Boll Weevils

Today's picture features a boy in a cotton field picking Boll Weevils off the cotton plants. The picture was taken in 1937 in Macon County, Georgia. Boll Weevils are a severe problem for cotton farmers. If a field of cotton is infested, the crop is lost. Trying to pick them off by hand would be a desperate, and in the end, pretty much useless exercise. I guess they were doing all they could to try to save some of the cotton crop. I grew up on a cotton farm in the 1960's and can remember how much fear there was about losing a crop to Boll Weevils, even in the 60's. Today I think that they have pesticides that will take care of the problem, but Weevils are probably still a concern for farmers.