by james c. A brief history of the boll weevil monument youtube. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
The biography of a revolutionary fiber by stephen yafa. The truth about the boll weevil lesson plan mississippi. While the boll weevil did create significant problems for southern farmers, it hardly altered the souths reliance on cotton as the most important cash crop. Boll weevil, anthonomus grandis, beetle of the insect family curculionidae order coleoptera, a cotton pest in north america. Still, the areas hardest hit in the state seem to have been in clear decline well before the boll weevil s arrival. Other areas that relied on cotton attempted to fight the boll weevil with hardly any success until the early 1980s, when.
Female boll weevils lay their eggs inside cotton plant buds. Dec 29, 2004 great book telling about two basic strains of cotton, history of britain taking india over cotton, how cotton influenced the civil war and how inventors made fortunes making machines to process it. Boll weevil the handbook of texas online texas state. May 17, 2017 cotton production moved in advance of the weevil, creating a boom in cotton plantings in areas that were weevilfree. Boll weevil infestation boll weevils, small greybrown beetles about onequarter inch, or six millimeters, long feed off of the fibers in cotton seed pods bolls. The boll weevil, a beetle of the order coleoptera, differed from the cotton bollworm, a moth larva.
At the turn of the century, some texas counties were reporting crop losses of over 70 percent, as were areas of louisiana, arkansas, and mississippi. Boll weevil is a traditional blues song, also known by similar titles such as boweavil or boll weevil blues. Measuring an average length of six millimeters onequarter inch, the insect entered the united states via mexico in the 1890s and. The lack of a killing freeze for these plants results in nursery areas to maintain or increase boll weevil populations. The actual impact of the boll weevil on cotton production, he asserts, was far less important than the rise and power of the myth of the boll weevil on the southern psyche. Some weevils have the ability to fly, such as the rice weevil.
But this particular beetle, and its hunger for cotton, was powerful enough to forge an unprecedented partnership among farmers, legislators and scientists. Congress ignored georgias plea, but the boll weevil was one of the most insidiousand smallestfoes the state ever faced, fully justifying the legislatures cry for help on august 12, 1909. This is an original, smart, and sophisticated book. The boll weevil anthonomus grandis is not much to look at just a grayish, little beetle with an impressively long snout. The chapter on the fight against the boll weevil that really was just mostly solved just recently.
The cotton boll weevil is the most destructive pest of the cotton crop. Why an alabama town has a monument honoring the most. The boll weevil, the cotton economy, and black migration 1910. Unlike other references that focus solely on growing the crop, this book also emphasizes the cotton industry as a whole, and includes material on the nature of cotton fibers and their processing. In giesens account, the history of the boll weevil in georgia comes closest to the myth as there is a clear correlation between the new pest, declining cotton production, and outmigration of the black labor force. By the time the boll weevil reached the limits of the cotton belt, it had destroyed much of the regions chief. Boll weevil blues is interdisciplinary history as it should be written. Life history and habits distinction between boll weevils and acorn. The boll weevil anthonomus grandis attacks cotton crops. The cotton boll weevil anthonomus grandis is the most devastating agricultural pest in american history, and was called a wave of evil. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading boll weevil blues. This video gives a brief history of the boll weevil monument, located in enterprise, alabama.
The cotton boll weevils threat to the yazoomississippi delta at the start of the. Cotton squares infested by the boll weevil during the larva and adult stages of the insects life cycle. Roosevelt, conservative southern democrats were part of the coalition generally in support of roosevelts new deal and harry trumans fair deal economic policies, but were opposed. Hunter and hinds, 1904 and by 1922 had spread across the entire cotton growing region of the southern usa showler, 2009. Introduced to the united states from mexico in the 1890s, the boll weevil was a severe agricultural pest for nearly 90 years, until the launch of an aggressive multiyear. Boll weevils beetles which feed on cotton buds was an american political term used in the mid and late20th century to describe conservative southern democrats during and after the administration of franklin d. Boll weevil is a new world pest of cultivated cotton and occurs in all central american countries where cotton is cultivated, mexico, the united states, cuba, hispaniola, colombia, venezuela, brazil, and peru.
Courtesy of mississippi department of archives and history, farm bureau federation collection, pi2010. The female weevil punctures immature cotton bolls with its probiscis and then lays an. The group adopted the name of the boll weevil, a pest destructive to cotton crops, because of the difficulty of eradicating the weevil and the pests southern habitat. The grain or wheat weevil sitophilus granarius damages stored grain. The boll weevil, the cotton economy, and black migration 19101930 for a half century after the civil war a trickle of black population had flowed out of the south. So rapid has been its spread, since it first invaded a few counties in southern texas about 1892, that practically 90 percent of the entire cotton belt of the south is now infested. The truth about the boll weevil mississippi history now. Nonetheless, a bloc of conservative democrats, mostly southerners, remained in the united states congress throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Boll weevil eradication program national cotton council of. The boll weevil is a snout beetle anthonomus grandis first named by carl h.
The boll weevil anthonomus grandis is a beetle which feeds on cotton buds and flowers. The office of plant industry services oversees the survey to ensure that program standards. The boll weevil eradication program has helped thousands of u. In the early 1700s, cotton cultivated in the state was used mainly for home spinning and weaving. The portal to texas history a gateway to rare, historical, and primary source materials from or about texas. When the boll weevil threat reappeared in the 1990s, farmers, with the support of oklahomas board of agriculture, formed the oklahoma boll weevil eradication organization and collected fees from growers to control the insects. History, cost of control, and benefits of eradication abstract georgias history and cotton production have been inseparably woven together since 1733, when the colony was founded and cotton was first planted in trustees garden, near savannah. It wasnt until the invention of the cotton gin later that century that cotton became a cash crop in louisiana.
You are called upon to consider ways and means for arresting the progress of the mexican cotton boll weevil. The boll weevil war, or how farmers and scientists saved. Department of agriculture toured an area in southern texas in 1894 and reported that around 90 percent of the cotton crop was damaged due to the boll weevil. Cotton, myth, and power in the american south as an etextbook and get instant access. Lynette tanner, owner of frogmore plantation, presents a natchez history minute about the devastation wrought on the misslou economy by the infestation of the boll weevil. Although it pays due respect to the economic conditions facing southern farmers in the early twentieth century, this fascinating book is really about the blues, about race, and about the cultural impact of the boll weevil on the region and its history. Thought to be native to central mexico, it migrated into the united states from mexico in the late 19th century and had infested all u. Hundreds of landowners were forced to sell their land and even more tenant farmers and sharecroppers left the south, with many moving north and west in search of employment in what.
Farm boy with sack full of boll weevils he has picked off the cotton plants. Courtesy of mississippi department of archives and history. Great book telling about two basic strains of cotton, history of britain taking india over cotton, how cotton influenced the civil war and how inventors made fortunes making machines to process it. Has a monument honoring the most destructive pest in american history. Other areas that relied on cotton attempted to fight the boll weevil with hardly any success until the early 1980s, when a federal program to eradicate them began. In addition to chemical control, the boll weevil eradication program relies on and promotes farmers using cultural controls such as planting during the most advantageous periods of time, using rapidly maturing varieties, harvesting early and thoroughly and destroying crop residues and failed plantings in. Cotton, myth, and power in the american south, james c. The boll weevil crossed the border from mexico into texas in 1893. Other weevils are used for biological control of invasive plants. Boll weevil monument enterprise, alabama atlas obscura. The lyrics deal with the boll weevil anthonomus grandis, a beetle, which feeds on cotton buds and flowers, that migrated into the u. Thank you for your support and cooperation in the collection of the bale assessment fees required by the georgia boll weevil eradication act of 1985 o.
More than this, you are expected to devise means to permanently exterminate the weevil. If you need to print pages from this book, we recommend downloading it as a pdf. Yield losses associated with the boll weevil reduced cotton acreage from a historical high of 5. Describes the life cycle of the cotton boll weevil, the damage it causes, and. The national boll weevil eradication program ranks close to eli whitneys invention of the cotton gin as one of the greatest advancements ever for the u. The boll weevil feeds on cotton pollen, but does its damage by laying eggs on cotton flower buds, called squares, or on the young developing cotton boll the songs often address boll weevil as a he or mr.
The cotton boll weevil eradication program consists of monitoring cotton fields for the presence of the cotton boll weevil and treatment if boll weevils are found. The impact of the boll weevil environmental history. Why an alabama town has a monument honoring the most destructive pest in american history the boll weevil decimated the souths cotton industry, but. Cotton, myth, and power in the american south kindle edition by giesen, james c download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Erected in 1919, the monument honors the boll weevil, a pest which destroys cotton crops and was once the scourge of southern, mexican and south american, agriculture however, as always. Introduced to the united states from mexico in the 1890s, the boll weevil was a severe agricultural pest for nearly 90 years, until the launch of an aggressive multiyear eradication campaign in 1978. This video was created for history students grades 912, but. Similarly, seed dropped in a cotton field at harvest may germinate the following year although the producer planted the field to corn. But as the cotton spread, so did the boll weevil costing cotton growers billions in revenue. In the tradition of mark kurlanskys cod and salt, this endlessly revealing book reminds us that the fiber we think of as ordinary is the worlds most powerful cash crop, and that it has shaped the destiny of nations. The costs associated with this survey program are paid by virginias cotton producers. This federalstategrower cost share program has helped thousands of u. American society for environmental history forest history society.
Oct 12, 2016 the boll weevil greatly affected georgias long history of cotton production between 1915, when the insect was introduced to georgia, and the early 1990s, when it was eliminated as an economic pest. Giesen destroys the myth that the boll weevil ruined cotton production, causing us to rethink the reasons. The cotton boll weevil, anthonomus grandis, entered the usa from mexico in 1892 w. Ranging from its domestication 5,500 years ago to its influence in creating calvin kleins empire and the gap, stephen yafas cotton gives us an intimate. However, a rendition by lead belly recorded in 1934 by folklorist alan lomax led to its becoming wellknown. The result are numerous cotton fruit utilized by boll weevils for reproduction sites. During the late 20th century, it became a serious pest in south. The boll weevil decimated the souths cotton industry, but the city of. Unfortunately, this book cant be printed from the openbook.
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