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棉子象鼻虫 (Boll
Weevil) 在阿拉巴马州受到表扬：1919年12月11日
棉子象鼻虫只有6公厘大小 (比你的指甲还小) 。之所以会被称为棉子象鼻虫，是因为这种昆虫会毁坏棉花球，以及含有棉花的种子荚。这种寄生生物在1890年代从墨西哥进入美国，并且在1915年扩散到阿拉巴马州的东南部。现在这种昆虫仍然是北美洲最具破坏性的昆虫。
棉子象鼻虫迫使农人必须要改种其他不同的农作物，例如花生等。不过，这些农作物不但能够恢复因为种植棉花而遭到破坏的土壤养分，同时也为农人带来相当成功的收获。有些农人过于固执，不愿意种植棉花以外的农作物，因而损失惨重，有些人甚至因此失去他们的农庄。
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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