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棉子象鼻蟲 (Boll
Weevil) 在阿拉巴馬州受到表揚：1919年12月11日
棉子象鼻蟲只有6公釐大小 (比你的指甲還小) 。之所以會被稱為棉子象鼻蟲，是因為這種昆蟲會毀壞棉花球，以及含有棉花的種子莢。這種寄生生物在1890年代從墨西哥進入美國，並且在1915年擴散到阿拉巴馬州的東南部。現在這種昆蟲仍然是北美洲最具破壞性的昆蟲。
棉子象鼻蟲迫使農人必須要改種其他不同的農作物，例如花生等。不過，這些農作物不但能夠恢復因為種植棉花而遭到破壞的土壤養分，同時也為農人帶來相當成功的收穫。有些農人過於固執，不願意種植棉花以外的農作物，因而損失慘重，有些人甚至因此失去他們的農莊。
The boll weevil is a beetle measuring an average length of six millimeters (shorter than the average length of the nail on your pinky finger). It's called the boll weevil because it destroys the cotton boll, the seed pod that contains the cotton. The parasite entered the United States via Mexico in the 1890s, and reached southeastern Alabama in 1915. Today it is still the most destructive cotton pest in North America.
The boll weevil forced farmers to switch to growing different crops, such as peanuts, which not only returned vital nutrients to soils depleted by cotton cultivation, but also was a successful cash crop for local farmers. Some farmers stubbornly refused to plant anything but cotton and they suffered for it, sometimes losing their farms.
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