Historic, archived document Do not assume content reflects current scientific ly natural enemies, 22 — At least seven annual generations in southern portion of belt, and probably more, 22. 9. Migrations and Power of Flight of the Moth 21 The Moth has great power of wing, 2:3 — It tlies many hundreds of miles north of cotton belt, 23 — Appearance of the Worm on cotton first planted great distances from any other cotton, thus accounted for, 23 — Migrat- ing habit developed only in later moths when they become numerous, 24. 2.0. Hibernation 24 Different opinions and beliefs, 24 — Difflculty surronndiug the question, 24 — Erroneous conclusions easily drawn, 25 — Fallacy of the belief that the chrysalis winters underground, 25-26 — Ability of the Moth to sur- vive the winter, 26 — Other Moths easily mistaken for it, 27 — Theory of annual introduction of the species from some exotic country, 28 — Arguments for and against the theory, 29-30 — Hibernation of the Moth in the southern portion of the belt substantiated, 30 — But a very small proportion of those which abound in the Fall live to perjietuate their kind the next spring, 31 — Localities where the Moth hibernates, 31. 11. Natural Enemies 31 Vertebrates 33 Quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles that feed upon the Worm, 32 — Introduc- tion of English sparrow, 33. Invertebrates 33 PredaceoHs Insects 33 Wasps, Ants, and other Hyinenoptera, 34 — The good work of Ants, 34 — How they are drawn to a cotton-field by the Aphides, 34 — Beetles which prey iipon the Worm and others which presumably do so, 35 — Enemies among the Half- winged Bugs or Heteroptera, 36 — Among Two- winged Flies or Diptera, 36 — Among Nerve- winged Insects or Neuroj)- tera, 37. Parasites 38 Previous belief that none preyed on Aletia, 38 — Infesting the egg, 3S — Infesting and issuing from the Worm, 39 — Flesh-flies and Tachiua-flies, differences between them, 40-42 — Issuing from the chrysalis, 42 — A Parasite known but not named in 1852 — Ten distinct Parasites infest- ing Aletia, and two other undetermined species, 47. 12. Remedies: Means of Coping with the Insect 47 Favorable showiug as to what has been accomplished in the South since the war, 48. Prevention 48 Modes of cultivation, 48 — Topping, 48 — Use of early varieties, 48 — Iso- lating fields, 48 — Diversified agriculture, 49 — Potation of crops, 49 — Protection of natural enemies, 49 — Early vs. late planting, 49 — Inter- spersing corn with cotton, 49 — -Jute, 49. Mechanical means of killing the Worms. 49 Simple methods of brushing and dragging, 50. Machines for brushing off the Worms 50 The Ewiug brushing machine, 50 — The Helm brushing machine, 51 — The Wood-Smith brushing machine, 52 — The Iske brushing machine, 53 — Use of kei'osene and coal oil with shallow pans or cloth frames, 54. Poisoning thB Worms 54 Impetus given to invention by the use of mineral poisons, 54 — Value of concerted action, 54 — General principles to be observed in poisoning, r.5 — Dry vs. wet applications, 55 — Advantage in being prepared, 55. TABLE OF CONTENTS. V Page. 12. Remedies : Means of Coping with the Insect — Continued. Poisoning the Wokms. — Contiuued. Arsenical Compounds 55 Their value, 55 — Safe and harmless where carefully used, 55 — Caution necessary, 56 — Autidotc to arsenic poison, 56 — Paris greeu, 56 — When first recommended against the Cotton Worm, 56 — Its value, advantages, and disadvantages, 56 — Modes of using it, 57 — Patents issued for Paris green mixtures, 57 — They should be disregarded, 58 — Arsenic, 58 — It causes the squares to fall, 58 — Patent granted for its use in 1871, 59 — Johnson's Dead-shot, 59 — Arseuiate of soda, 59 — Texas Cotton Worm destroyer, 60 — Lodi pest iioison, 60. London Purple 60 Its nature, and how produced, 60 — Its efficacy as an insecticide, 60 — Analysis of, 60 — It proves a valuable poison for the worms, 61 — Cheaper than Paris green, 62 — Its persistency, 62. Pyrethrum Powder 62 [ts origin and nature, 62 — Its remarkable iusecticide qualities, 62 — Most effectual on the Cotton Worm, 63 — Perfectly harmless to man, 63 — The extract of the i)lant has the same virtue, 63 — Growth of the plant in California, 63 — Experiments conducted, 64 — The alcoholic extract very i)otent, 64 — Probable cost of using it, whether as powder or extract, 65 — Highly encouraging prospects from its use, 65. Kerosene Oil 65 It causes instant death to the worm, but is difBcult to apply without injuring the plant, 66 — Vaporized by means of steam, 66 — Used as a soaj), 66. Cotton-Seed Oil 6b Acts much as kerosene, 66 — Made mto soap with ashes from hull of seed, 66 — Might be profitably used around oil factories, 66. Carbolic Acid 67 As a means of keeping off the Moth, 67 — Will not kill the Worm without injuring the plant, 67. Sulphur 67 Extracts or Decoctions from various Plants 67 Yeast Ferment : Fungus infection 68 Proposition by Dr. Hagon, 68 — Dr. Bail's experiments, 68 — Not in accord with leading mycologists, 68 — Experiments with beer-mash, 69 — With beer mash and east ferment, 70. Machines and Contrivances for powdering 74 Simple contrivance for mixing, 74 — Ordinary method of applying dry poison, 75 — Patented machines, 75 — Hand duster, 75 — The Willie duster, 75 — The Hurd blower, 76 — Combined duster and sprinkler, 78 — The Davis duster, 78 — The Levy duster, 79 — The Taylor duster, 80 — The Allen duster, 81 — The Young duster, 81— The Goodheart duster, 81. Machines and Contrivances for sprinkling and spraying 81 Gray's hand sprinkler, 81 — The Rnggles sprinkler, 82 — The Ramsey sprinkler, 82 — The Taylor sprinkling apparatus, 83 — The Townsend sprinkler, 83 — The Willie si)rinkler, 84 — The Schanck sprinkler, 84 — Peck's spray machine, 84 — Fountain pump, 85 — Machines for spray- ing on a large scale, 85 — The Goodin sprinkler, 85 — The Yeager sprink- ler, 86 — The Ruhmann sprinkler, 87 — The Johnson spray machine, 88 — The Warner saddle sprinkler, 90 — The Binkley atomizer, 90 — The Schicr atomizer, 91 — Ruhmann's improved atomizer, 93 — The Daugh- try atomizer, 94. VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page. 12. Remedies : Means of Coping with the Insect — Continued. POISOXING THE WORMS. — Coutluiied. Macliincs for applying Vapors The Steinmaiin vax)orizer, 97 — Tlie Pearl vapor generator, 99. Destructiox of the Moth Results so far not encouraging, 100 — Action must be taken early in the season, 100. Lamps for attractiiiy tlic Moth 100 Usually resorted to when too late to do practical good, 100 — Fires, 100 — Trouble of keeping them up throughout the night, 101 — Beneficial in- sects killed by lamps and fires, 101 — Advantage of lamps, 101 — The Garrett lamp, 101 — The Biukley lamp, 102 — The McQueen lamp, 103 — The Eigel lamp, 104 — The Walker lamp, 103 — Simple form of lamp, 104 — The Pugh lamp, 104 — Lamps in motion, 10.5 — Le Blanc's Cot- ton-Moth Destroyer, 105 — The Fordtran Cotton-Moth Detroyer, 105. Poisoned Sweets and Fluids as Means of destroying the Moth 106 Sweets attractive, 106 — Eipe fruits and melons often suffer, 106 — Baits that allure and kill, 106 — Experiments with them, 107 — Moths less attracted during summer than in autumn, 107 — Little inducement to use baits in autumn, 108 — They are most beneficial in spring, 108 — White rags, 108 — Theory of Dr. J. L. Lupton. Appendix : 10& Answers to circular from West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, 109 — From Evergreen, Ala., Ill — From Henderson, Tex., 113 — From Hempstead, Tex., 115 — Different views as to hibernation and mode of perpetuation of the insect, 116 — Answers to circular from Livingston, Ala., 117 — From parish of Concordia, La., 119 — From Natchitoches, La., 122 — From Jackson, Miss., 126 — From Larissa, Tex., 127 — From Perry Co., Ala., 128 — From Walterborough, S. C, 128 — From Jamestown, Fla., 130 — From San Antonio, Tex., 131 — From Kirkwood, Miss., 133 — From Woodville, Miss., 135. \ I EXPLANATION TO PLATE 1. Figs. 1, 1, 1. Eggs. Fig. 2. Newly-hatcbed larva, or first stage Fig. 2, a. LarvfE in second stage. Figs. 2, 6, 6, 6. Larvfe in third stage. Figs. 2, c. Larvfe in third stage, suspended by silk. Figs. 2, d, d. Larrae in fourth stage. Fig. 2, e. Larva in fifth stage. Fig. 2,/. Larva in sixth or last stage, and full grown; side view and pale form. Fig. 2,17. Larva full grown ; side view; dark form. Fig. 2, 7i. Larva full grown : back view. Fig. 2, i. Larva in fifth stage, in act of springing. Fig. 3. Chrysalis just changed and freed of its cocoon. Fig. 3, a. Chrysalis partially covered and ready to give forth the moth. Fig. 3, 6. Cocoon entirely surrounding chrysalis. Fig. 4. Female moth with wings expanded. Fig. 4, a. Female moth with wings closed; back view. Fig. 4, 6. Male moth with wings closed ; side view. Figs. 5, 5, 5, 5. Membranous patches of leaf, showing how the parenchyma is eaten by yonng worms. INTRODUCTORY. The following text of a circular, (listributecllast summer in the cotton - growing States, will help to an introduction to this bulletin: [Circular No. 7.] EELATING TO THE COTTON WORM. Department of the Interior. Office of the U. S. Entomological Commission, , 18—. Mr. : Dear Sir : The undersigned has for many years keenly felt that there was great need of more accurate knowledge of the habits of the Cotton Worm (^Jletia argillacea) and of the other insects injuriously afi'eeting the cotton plant, as also of more satisfac- tory means of counteracting their injuries. Recognizing the vast importance of the subject to the people of the South, one of his first efi'orts, after accepting the position of entomologist to the Department of Agriculture, in May, 1878', was to commence a special investigation looking to those ends. An appropriation to the Department was obtain(;d for the purpose, and the investi- gation M'as carried on under his direction up to the time of his resignation, on the first of May last. Since that time Congress has required the United St ates Entomological Commission to continue the work, and said Commission, at a late meeting, decided to place this part of its work in his charge. On behalf of the Commission he would, there- fore, call the attention of correspondents to the following questions and topics, with the request that answers thereto, or experience thereon, be returned to him some time before October next. Some correspondents whom this circular will reach may already have answered a more detailed one, sent out last year by the writer while connected with the Depart- ment of Agriculture. He would beg such to again give their experience on the fewer topics of the preeent circular. 'He will be glad to receive figures, either photographs or drawings, of machines or contrivances employed for the wholesale use of the Paris-green mixture, either in the fluid state or as a powder; or any other kinds of machines or traps emploj^ed for the destruction of the insect. Models of such are still more dcsiralde, and maybe sent by express, unpaid, to the headquarters of the Commission. Correspondence is solicited whenever any expense must attend the carrying out of these requests, in order that au- thority may be given to make the necessary outlay and thus insure the refunding of the amount. Respectfully, CHAS. V. RILEY, Chief U. S. E. C. 1. During what year was cotton first grown in your State, county, or locality? 2. How many years elapsed after cotton first began to be grown before the worm began to work upon it ? 1 KI 2 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. 3. Is the worm most dreaded after a mild or after a severe winter ? 4. Do wet or dry siimmers favor its multiplication ? 5. What is the earliest date at which you have known the worm to appear in spring? 6. In what locations does it most often first appear? 7. What is your experience, and what are your views, as to the winter habits of the insect ? 8. What natural enemies of the worm among birds, quadrupeds, or insects are you familiar with ? 9. What has been the result of the efforts to allure and destroy the moths, and what methods have proved most satisfactory ? Give your estimate of the relative value for this purpose of poisoned sugar, molasses, and vinegar, or other poisonous substances, and "fires. 10. Are the moths most attracted to sweetened substances when smeared upon trees, boards, &c., or when contained in vessels in or near which lamps may lie lighted? 11. Are any flowers tnown to be attractive to the moth? If so, specify them and their season of blooming. 12. What do you know, from your own observation, of the influence of jute grown near or with the cotton ? 13. Has anythiug been found more generally useful and applicable, or cheaper, than the use of the Paris-green mixture, or of arsenic in some form, to destroy the worms? 14. Have you known of any injurious effects following the use of this poison, either to the plant, to man, or to animals? 15. State what you consider the best and most effective method of destroying the worms in yoiir section. 18. State the cost per acre of protecting a crop by the best means employed. ^^'Correspondents icill confer a favor numheriny flie replies to correspond with the questions, and hy tvritiiig on bu t one side of the paper. The need of such an- investigation, and even of a mucli more thorough, one than the limited means so far appropriated therefor by Congress have permitted, is, I venture to believe, made api^arent from the follow- ing pages. Mr. Townend Glover, during his earlier connection, as ento- mologist, with the Patent Office and the Department of Agriculture, gave much time to the study of the insects affecting cotton, and pub- lished in the Agricultural Eeports for 1854 and 1855 much valuable information there anent, which has been a text for most subsequent writings on the subject. The science of entomology was then in its in- fancy in this country, and Mr. Glover labored under many difficulties in the proper determination of species and in other ways, which necessarily I)revented that scientific accuracy and thoroughness which is desirable. Yet to his labors and those of a few Southern men like the late Thomas Affleck, of Brenham, Tex., and Dr. D. L. Phares, of Woodville, Miss., we owe all that was known and in any way reliable on the subject up to within the jiresent decade ; while his copper-plate figures of the principal insects affecting the plant, of which figures he published in 1878 a limited number of copies for distribution at his own exi^euse, are so admirable and instructive that it is cause for regret that they were not long since issued, with appropriate text, by the Department of which he was so long the entomologist. It may safely be said that uji to 1878 scarcely any facts had been added, by direct observation, to those which Professor Glover had pub- lished regarding the Cotton Worm twenty-five years ago. DIVISIONS OF COTTON BELT. 3 Duriug my direction of the investigation under the Department of Agriculture many interesting chronological, statistical, and biological facts were obtained on the subject of the Cotton Worm. As one of my last eftbrts while yet connected with said Department was to get the printing of 10,000 copies of a special report on the subject ordered by Congress, it will devolve on my successor. Prof. J. H. Comstock, to pre- pare the material thus collected for publication. Professor Comstock was one of the special agents whom I had engaged to assist me, and did most satisfactory work ; he is, therefore, well qualilied for the labor that has fallen upon him. Most of the more practical questions, however, as well as those which necessarily required more extended research than could be encompassed in a single year, were left for future solution, and it is to these that, on the part of the United States Entomological Com- mission, I have been primarily devoting my attention the past summer. This bulletin is a brief summary of results thus far obtained and is issued as a prodrome of the final, more exhaustive report which the, Commission hopes to be able to make. It will serve, also, as an indica- tion both of what has been accomplished and of what is yet to be accom- plished 5 for few i)ersons have any idea of the amount of time and labor required to obtain i)ositive, final and satisfactory results in the mapy paths that lead from an investigation of this kind. The text has for the most part been ]jrepared in the intervals of active field-work, and most of the classified details and experiences upon which the statements and conclusions rest, are reserved for the final report. Bj^ this coiu'se the preparation and printing of the bulletin have been expedited, and it has been kept within due bounds as to size. For the same reasons none of the other many insects affecting cotton are treated of, though a great deal of information respecting them has been col- lected for our final report. In order to treat exhaustively of several of the more important ques- tions, it becomes necessary to study the history of cotton culture in all other countries as well as in the United States, and also to moix; defi- nitely classify the cotton regions of the latter. In its first leport on the Eocky Mountain locust the Commission found it convenient and even necessary to divide the country over Avhich that insect occurred, into three regions, representing, respectively : 1st, The permanent breeding- grounds where the species is always found. 2d, The subpermanent region to which it frequently spreads, but from which it maybe absent; and, 3d, The temporary region which it visits at irregular intervals, and in which, as a rule, it dwells but a single year at a time. These divis- ions have a raison iVetre in the facts observed, but we recognize that, like all classificatory divisions, they are more or less arbitrary. Some similar classification of the cotton belt will also greatly aid in the treatment of this Cotton Worm question, and as a temx^orary classi- fication, to be elaborated in future, I have divided said belt into, 1st, the southern or j)ermauent portion, where the first worms annually 4 THE COTTON WOEM IN THE UNITED STATES. appear and the motlis in all probability hibernate ; 2cl, the northern or temporary portion, in which the insect does not hibernate, but into which it spreads, either by gradual dispersion or by more sudden migra- tion, from the permanent portion. The dividing line between these two portions must needs be difficult to define, because there is an uncertain region that may, according to season or circumstance, belong to either, and also because of the limited observations that have yet been made. Taking the early appearance of the worms as a basis, the southern por- tion may be thus roughly defined : Beginning with Texas, it includes the region south of the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad, excluding perhaps the extreme western portion, but extending some- what farther north along the river bottoms. In Louisiana and Missis- sippi it includes the valley of the Mississippi Elver and its tributaries, with uncertain northern limits. In Alabama it is represented by the limestone cotton belt south of Montgomery, though probably extending farther north to the east of that point. In Georgia it does not extend north of Albany on the west, but doubtless includes the sea islands along the coast, as also those of South Carolina, though at the present time cotton cultivation is limited to Saint Catharine's Island. In Florida it includes all parts where cotton is grown. The facts given in this bulletin are, many of them, for the first time published. If they oppose previously accepted views and opinions, they at the same time dispel many errors that have heretofore prevailed as to some of the more important questions in the natural history of the species. The pamphlet is prepared for the benefit of the jilanter and popular reader, with as little of the technicality of science as is con- sistent with clearness and precision, and with such matter as more par- ticularly interests the scientific reader printed in smaller type. The principal aim of the Commission has been to discover some sater and cheaper remedy than any x^reviously in use. Its efforts in this direc- tion have been limited by the means at command ; yet, as the context wiU show, they have resulted in materially cheapening the cost of pro- tecting the crop, and there is promise of still greater improvement. The Commission has had the aid and co-operation, in this southern part of its work, of a number of correspondents ; but its acknowledg- ments are especially due to Mr. E. A. Schwarz, of Detroit, Mich., who has acted as special agent in South Texas, where he remained from the beginning of May till the middle of September; also to Prof. E. A. Smith, of the University of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa ; Prof J. E. Willet, of Mercer College, at Macon, Ga.; Dr. E. H. Anderson, of Kirlfwood, Miss.; Judge J. F. Bailey, of Marion, Ala.; Mr. W. H. Patton, of Waterbury, Conn. ; Mr. W. A. Henry, of Ithaca, N. Y. ; and General A. C. Jones, of Washington, D. C. My acknowledgments are also due to Professor Comstock, Prof. A. E. Grote, of Buffalo, and Judge J. W. Jones, of Virginia Point, Tex., for co-operation while I was yet connected with the Department of Agriculture. My own field labors during the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 5 year liave covered all the cotton-growing States, except Florida and South Carolina. The figures when enlarged generally have the natural size indicated in hair-line, and the Messrs. Hoen & Co., of Baltimore, deserve credit for the faithful manner in which they have reproduced the colored plate by their admirable lithocaustic process. Appreciating the value of cumulative exi)erience irom all parts of the cotton belt, and on all points where experience may differ, I would re- spectfullj' solicit correspondence from all who may find interest in these pages, and w ho have facts to communicate. C. V. E. Washington, D. C, Xovemher 3, 1879. I'D (f. 10 lie A, i of i lie V, A lit 31 W i! ill M a if Si: » I it 13; THE COTTOI^T WOUIVE. (AliETIA ARGILLACEA Hubll.) 1. DESTRUCTIVENESS OF THE WORM. LOSSES OCCASIONED BY IT. An impartial calculation of the money loss to the cultivator caused by injury to the great staples of the country from their insect enemies, is sure to startle us by its magnitude when the loss is aggregated. Such a calculation of the losses which the Cotton Worm (not to speak of other insects) inflicts on the people of tlie South, based upon the somewhat imperfect statistical data at command, leads to the following interesting conclusions, which for the uiost part receive explauatiou in the facts embodied in this bulletin. The calculation embraces the fifteen years since the close of the civil war, and was made by Mr. C. E. Dodge, and verified for me by Mr. J. R. Dodge, the statistician. Any extraneous causes wliicli tend to retard the growth of the plant, also tend to swell the liercentage of injury by the worm when it abounds. Where an early stand is secured, with thorough cultivation and exemption from other causes of injury, there the iiercentagc of loss is least, even in bad Cotton Worm years. The percentage of loss is, also, dependent on location. When the injury is done early in the season, the loss in localities of heaviest production, or where the fields are luimerous and contiguous, is nearly double what it is where the fields are more isolated. In years of severe injury, from 30 to 1)8 per cent, of the ci'oj) may be ruined upon some plantations, while on others the loss will be trifliug. The highest average of loss is sustained in the southern portion of the belt, as in Florida and southern Texas. It increases also in a westerly direction, commencing with Georgia at 16 per cent., or 16 bales out of every 100 of an average crop for fifteen years, and ending with Texas at 28 per cent. In the northern portion of the belt the averages are low, rangiug from 5 to 8 per cent, for the same period ; while in many parts of it, and notably in iSTorth Carolina, the worm appears so late as to generally do more good than harm by removing the luxuriant top foliage, and thus admitting the sun to the lower bolls and hastening their maturity. 7 8 THE COTTON WOEM IN THE UNITED STATES. The followiug table sliows the amount of loss in bales and dollars for each State in a year of severe visitation. ■* btate. Per cent, of loss. Crop. Losses. Money loss. Higliest. Lowest. Average for State. Average number of bales for 15 years. 1^ ■« s f ^-^ o to b/. O . <| o IB >■-$ "m S O ^ «■ o a 24 16.5 17. § 17 20 28 05 05 08 49, 700 474, 600 536, 700 706, 000 438, 000 525, 000 224, 500 147, 000 347, 000 12, 000 78, 422 95, 790 ■123, 070 89, 740 148, 125 11, 225 8, 365 27, 760 $600, 000 3, 912, 000 4, 789, 000 0, loU, uuu 4, 437, 000 7, 400, 000 560, 000 418, 000 1, 380, 000 25. i 25.2 24 15 12.5 15 35 20 Siuitli Carolina 'i'l'imi'.ssi-u Arkansas North Carolina Totals 15.5 3, 449, 200 594, 497 29, 711, 000 This table shows a possible loss of about $30,000,000 in years of gen- eral prevalence of the worm, or an average of 15^ per cent, total anuual loss, viz., $12,934,500, for all the cotton States since the war. That it was equally great before the war there is no reason to doubt, for while severe visitations have, perhaps, been more frequent since that time the injury has been greatly diminished by the use of Paris green and other arsenical poisons since the jenr 1873. 2. POPULAR AlW SCIENTIFIC NAMES FOR THE INSECT. Among i^lanters the worm is very often termed the "Caterpillar," or the " Cotton Caterpillar," and not infrequently the "Army Worm." I have elsewhere shown* why this last term should be discountenanced in the literature of the subject, unless prefixed by the word " Cotton," and both for the sake of brevity and to prevent confusion the name used in this bulletin, and by which the insect in this larva state is very generally known, is, on the whole, preferable. In Louisiana, more particularly, the French term " Chenille," meaning cateriDillar, is commonly employed. For the perfect insect the term "fly" is more often used in some parts of the Sou.th than the term "moth," but the latter is preferable from an entomological view. As to the scientific name, the species was first described by Thomas Say, in 1827, as Noctua xylina, in a letter to Dr. C. W. Capers, ]3ub- lished in the Southern Agriculturist (vol. I, p. 203), but overlooked by most later writers. Harris, in his Correspondence, placed the "Cotton Moth" near the genus OpMusa, while later authors more correctly re- ferred it to Hiibner's genus Anomis. Mr. A. E. Grote first gave a cor- rect synonymy of the species in 1874,t and pointed out that Hiibner *Socoud Mo. Ent. Kep., p. 37. fProc. Am. Ass. Adv. Sc., 1874, B., p. 18. nomenclature: characters of the insect. 9 had figured and referred to it iu 1822 by tlie appropriate name of Aletia argillacea here employed. The differences between Anomis and Aletia are slight, but by accepting thein as of generic value, our Cotton ^loth becomes the only species of its genus iu the United States, and there is no reason why the word "Aletia" should not come into general and popular use to designate the species in all its stages, just as so many other scientific terms for familiar plants and animals have been, by ex- ample, added to the common language. Some such short simple term is so desirable in popular reference to the insect that it is frequently used iu this bulletin in the hope of its being adopted. 3. CHARACTERS AND STAGES OF THE INSECT. The Cotton Worm, like most other insects, and all belonging to its Order and Family, exists in four distinct states, which difter much from each other. They are, 1st, the e(j(j ; 2d, the larva or worm ; 3d, the chri/m- lis ; 4th, the imago or moth. The worm must hatch from an egg deposited by the female moth. All theories to the contrary, such as its supposed spontaneous develop- ment from the jjlant, or its origin from the cotton-seed, are therefore utterly without foundation. They need emphatic denial here, because of their prevalence not only among the negroes aud the more ignorant, but among intelligent men unfamiliar with the principles of biology. Such theories always have been, aud doubtless always will be, entertained in exi)lanation of the apparently sudden apijearance and rapid multipli- cation of any insect or other organism in which the preliminary phases of the phenomena are easily overlooked or with diflliculty traced. Reserv- ing minute descriptive details for future report, I will briefly indicate the characteristics of these four states, so as to enable the reader unac- quainted with any or all of them to recognize the species in any i)hase of its growth and to distinguish it from all other insects. On the plate, more j)articularly, I have represented, of natural size, all the difltereut phases, as they may be observed in the field. THE EGG. The egg is O.C""" wide, circular, much flat- tened and ribbed, as at Fig. 1. Of a brigbt bluish-green or sea-green when first laid, it contrasts sufficiently with the warmer green of tlie leaf to be easily detected, even by the naked eye when practiced (Plate I, Figs. 1, 1). It is laid singly, and fastened with such fii-inness as not to be easilv removed .., , • . r, • 1 • 1 1 ' r. Flo. I.—PIGG OF Ai.ETiA; (T. from above; without injury. It is laid by preference b, from side. (After RUey.) during early summer on the under side of the larger and lower leaves, and seldom more than three or four are found on one leaf. In cou- 10 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. flnement and exceptionally in nature it will be laid on the upper surface of the leaf, or on any other exposed part of the i)lant. In autumn, more particularly, the upper leaves receive a due share of the eggs, and I have counted as many as 49 eggs and egg-shells on a single leaf. With development the color becomes more dingy, or pale yellowish, frequently with brownish borders or a green curve, due to the coiled embryo, which may be seen through the transparent shell. The young worm or larva eats its way out through an irregular hole on one side, usually during the morning, ere the dew is dissipated, and from three to four days after oviposition. This is the average time elapsing between the laying of the egg and the hatching of the worm therefrom in ordinary midsummer weather, but the time varies with the tempera- ture, and a much longer period is required in sj)ring and late autumn. All eggs perish that are unhatched when overtaken by frost, as is not infrequently the case. The vacated and glistening shell is more readily noticed upon the green background than the unhatched egg. At Fig. 1 I have shown one of the more perfect eggs both from above (a) and from the side (&), and greatly enlarged, so as to indicate the sculiiture, the natural size being indicated between them. Humidity seems to favor hatching. Aphides or plant-lice are quite often mistaken for the eggs of this insect, while the " Mealy bug " [Dactyl- op i us a doni dim), a species of AJeurodes, the eggs of the lady-birds {Cocci- nelUdcv), those of the Lace-wings (Chrysopa), and even a minute snaU, not uncommon on the cotton plant, are likewise so mistaken. THE WOEM OR LAEVA. This, as it appears in its different stages of growth on the colored plate, is familiar to every planter. Varying greatly in ground-color, it is characterized by the particular position of the black piliferous spots upon the head and upon the body; by the white ring which surrounds each of the latter ; by its pure white subdorsal lines and by its elongate and slender form. It is a semi-looper, the first pair of prolegs being very much reduced in size and seldom used, and the second i^air, though longer, only about half as long' as the succeeding pair. * The worm molts five times during growth and changes appearance but little after the first molt. Exception- ally only four molts are suffered. The newly-hatched worm measures l.G™™, is of a uni- form pale dingy yellow, marked as in Fig.2, with polished coiyoN wouM: a/bacii: black, slightly elevated spots, eachbearmg a short pale Kiieyf) '^""^^ hair. Before the first skin is shed the color often be- *Iii alcoholic specimens tbe first pair often appear as mere tubercles -prithout claspin.s hooks, but these really exist, thougli witbdra-n-n from si^bt. The legs are perfect, therefore, and sinipry atrophied. In tbis respect the larva of Aletia argillacea differs from that of another species (apparently Anomls cxacla Hiibn.). -which occui-s in South Texas, for in this last species the claspers are wanting and the Ics really obsolete and replaced by mere tubercles. Otherwise the resemblance between the two lar- v£e is such aa to cause them to be eaaUy confounded. HABITS OF THE WORM, 11 comes slightly greenisli and sometimes inclines to orange. After the first molt the i^iliferous spots are more conspicuous, the hairs from them longer and black and the characteristic markings appear, though less distinctly than after the second; but from this time on the prevailing color is very variable, being either entirely of various shades of i>ale or pea green, or more or less intensely black along the back. The normal number of larval molts is five. This is the number w hich I have observed during the autumn months, while in midsummer, when the development is more rapid, I have on several occasions traced but four. The term of larval existence varies from one to three weeks. There is a very general belief among planters that the first worms of the season are pale and the late ones dark, and while both light and dark worms may always be found together in spring,, summer, or fall, it is true that the green ones predoininate early in the season and the dark ones later. * Immediately after molting, the body is pale and without marking — a rule with all molting animals. After the earlier molts, the cast- off skin, which remains more or less fully stretched, is sometimes eaten. Some of the peculiarities in the habits of the worm deserve men- tion here because of their practical bearing. Until after the second molt it always remains on the under side of the leaf, feeding upon the pa- renchyma, and leaving untouched the coarser veins, stomata, and up- per skin or epidermis. The leaves where they are thus feeding pre- sent a blotched appearance, the semi-transi)arent epidermis be- coming pale yellowish, and these blotches are, as a rule, at once dis- tinguishable from other somewhat ^'''•f^-Sr= S= similar ones made by a few other insects.t After the worm begins to eat entirely through the leaf, which is usu- •*The larva of Plusia dyaus Grote is not uucommou in spring and early summer on cotton. Being a semi-loopor and hearing in color and mode of pupation a general resemblance to the Aletia larva, it ia often luistukcn therefor by ])lantors. It is invariably pale green, without dark shades, and may liavo helped to the popular belief in the first worms being green. But wliile I have invariably found dark individuals among the earliest and throughout the summer generations, I was struck during a trip made last October thi'ough Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia by their great prci)oudcrance. the intensity of the black (often obliterating tlie white annuli and subdorsal stripes), and the early stage of growth (often after the first molt and very generally after the second) in which it appeared. In the spring and early summer the black is more often confined to the fifth and sixth stages. tThe young larva of Spilosoma acrea makes somewhat similar but larger blotchos. 12 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES ally before the third molt, but sometimes later, it instinctively ascends towa.rd the top of the i)lant and feeds on the more tender foliage, rag- ging" it, to use the expressive language of the planter. It can let itself down by a web from the moment of birth, but can also fling itself from one part ot the plant to another in a manner quite characteristic. The fling or junip is made by bending the fore and raised l)art of the body to one side and then suddenly jerking it to the opposite side, relaxing meanwhile the three hind pairs of legs by which it held to the plant. This is a quite common mode of motion when disturbed, and the normal way of getting from one plant to another. The maximum distance which a worm can thus jump in a horizontal direction is about two feet, and it almost invariably alights on its legs. During chilly weather in autumn this motion is feeble and can be easily watched. When not feeding, the worm either rests stretched straight on some liart of the plant or may be seen swaying its fore body from side to side, holding the while by the hind prolegs. Though i)referring the foliage, it will, when hard pushed, eat every exposed part of the plant, even barking and girdling the stems. In feeding on the bolls, however, it does not bore like the Boll Worm (ReliotJiis armigera), but eats the external parts as well as their con- tents. It cannot thrive on any other -plant than cotton, and is evi- dently confined in its diet to the different species of the particular genus Oossypium. At aU events there is yet no satisfactory evidence to the contrary, all experiments made confirming the belief.* As one correspondent naively puts it, "the worms feed only on cotton and one another," the cannibalistic propensity being freelj'^ indulged when the occasion presents. It is a common remark that the presence of the worm is easier detected by smell than by sight. The planter says that he can " smell the worm." There is a peculiar odor arising from the excrement, but i^articularly from the gnawed and mutilated leaves that gives rise to this saying; but where the worms are numer- ous and large enough to render it obvious, there they have akeadj'^ existed several days, perhaps weeks, in smaller numbers. When numerous enough to utterly defoliate a field before they have attained full growth, the worms will travel in all directions on the ground, and they have been exceptionally known to collect together and travel in vast bodies in their search for fresh food. THE CHRYSALIS. Having obtained full growth, the worm, in the language of the planter, " webs up," forming for protection a more or less perfect cocoon, usually *Mr. Schwarz succeeded in feeding one from tlie hatching period till it transformed to chrysalis on a epocies of Morning-glory (Ipomea eommutata Eoem & Sch.), hut the chrysalis was imperfect, and finally perished. I find that quite a number of persons believe that the worm feeds on Abutilon and Poke- weed {Phytolacca), but the belief rests solely on the fact that these plants are often defoliated when the Cotton Worm is stripping the cotton fields. In the case of Phytolacca, as Professor Willet has been able to prove, it is an entirely different worm which does the work, and the same is doubtless true of the Abutilon. Mr. Phillip Winfree, of Mulberry Creek, La. (De Bow's Ind. Ees. of S. & S. W., 1852, p. 173), remarks that it feeds in the West Indies on a plant called the salve bush, resembUng somewhat the conmiou Mullein. CHARACTEES OF THE CHEYSALIS. 13 within the fold or roll of a leaf, sparsely lined with silken meshes. Here it contracts and thickens, the distinctive marks are nearly obliterated, and the green color acquires a verdigris hue. Within twenty-four hours, in midsiimraer, the skin si)lits jnst back of the head, and is gradually worked to the end of the forming chrysalis, now soft and green, but acquiring in the course of an hour or more a brown color and firmer con- sistence. This chrysalis state lasts, on an average, about a week in hot weather, but may extend to thrice that time with lower temperature. Where necessity obliges, the worm will spin up on any other plant or in any situation that offers shelter. In con- finement it will make a cocoon on 'the surface of the ground, covering and disguising the same with particles of pnrtli nr it will pvpn trmi>sfnrni nn tlip Fig. 4.— Ciiuysai.is of Alexia: enlarjred to ed,rtn, Ol it ni e^ en rranSIOrm on tne ^y^^^^, creiuast. i f rom tUe side (a) and from be- gronnd without silk or shelter. Such °<^'^t'' <-^*''''' ^"^''y ) cases rarely if ever occur in a state of nature, but when the worms are very numerous in a field the chrysalides frequentl.y have their leafy \^ro- tection eaten away, so that many of them either hang by the few hooks at the eitreraity, or fall to the ground. In no case, however, does the worm l)urrow in the ground as does the Boll Worm, or could the moth issue from the chrysalis were the latter accidentally buried even an inch beneath the surface. We shall presently see, in discussing the hibernation of the species, that it is quite important to distinguish between this chrysalis and others that closely resemble it, and to enable the reader to more readily do so an enlarged outline is here Introduced. The color varies from light mahogany-brown to deep purplish-brown, while the general form is that belonging to many other chrysalides. Neither form nor color can serve then as distinguishing traits, and the same is true of size. The peculiar form of the cremaster, or anal tubercle bearing the hook- lets (Fig. 4), will prove the best and safest criterion, and any chrysalis found in a cotton field that has a different tip may be safely determined as not that of the Cotton Worm. The dui-ation of the chrysalis state also averages about fifteen days. I have known it to last but seven days, and Mr, Glover records its lasting thirty days.* THE MOTH, OR OIAGO. The moth measures from to 1.} inches from tip to tip of wing when these are exi>auded. Its general color, above, is olivaceous, more or less effectually subdued by lilaceous or purple hues, and often having a clay- yellow, or faintly golden cast. The under side is more gray, with nacreous reiiections. The markings that more particularly characterize and distinguish it from all other North American moths are certain undulating vinous or * Eeport Department Agriculture, 1856, p. 73. 14 THE COTTON WOEM IN THE UNITED STATES. carmine lines across tlie front wings, a dark oval spot near their disc containing pale scales, wliicli nsually form a donble pupil (the basal or inner one the smallest and whitest), and three white specTis dividing the space hetiveen this darlc spot and the shoulder in about three equal parts. The sexes are not readily distinguishable, as the relative stoutness of the male antennse compared with those of the female is so slight as to be no safe guide. An examination of the tip of the abdomen, especially from the side, will always show the diiference, however, the last joint in the male (Fig. 6, a) being the longer and more full, and the pale tufts of hair that belong to the withdrawn genitalia* showing within or beyond the squarely docked tip; while in the female (Fig. 6, h) this joint Fig. 5. — OUTLmE of AlETIA: ■ , , -^J tit ij. showing ciiaracteristic marks aji i IS shortcr, morc poiutcd, aud obliqucly trun- wMte specks {a a a) — twice natu- ral size. (After Kiley.) I en cate beneath. The habits of this moth can only be studied at night, as, like almost all the rest of its family, it is nocturnal. During the day it simply starts up when disturbed, and darts by swift and low flight to some other shel- tered spot a few yards, or perhaps rods, away. After sunset, however, it may be seen leisurely hovering about, either bent on the perpetuation of its kind or feeding upon whatever sweets it can get, whether from the cotton or from other sources. It is very strong and swift of wing, and capable, when the necessity arises, of flying long distances. In alight- ing upon the plant it generally turns its head downward, and when it rests, the wings are but shallowly roofed, the front ones closed along the back and fully hiding to, the hind ones. In this respect it may al- ways be distinguished from the parent of Fig. 6.-C0TT0N Moth: a, male abdo- thc Boll Worm, which rcsts with the front female do.-eniarged. (After ^.^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ entirely Cover- ing the hind ones. men ; 6, BUey.) The female begins to lay her eggs in from two to four days after issuing from the chrysalis, the time varying with the different genera- tions and according to temijerature. In exj)eriments which I have made with moths confined in vivaria. ofj *TIie male genitalia in this species are remarkable for having two extensile organs, usually retracted Qnd showing as dense tufts of hair, but capable of extension to thrice the length of the rest of the arma- ture ; also for two attenuated double-jointed spines which lie when at rest in a sheath on one side of the . penis with the points extending beyond it, but which in action bend back at right angles therefrom. HABITS OF THE MOTH. 15 eggs have sometimes been laid tliirty-six Loxirs after issuing, and the moths have continued laying for twenty-one nights, the number laid each night ranging from 4 to 45. Examination of the ovaries of females at different seasons shows a much greater prolificacy than belongs to most moths, as the number of well-developed ova may reach 500, and of potential ova half as many more. In confinement it is difficult to obtain from one female more than 300 eggs, but that fully doable this number are i)roduced in the field during the height of the season there can be little doubt, while the av- erage number may be estimated at about 400. The natural food of the moth, as first shown by uie in the fall of 1878,* is the sweet exudation from the glands upon the mid-rib of the !leaf and at the base of each lobe lof the involucre of the cotton plant. Nevertheless it is at- jtracted to all kinds of sweets, and in most parts of the South it finds a bountiful supply in t.-Cotton^^oti. ■. a. with wings expanded ; h. with the exudation from the spikes ^vinss dosed. (Alter iiiiey.) of Paspalmn Iceve, a tolerably common grass, but particularly in that copi- ously secreted by glands at tiie apex of the peduncle, just above the pods of the Cow pea {DoUchos). In the spring of the year, as Judge Bailey, i)f Marion, Ala., has observed, it may often be seen in the evening feeding in numbers, first from the blossoms of the Chicasaw i)lum, and subsequently from those of the peach, Chinese quince, mock orange {Cerasus CarolinenMs), the early apples, and blackthorn. Later in the season, when the glands above mentioned begin to exude and the tree blossoms are no more, the moths do not seem to be attracted by other aectar-storing flowers, since observations during the past two years by myself and assistants have resulted in finding but one species of vei-bena [Verbena aubletia L.) frequented, even where both moths and all sorts of flowers were abundant. But fruits of all kinds as they riiien are resorted to, and figs, apples, peaches, plums, apricots, grapes, persimmons, and even melons are often greatly injured. Carefully examined, the tongue is seen to be armed along its terminal tialf with stout and sharp spines projecting forward from the upper sur- face and increasing in density toward the tip, which is beset with them Dn all sides. It is by means of this spinous tip of the tongue that the moth works a hole in these fruits, and is thus enabled to absorb the more liquid portions. Apple pomace is especially attractive to them. *See Atlanta (G-a.) Constitution, September 20, and Scientific American, November 15, 1878. ■ke 16 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES, 4. TIME ELAPSING FROM OUE GEFEEATION TO AHOTHEE. This varies according to temperature, and therefore according to season. There is increasing activity and acceleration in development from the first appearance till July, and thenceforth decreasing activity and retardation in development till frost. Thus in midsummer the whole cycle of individual life, from the hatching to procreation, may occupy less than three weeks ; while in spring and late autumn it may occu^jy twice that time. Taking the whole season through, however, the time from the egg of one generation to that of another will average about one month. 5. TIME OF YEAR WHEH THE FIRST WORMS APPEAR. Until the investigation, of which this is only a preliminary report, was begun, our knowledge as to the earliest appearance of the worms was not only vague, but misleading. The statement emphasized by Professor Grote in the paper already referred to, namely, that the worm does not appear earlier than the latter part of June in the central por- tion of the cotton belt of Alabama and Georgia, very fairly echoes the prevailing popular belief on the subject ; yet careful investigation the present season, and the collection of facts recorded in past years, show the statement to be essentially erroneous. The date of earliest appear- ance varies with location, and largely with the curves of isochimal lines; * it also dilfers somewhat in different years in the same location, accord- ing as the season may be late' or early ; and, lastly, it may differ to some extent in different parts of the same restricted locality, worms having been found just hatching in one place when, only a few miles distant, .others were found nearly full grown. While these modifying circumstances complicate consideration of the subject, it is easy to arrive at definite results by taking as a basis observations made at a few particular points during the present year. Hence I felt the importance of having such observations made the past spring in South Texas and South Alabama at those places where the worm was reported to have appeared earliest in past years. As a result, the fact is fully established that the first worms of the season may, and do, in ordinary years, hatch from the middle of April to the middle of May in the southern portion of the cotton belt. Indeed, it was this year observed so much earlier in Alabama than was formerly reputed that many journals announced the fact as very exceptional. Yet there are; no good reasons to suppose the present year exceptional or abnormal in on M iiitli Ot ermi 111 tariLi SOUtll ■fforii) itsap; tliei *TMs is well Illustrated by a fact communicated by Dr. D. L. Pbares, of WoodviUo, Miss., viz, thalj the worm usually begins its work of destruction iu Madison County from three to six weeks earlierthan, in Wilkinson ; the former on latitude 33'^ and the latter resting on 31°. At Madison station, in the southern part of Madison County, the thermometer marked the extreme low temperature of — 4° F. during the winter of 1878-79, while at WoodviUe, only about two degrees farther south, the lowest tem perature noted was 14° F., or a difference of 18°. SEASON WHEN THE FIRST WORMS APPEAR. 17 this regard. On the contrary, tlie facts all show that the season was a late one, for A])ril frosts retarded the starting of cotton iu those very sections of Alabama where the worms were first found ; while it is the unanimous oi)iniou of planters iu South Texas, where the worms were first noticed, that cotton was from two to three weeks later in 1879 than usual. It will not sur[)rise nie, for these reasons, to learn in future that the first worms may be found eveu earlier than here stated. In most cases of the first appearance of the worms, specimens were re- ceived and examined by me so as to leave no doubt as to their identity. In the cases observed by Mr. Schwarz the plauts were from one to two feet high, not yet blooming- and with all the leaves tender. The first worms are always comparatively few in number and in iso- lated spots. They are, therefore, easily overlooked by all who do not take particular pains to search for them. From such spots as centers the worms multiply and spread in subsequent generations, with greater or less rapidity, according as the conditions are favorable or otherwise. Such increase and spread may be confined to some part of a given county until the cotton is nearly ruined before the cotton in the rest of the county is afi'ected. The worms will then first ajipear in the remaindei' much more suddenly and numerously than they did iu the former, the I)arent moths migrating thereto in bevies. As a rule, however, the spread in the southern portion of the belt is gradual and the worm in destructive luimbers is preceded by one or more scattering generations in the same field. Other things being equal, the worm uuist appear earliest in the south-, ernmost latitudes, since extended observations on the appearance of other insects show that there is retardation of from four to seven days with each degree of latitude northward. * There is, in normal seasons of little injury to the croj), a similar re- tardation northward iu the appearance of the Cotton Worm within the southern portion of the belt, corresponding in sorae measure with the growth and development of the plant ; and it is a notable fact that the worm is seldom noticed and never in great numbers before the plant be- gins to bloom. What is generally under these circumstances called the first brood or " crop " has been preceded by at least one and often two generations sparsely distributed over the fields. Yet iu years when the worm abounds to a disastrous extent in the southern portion of the belt, its appearance in the northern or temporary portion cannot be counted on with any certainty as to time, because it is always the result of mi- grations iu the winged state, and these migrations may be more or less extended according to circumstances. Between the first appearance of the worm in the southern aud northern portions of the belt there is, therefore, a marked diflference ordinarily observable, it being in the lat- ter much later aud in far greater numbers. * Tide remarks on time of appearance of tlie Kortheru Army Worm and hatching of locusts. Mo. Ent. Report VIU; p. 47; Ist Kep. TJ. S. E. C, p. 232. 2 RI 18 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. 6. CONDITION OF SOIL AND PLANT CONNECTED WITH THE AP- PEARANCE OF THE FIEST WORMS. Having seen that the worms first appear in parts of the southern por- tion of the cotton belt at a much earlier date than iire\'iously supposed, we will now briefly consider the conditions of soil and of the plant con- nected with this first appearance. In glancing over the reports on this subject in answer to my questions, I find a remarkable unanimity of opinion corresponding with what Mr. Schwarz has observed and with the general experience collected. It is that the earliest worms of the : season are confined to fields on the "low lands" where the plants are inaturally more thrifty and more advanced than on any other soil. Low 1 lands where cotton is planted in Texas and Louisiana comiirise the so- ■ called bottom lands of the rivers, and on such lands the soil is always a very rich alluvium and never sandy. Farther east, however, low lands are frequently sandy and the bottom formation of alluvial soil is less common than in Texas and Louiciauci. This holds especially true of Florida, where the soil is exckisively sandy, mora or Ie3s mixed with de- cayed vegetable matter. In the latter State fiel Is on "hummock land" and near the edges of ponds or lakes replace the bottom lands of Texas , and Louisiana. The rule of the first appearance on such low, rich, and moist lands does not api)ly alone to the extensi%'e araa of such laud in 'the southern portion of the belt, but also to similar low places in par- ticular i)arts of plantations in the whole cotton-growing country, the first worms on any plantation always being noticeable in such low spots. The general rule, however, is not without exception, for on the sea, islands off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina, where, in former ; years, the worms always appeared early, the soil in which cotton was and is to a limited extent still cultivated cannot be called low land. All low mparts on these islands are occupied by marshes, and are unfit for culti- vation, and the soil of the cotton fields is what is termed drj hummock land. Again, Mr. Schwarz found a very early appearauce in Lavaca County, in Southern Texas, where the country is several hundred feet above the river bottoms in the same latitude and consists of open and rolling prairies. The worms were observed there in a field "Situated on top of one of the highest hills, and they have been observed thei'e at similarly early dates in past years. The soil is, hoAvever, of that rich Ijiis black nature peculiar to one part of the South Texan prairies. i'" A second circumstance which, according to the unaniuious reports of planters and observers, appears to necessarily accompany the early ap- pearance of the worms is that the cotton plants must be in a well- advanced and luxuriant condition. The earliest worms are never known to appear in fields in which tlie growth of the plants has been retarded tiiin CONDITIONS ATTENDING APPEARANCE OF FIEST WORMS. 19 from one cause or another, as, for instance, late i)lanting, the attacks of plant-lice, overflow, poor, exhausted, or sandy soil, &c. A third fact is worthy of mention in connection with this early ap- il pearance, viz : that in open countries, or in countries where the prevail- ing soil is low and rich, there is almost always a gin-house or other build- ing, a hay stack or soine other shelter nearby where the moths have to all appearance hibernated. Of the live localities in South Texas where \ the first worms were observed by Mr. Schwarz last spring, three were in i the immediate vicinity of gin-houses, with no other building, fence, or I tree in the neighborhood. In the fourth a gin-house and other build- ings, as well as trees, were close by ; while in the fifth (that in Lavaca County, already mentioned) the nearest object which could have served for the hibernation of the parent moth was an open stable about one hundred yards distant, but covered with a thick thatch of hay. In all cases observed or reported the first Avorms occupy but a limited patch in the field, and are not scattered over the whole field or over ; large portions of a plantation, as is the case with subsequent generations. I The extent of this iiatch seldom exceeds two acres and sometimes does [ not embrace one-fifth of an acre. Still a fourth circumstance connected with the appearance of the first ) worms is noticeable, and one that, as we shall see farther on, has much . importance from the practical side. It is that they recur year after year I not only in the same counties but also in exactly the same sjiots. , The condition of the plflnt has already been alluded to. In every . case it was luxuriant, advanced, and vigorous. This condition of the , plant has so much to do with the matter under consideration that there must be a cause for it, whether in the greater attraction for the moth J possessed by such plants or the greater facility with which -the eggs f hatch or the worms develo]) upon the same ; for Avhen produced artifi- I cially by the use of manures and good ciiltivation, it may, and often f does, have the same effect and counteracts the otherwise unfavorable |. condition of soil and location. t As throwing light on the subject and as a rational explanation of the J facts, it is well to i-emembcr that the most advanced and luxuriant plants t most copiously exude from the secretory glands the sweet fluid upon il which the moths feed and by which, it is fair to presume, they are it- II tracted ; also that the moths' fondness for shade and moisture is grati- t fied in such low places where the cotton is rank. These places are also 1, just those where the dews are heaviest, and the facts which follow ren- der it quite certain that moisture aids both the hatching and the devel- ,f opment of the worm. Another suggestion may here be made that also ). helps in the explanation : the natural enemies of the worm, especially ]. the ants, are less abundant in low, wetland than in that which is higher u and drier. They will, therefore, be lesseflicient in destroying the young 4 i worms, which for this reason will stand a better chance of developing unchecked. 20 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. 7. WET WEATHER FAVORS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORMS. lu the foregoing pages we liave seen that tbe insect both in its larv^a and perfect states lias a predilection for low, moist ground, where the cotton is luxuriant. "We may safely infer, therefore, that tbe meteoro- logical influences that produce ov3r large areas the conditions thus desci-ibed for limited areas will prove favorable to the development of the Avorms ; and, indeed, it is the uniform testimony and experience of all who have closely observed the facts that wet weather is favorable and dry weather unfavorable thereto.* We have not to deal here with the cold rains that characterize the Southern winter, and sometimes occur as late as the beginning of May. The influence of this weather on the hibernating moth has not been definitely ascertained, hut it is more than probable that, when occurring late in spring, especially if accompanied by a "norther," it may prove as injurious to the first generation of worms as it is known to be to the cotton plant. We have to deal rather with that broiling and humid state of the atmosphere consequent upon frequent showers and a clouded sky dur ing the summer months or later. The earth may be said to steam and the air is full of vapor. The influence of such weather is two- fold, viz, direct and indii'ect. Its direct influences may, perhaps, best be illustrated by citing, in contrast, the elfects of dry weather, Avhich e'ffects T have had an excel- lent opportunity of watching and studying the present year. As wit- nessed in the field, a large portion of the eggs during dry weather actu- ally desiccate and fail to hatch. The worms are less active, and wanting in natality; thej^ drop more easily to the ground, and are so atfected by the dry, heated surface that, in almost every instance, they fail to regain the plant. While vigor and vitality are thus impaired, the development during such weather is unduly hastened. The worms, for the most part, web ui) i)rematurely and fail to effect the change to chrysalis, generally dying in the act, half- worm, half-chrysalis. The chrysalides, in case the transformation was successful, show a gi-eat tendency to rot, while the moths, which hatch from the comparatively few that remain sound, fii.d scarcely any food in the cotton field, as the glands, already described (p. 15), are almost entirely wanting in honey during very dry weather, ^^"ourishment and fecundity being correlated, it is more than probable that the moths, poorly nourished, will lay fewer eggs under such cir- cumstances. All the effects described are intensified and become most marked daring extreme drouth, so that frequently at the end of a dry spell, such as is not infrequent in July and earlj^ August, not a worm can be found. A rainy season, following such a spell, will i^roduce a * Severe raius, especially those accompanied by gales of -wind, sncli as occur occasionally in the South, especially during the autumnal equinox, have been known to kill the worms, beating; them down and sweeping them into windrows and heaps. Such was the casein Mississippi iu 1825, Matagorda County, Texas, on September 6, 1875, and in the Bahamas on October 1st, 18C6. But in these and .similar cases the destruction of the worms was always accompanied by the utter loss of the crop. INFLUENCES OF WET WEATHER. 21 most noticeable change. Its elfects are almost magical. The plants freshen up, and the moths simultaneously become active ; their eggs hatch freely, and the worms are so voracious and active that they soon destroy the new leaves or " top crop" and then, of necessity, work on tlie older ones. The effects of dryness as here described are equally noticeable when produced artificially. Experiments upon plants growing in tlie field, but inclosed in muslin-covered frames, have produced all the unhealthy conditions of the insect, simi)ly because the covering prevented the nor- mal precipitations of dew upon the plants; while in vivaria the injurious effects of a dry atmosphere have been equally noticeable. In the dry, hot air of the Bahamas the worms are reported as often dying from the heat in numbers on the plant; a fact which would indicate that our climate is more favorable to their welfare than that of those islands; for the worms seldom, if ever, die from excessive heat in this country, except as they fall upon the heated surface of the ground. ; The indirect influences of wet weather, first pointed out hy the writer last July iu some remarks before the Mobile Cotton Exchange,* are even more potent in favoring the development of the worms. They consist in the comparative immunity which the pest enjoys during such weather from its numerous natural enemies, iiresently to be mentioned, all of which are prevented during wet weather from working with the energy and activity they display during dry weather. This holds especially true of birds and ants, the latter of which not only hie to their nests during such weather, but are often drowned in countless numbers in open fields during heavy showers. Few who have not carefully observed the facts can ai^preciate the I'csults of the non-working, even for a few short days, of these natural checks to a species so remarkably prolific and jquick of growth as our Aletia. It may also be remarked in this connection that wet weather is unfa- vorable to the poisoning of the worms, and i^revents the working of cot- ton, which working, as will be shown further on, also helps to destroy them. 8. NUMBER OF ANNUAL GENERATIONS. ; The general impression and belief that prevails in the South is that (there are, in those sections where the worm is most injurious, three ibroods or generations, or, as the planter puts it, "crops," each year. 'This statement of the case has also been accepted as correct hy most ■previous writers on the subject, t It is, however, essentially erroneous «o fixr as the Southern portion of the cotton-belt is concerned, as the eailier and later generations are not taken into account but overlooked. The appearance of the first generation has already been discussed [ante, >p. 17), and it occurs during the latter part of April and in May in the See Mobile Register, July 10, 1879. tDr. Phan s is tlie only writer who has, so far as I can learn, recorded as many as six generations from July 6, 1869, till float. — (Kural Carolinian, I, p. C95.) 22 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. more soutlieru i)ortions of the belt. One generation follows another continuously from that time on just so long as there are any leaves to be devoiu-ed, and I have, by protecting both plant and insect from frost, kept the moths ovipositing in the city of Washington all through ISTo- vember: while the worms, under like conditions, liaA^e hatched through the early part of December, matured, and spun up about Christmas time. Careful observations and experiments the present year in South Texas show that at least seven, and probably even more, annual generations are produced there. The first two generations are generally well sepa- } rated, but, owing to the irregularity in egg laying and in individual . development, the later generations so cross each other, that tbe insect may be found in all stages in the same field at one and the same time. This was particularly noticeable last summer from the middle of July ; on. Yet the succession of broods may be recognized by the condition -j| of the bulk of the specimens in the field or by confining the insects for | the better watching of them. The first generation, as we have seen, is confined to spots. The sec- ; ond generation is more dispersed, but still restricted to areas in the vicinity of the hibernating centers. The third generation of worms may become, under favoring conditions, not only widespread but dis- astrous, and the moths produced from them so numerous that they ■ acquire the migrating habit. This generation appears in South Texas ' during the latter i)art of June, and in South Alabama and Georgia somewhat later. This is usually the sui)i>osed first brood in those sec- tions, i. e., the first which attracts general attention. The subseqiient ' generations naturally become more and more widespread, and the in- crease duiing last July and August was noticeable in the face of mete- orological conditions unfavorable thereto. The worms during these months Avill ajjpear in those fields in which they did not appear earlier, i as on sandy, elevated prairies, soils or lands where the growth of the plant was retarded from late planting, overflowing, the injury of the plant -lice, or whatever cause. If the weather be favorable, this August ' generatio]! will, when unmolested, carry ruin in its wake. Did one generation follow another in the natural ratio of multiplication, such is the fecundity of the species, that there would be no hope of profitably cultivating cotton. Fortunately for man, some of the earlier genera- tions are liable to be so effectually kept in check by natural enemies and other adverse influences that they become innocuous and frequently |j escape notice. This fact was strikingly illustrated last May in Colorado '| and Lavaca Counties, in Texas, where the second generation which hatched in sufficient numbers in most fields to create alarm, neverthe- less vanished before its enemies so completely, that it was difficult a** little later to find a perfect chrysalis. That this second generation may exceptionally become very injurious is shown from records, to the effect that in the early part of June, while the cotton-stem was yet tender, whole plantations in the low bottom NUMBER OF GENERATIONS: FLIGHT OF MOTH. 23 lands of Louisiana have been eaten to the ground; but that it more often proves harmless, as it did the present year, is probable for various reasons. The plant-lice, which are apt to be very numerous on the very young cotton, partially disapjjear before their natural enemies by the time this second brood of worms is develoj)ing. The ants, wliich were previously supplied with food by the plant-lice, have now multiplied, and are forced, by the decrease of the ai)hides, to seek other food. They are consequently moi'e effectual in destroying the young worms. All the other enemies of the worm are also more active during the month of •I June, and gregarious birds, like the blackbirds and ricebirds, are very common during that month, but generally leave the fields later. In the northern portion of the cotton belt the number of annual gen- erations is, of course, fewer, and will vary according to the date of the incoming of moths from the further south, and according to other cir- cumstances. The generations are not only fewer, therefore, but more I easily separated and defined. 9. MIGEATIOliS AND POWER OF FLIGHT OF THE MOTH. Many persons, noting the short and clumsy though rapid and darting flight of the moth, when distuibed during the day-time, get the idea that it is incapable of extended fliglit. But it has great power of wing, and its migrating habits are abiuidantly attested. It has been observed in jiumbers, far out at sea, and captured in autumn off the coast of New England, around Chicago and around Buffalo — the species being iden- tified by comi)etent entomologists like Packard, Burgess, Grote and Westcott. I have known it to do considerable injury during Sei)tem- ber to peaches in Kansas, and to ruin acres of cautelopes during the same month as far north as Eacine, Wis. That it is aided in these distant flights by favoring winds there can be no doubt, but that it does not depend on them for dispersion is equally certain. Dr. D. L. Phares records the destruction by the worms, of cotton the first year planted, eighty miles from any point where cotton had been grown before ; while Mr. H. P. Bee (see letter in Appendix) shows that they ai)peared in Mexico on cotton planted two hundred miles from any 4 other fields. Numerous similar cases might be mentioned. The migrating habit is common to many insects and other animals, but is almost always associated with excessive multiplication. Such is likewise the case with Aletia, as the observations of the past year have clearly shown. So long as the worms are not numerous enough to materially riddle the cotton, the moths i^roduced from them busy themselves with ovipositing in the neighborhood where they were born, spreading only comparatively short distances on all sides ; but vi hen- ever the cotton is well " ragged," then the moths acquire the migrating habit and appear in numbers everywhere — in town and village, and at lights far away from cotton-fields. The time of year when this migra- 24 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. ting habit is acquired varies, but it is rarely till after the tliird genera- tion of worms or the latter part of June and fore part of July in South Texas; while it is most pronounced during the autumn months. At such times, the moths may be noticed, during cloudy days, starting off by rapid flight and ascending high in the air till lost to sight ; and the couti'ast between this movement and the darting and hiding of the normal day-flight is quite striking to any one who has witnessed it. 10. HIBERFATION. ISTo question connected with the Cotton Worm has given rise to more speculation than that of the hibernation of the insect, and this fact at once finds its explanation in the difficulty that surrounds the subject. As partly illustrating this diificultj^ it will be well to elaborate the statements made in a paper read by the writer before the National Academy of Science at its meeting in Washington last spring. There are three principal theories on the subject that are worthy of consideration, and that are held by those with whom I have come in contact, or with whom I have corresponded. These are : — 1st, That it hibernates in the chrysalis state. 2d, That it hibernates as a moth. 3d, That it does not hibernate in any part of our cotton-growing States, but comes into them on the wing from warmer climates where the cotton-plant is perennial. Some few persons think that it winters in the egg state in cotton- seed or on the dead stalk of the plant ; but such views may be disposed of by the statement that they are unsuj)ported by even the appearance of fact. At first blush it would seem easy enough to dispel whichever of these theories is erroneous and settle the question under consideration by a few simple facts of observation. The trouble is, however, to get at the facts. About one-fourth of the intelligent people of the South hold the opin- ion that this Aletia hibernates in the chrysalis state, some believing that it does so above ground, others that it retreats beneath the surface of the ground. It has generally been stated by the writers on this insect that the chrysalis could not eudure the slightest frost. I have been able to iKOve that it will suffer with impuuity a temi)erature of from five to ten degrees below the freezing point, but that it cannot withstand a lower temperature: and all those chrysalides which do not give out the moth before severe cold weather sets in perish beyond any doubt. How easily men are misled even on this point, however, may be gathered from the fact that Dr. E. H. Anderson, of Kirk wood. Miss., a most intelhgent observer and experienced cotton -i)lanter, kei)t what he believed to be living specimens until after tlie severe cold of December last. A carefid examination proved that the lifelike motions of such cluysalides were due to the hving i^upa which they contained of one of tlie parasites hibernation: species mistaken for aletia. 25 la- {Pinipla conquisitor) presently to be described. The larger liroportioii itii of chrysalides that are not empty after a severe frost has occurred are it infested with some kind of parasite, though many of them have perished iiff from the effects of the frost and are either rotten or mouldj*. lie Any number of intelligent planters insist that they plow up the lie chrysalides in spring, and the belief that the last brood woiks beneath the ground, out of reach of frost, is very firmlj^ held by some of the most experienced cofcton-growers ; but in every instance that has come to my knowledge the chrysalides thus plowed up have proved to belong to other species, most of theai of the same family, and many of re them having a sufficiently close resemblance to those of Aletia to con- at found any but the most skilled and experienced entomologist. As an illustration of the ease with which erroneous conclusions can be drawn le irom mistaken identity, I will here quote part of a letter received last j1 spring from Prof. J. E. Willet, one of our observers who has particu- larly interested himself in this subject. " I have received to-night," if writes Professor Willet, "from Eev. Eobert Harris, of Cairo, Thomas J County, Georgia, a small tin box inclosing 25 chrysalides, which I forward you by mail. Mr. Harris is an ardent believer in the subterra- nean hibernation of the chrysalis of Aletia argillacea. 1 transcribe the X)ortion of his letter pertinent to the case : ; " ' Cairo, Ga., February 22, 1879. f '"Washington's birthday and victory. Perscverantin vincif. The facts drive "analogy" to the wall. Here they are: 25 cotton-worm chx-ysalides ploughed up out of the ground in a held that was riddled by I the insects last fall. " 'This is unimpeachable evidence, and in the opinion of the court is ' ! ami)ly sufficient to convict the prisoner.'" " The chrysalides," continues Professor Willet, " appear to my eye very like Aletia chrysalides which I have in spirits, and I await your ' verdict with interest." The chrysalides referred to in this instance resemble those of Aletia so thoroughly in form, size, and general appearance that they might have been niistaken therefor even by some entomologists ; yet, from certain minute structural differences, easily observable with a good lens, I was able at once to decide that they belonged to another insect, the Aspila I vircscens of Fabricius, a beautiful moth, with olivaceous iirimaries, marked with three distinct ]>ale transverse lines, relieved by coincident deeper shades, the translucent green larva of which, speckled with minute pale : fleshy elevations, I have found feeding on Solamim sieglinge in Saint Louis.* * I append a description of the larva of Aspila viresccns : Smooth, soft, translucent, witli tlio normal complement of 16 legs. Color either green of lilaceous. 'I Finely sjieekleil, witli pnle yellowish, spots (appeaviuj; under the lens as fleshy eleralions), arranged I in a somewhat longitudinal manner, and forming along the stigmatal region a tolerably well-marked band ; the stigmata, which arc in the uppei' portion of this band, bi-iug black, with a carneous center and -white anuulation. Piliferous .spots in normal iiosition, very small, dark, with a paler annnlation; the hairs tine and translucent. The two posterior .joints somiiwhat sijuarely cut oft". Head, thoracic legs, and cervical shield polished and slightly more yellow than body. I Full grown in July ; imago issuing in August of same year. 26 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. There are many species of niglit-flyiag moths which go through their transformatious beneath the ground, and there hibernate in the chrysalis state. The leaves of the cotton-plant are palatable to a very large num- ber of such, while the Boll-worm {Reliothis armigem) and the "Grass- worm" {L(q)Jirygma frugiperda)^ which thus transform, are sometimes very abuudant in a cotton field. It is not at all siu-prising, therefore, that the chrysalides should be plowed or dug up in land planted to cot- ton. All of them, tipon careful scrutiny, will be found to differ from the chrysalis of Aletia, which may be distinguished by its slender form, and particularly by the tip of the body with its armature, as shown in Fig. 4, 1>. 13. In short, the nature of the Aletia chrysalis effectually prevents it from worldng beneath the ground, except where, di'opping out of its cocoon, it happens to fall into some crack or crevice, and thus wriggle beneath the surface. It is also contrary to all analogy that a chrysalis normally found abo's e ground in a cocoon should work beneath the soil ; for aU insects that pupate under ground descend while in the larva state. Experiments which I have repeatedly made prove that the Aletia chrysalis, when placed under ground, either rots and perishes or the moth, if in a sufficiently advanced state when the chrysalis is buried, mil vainly attempt to escape and ijush through its unnatural surroundings. Eegardiug the ability of the moth to sui'vive the winter, nearly one- half of the more intelligent correspondents state that they have known the moth to be found flying dimng warm days in the winter, and that it consequently hibernates in that state. Mr. John T. Humphreys, of Morganton, N. C, who was for awhile employed by the State of Georgia in entomological work, says that he has absolute proof of the hibernation of the moth. Page after page of testimony and experience from the most competent and reliable i>lanters might be adduced in support of the fact that the moth is to be seen either hidden in sheltered situations or flying during the milder weather of winter, and in spring, in all of the southern por- tion of the belt. The situation in which it is most often reported as sheltering are under the shingles of gin-houses, under rails, and under the loose bark and in the hollows of trees and xirostrate logs. In old j)ine stumps the sap-wood sei^arates from the heart-wood and forms ex- cellent retreats for this i)urpose. The general hue of the large scales of I)ine bark is sufficiently close to that of the moth to make the resem- blance protective. A dense forest of Long-leaved pines also modifies and equalizes the winter temperature. These facts would lead one to suppose that pine forests offer unusually fa\ orable conditions for hiber- nation, and Mr. Humphreys has, in fact, found the moth hiberuatiug under pine scales, while some of my most reliable correspondents report having seen the moths sporting in great numbers in the edges of pine forests dmiug the month of March. Nevertheless, the persistent search by Mr. Schwarz last winter,* under ' * Mr. Schwarz traveled tliroutjhout the soutliern portion of the belt, and visited the Bahiimas, vfith the special object of learning the winter quarters of the moth. HIBEENATION: SPECIES MISTAKEN FOE ALEXIA. 27 my directiou, while yet coiuiecteAl witli the Department of Agriculture, failed to reveal the uioth under pine bark ; whereby I was led to the cou(;lusion that it seeks winter shelter some distance from the ground. It has been reported by some correspondents in greatest numbers in swamps of sweet gum, oak, magnolia, jjoplar, &c., such as are found in Southern Alabama. These swamiJS are warm, moist, and miasmatic, and the moths are said to have been seen literally packed together in a torpid state in the hollows and burrows made in rotting logs by boring larvai. The evidence on this point of the liibeinatiou of the moth would be overwhelming did it come from scientific observers ; but, unfortunately, allied species are so often and so easilj' mistaken for Aletia that doubt still surrounds the subject. The liability to confound hibernating spe- cies is all the greater in that characteristic markings are more or less effticed or faded. The Hijpena scahralis (Fabr.), * a moth, belonging to a different family (Pi/ralukv), and which hibernates in the imago state all over the country, is especially common in the Southern States, and large numbers have been sent to u)e as the genuine Aletia. It is nearly of the same size and form, and while normally of a darker brown, ftided hibernating specimens are easily mistaken for the Cotton Moth because of luidulating darker lines across the front, somewhat similar to those on the latter. Its palpi are longer and snout-like,'and its front wings in- variably lack the dark discal spot and the white specks (see p. 14) char- acteristic of Aletia. Phoheria atomaris Hiibn., and many other similar moths, have been forwarded with the remark that they were the Cotton , Moth ; while Leucanla uni- puncta Haw., the parent of the jSTorthern Army Worm, which feeds only on grasses and cereals, is everywhere found in the South during win- ter, and, on account of its great t-ig. s.— atsmy woiim :iioTii : «, mnic moth : . . . ,1 . oflemak- — iiat. si7.e; c, evo ; baso of iiiak- anteuua; Snnilarity m color to Aletia of female antenua— enlarged. (After Kiloy.) and of a white discal spot relieved with a dark shade on the front wings that heightens the general resemblance, is more often mistaken therefor than any other. It is more robust than Aletia, and a comparison of the accompanying illustration (Fig. 8 with Fig. 7, p. 15) will show the other dif- ferences. Seeing how easily non-entomologists are misled by general resemblances, I would again lay stress on the readily-observed char- * The Platyhypena gcabra (Fabr.) of Grote's List. Its larva is grass-pireen in color with a medio-ilorsal ami subdorsal liue.s of a darker green, the latter bordei ed below by a wliitish line. It is cylindrical and with bnt three pairs of abdominal proleas. It feeds on clover, and also on Sobinia. The chrysalis is formed in some sheltered situation and surrounded with white silken threads ; is dark and slender like that of Aletia, but the tip is armed with two strong, slightlj- diverging .spines. In Missouri this chi-y- salis may be fouml under bark during winter, and it doubtless hibernates in both chrysalis and imago state m the South. 28 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. acters undeiiined on page 14, by which Aletia may always be recognized. Where they are absent it may be safely taken for granted that other species are in question. From this danger of confounding species it is evident that ordinary reports lose, when unaccompanied by specimens, much of their value, and must always be taken cum grano salis. Yet, after making due allowance for i>ossible error, the number of in- telligent planters whom I have conversed with, and who, having long and thorough acquaintance with the moth, feel positive of their ability to distinguish it and of having seen it during the winter, is so great as to leave little doubt of the fact, while the added testimony of Professor Grote, who is such authority on moths that he could not thus confound species, and who states that he has found the Aletia in Alabama during mild winter weather, should dispel even that little doubt, and we may safely consider as proven that the moth does survive the winter uj) to the end of March. The general experience of correspondents is, how- eyer, that after March these hibernating moths are no longer to be seen, and no one knows what becomes of them between this time and the ap- pearance of the first worms. The difficulty felt in bridging this gap, together with the progress of injury from the south northward, has given rise to the theory that the species cannot survive the winter in this country, and must necessarily come each year on the wing from some exotic country where cotton is perennial. Mr. Eobert Chisolm, of Beaufort, S. C, seems to have been the first to suggest tbe theory, but the first ijublished statement of it that I can find is by a Mr. Gorham, who, in 1852, distinctly says:* ''My speculations on the nature and habits of the cotton fly have led me to adopt the following hypothesis: That it is a native of tropical climates, and never can pass a single winter beyond them, consequently never can become naturalized in the United States, or anywhere else where the cotton i^lant is not perennial." Two years later it was more fully set forth by Dr. W. I. Burnett t from facts communicated by Mr. Chisolm, and lastly it was agaiu urged, as original, by Professor Grote, in 1871, in his paper, already cited (p. 8). Professor Grote's conclusions were " that it dies out every year (with its food plant), that it occurs in the cotton belt of the Southern States, and that its next appearance is the result of immiyration.^'' \ The principal arguments urged in support of the theory by Professor Grote are [1] the sudden appearance of the moth in quantities ; [2J the first appearance of the worms so late as the latter part of June ; [3] the * Do Bow's Intlnstiial Resources of the Soutbern antl Western States, 1852, vol. i, y>. ItiO. tProc. Bost. Soc. jSfat. Hist. , 18.t4, vol. iv, pp. 316, 317. {It was my privilege to follow the reading of this paper with some Viiuarks expi'essiag my genoral appreciation of it, hut urging at the same time some qualifications of the iJioury , ami the belief t hat the insect biberaated in the more southern portion of the belt. These I'euiarks seem to have had some weight, for in the printed copy of the paper in the Proceedings of the A.ssociatiou a (jualifying clause (not in the pai)er as read or as printed at the time in the Xew York Trihune) is added, adtiiitting tbe possibility of hibernation in Florida and Southern Texas. Professor (Jrute based his views on an ex- perience had in what is known as the central cotton belt of Georgia and Alabama. The exact noi-them or southern limits of this belt are not stated, but it includes most of the canebrake region of the latter HIBERNATION: ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF IT. 29 1. absence of parasitic checks ; [4] tlie liigbly probable exotic origin of tlie I species and its introduction into the States ; and [5] the power of flight s and migratory habits of the moth. The first three lose much of their !, force from the facts adduced in this bulletin, since [1] in the southern portion of the belt * the sudden apijearance is more apparent than real ; I [2] the worms appear in April ; and [3] they have numerous parasitic ,' checks. There is also little force in the tixct of original introduction I from some foreign country, since most of our worst insect pests that are s now acclimated and established with us were originally introduced from r abroad; while [i] the migratory habit, as we have seen, is not developed 1 in the first moths. Arguments urged by others in favor of the theory ! are [G] the periodical visitations and intervals of immunity; [7] the short I life of the moth; and [8] the failure of those who have tried to keep it ) through the winter. To these it may be replied that [6] many other indigenous insects , abound during certain years and are Tinkuown in others, and that these changes are due to the working of well known laws ; that periodicity in the appearance of Aletia is largely imaginaiy, because it either refers f only to bad years and takes no stock of small numbers, or else is local. The investigations of the Commission show tliat the worm has been in some i^arts of the Soutli ever since the civil war, and there is no reason to i suppose that it was not annually to be found in fewer or larger numbers 1 prior thereto. [7J The shoi"t life of the moth of the summer generations is no criterion for that of the last or hibernating brood, since any num- ber of species Avhich pi'oduce several annual generations and have but a brief span of life in the imago state in summer are known to hibernate in this state. [S] It is extremely difficult to attain, in a room, the proper conditions of moisture and freshness that l)elong to a sylvan atmosphere, and I have never been able to keep other Lepidoptera which hibernate in the imago state alive through the whole winter in such artificial situa- tion, though I have tried with both Dana is archippus and FapUia ghjcerium. For this reason it will always be next to impossible to get absolute and incoiifroi'.) in appearance. They are almost all <^*'f«^ Kiiey.) active during the day, but a few work also at night. The species actually observed destroying cotton worms are: Podisits cynicus (Sa^), P. srtinosus (Dail.), Uuschistus JissiJis Uhler, Proxys punctulatus (Beauv.), Prionotus cristatus (X/inn.), Apiomerus crassipes (Fabr.), Phymata erosa ^Linn.), Mekmolestes pkipcs (H. Sch.), Stenopoda cinerea Lap. Also the following species, new to my cabinet, and kindlj' determined by Mr. P. E. Uhler, of Baltimore : Oehalm pngnax (Fabr.), Bepipta taurus (Fabr.), Aceratodes cornutits Burm., and Zelus bil- ohtis (Say). The following species, com- monly found in cotton fields but not yet actually observed to feed on the worms, may safely be regarded as hav- ing the habit, while several others might be added, some of which combine the car- nivorous with the plant-feeding trait Stiretrvs fimhrkitns (Say), var. (Fabr.), JEuscMstiis punctipes (Say), E. tristigmm (Say), (Fabr.), EliapMgaster Mlaris (Say), Smea diadema (Fabr.) (Fig. 16), Metapodins fem- oratus (Fabr.), Evangorus viridis TJhler, Ilerocorisdistinctus Dall., Anasa armigera Say, N'ezara pensylvanica De G., and Tri- phUps insidiosus (Say). DiPTEEA, OE TWO-WINGEDFlIES. — In this Order the only species that at- tack the worms, and probably the moths also, belong to the AsilkJa', a family of large, fierce flies that pounce upon other ^^^^ i8.-proctaca.vthus mimekti. insects as a hawk pounces upon other terKUey.) birds, and suck their substance by means of a strong beak. But two rig. 16. — SrSEA DIA- DESfA. (After Kiley.) riG. 17. — Stire- TKUS FIMBEIATDS. Thyanta custator (Af- NATURAL ENEMIES : THE MANTIS. 37 species — one the Proctacanthus jllilberti Maeq., Fig. 18, the other an nn- described Asilus — have been seen destroying the worm so far, though several belonging to the above-named genera and to Promaclms, Urax, and Laphria are not uncommon in cotton fields. Pig. 19. — Mantis Carolina: a, female; 6, male. (After Klley.) Orthoptera, or Straight-winged Insects. — The Carolina Mantis (Mantis Carolina L., Fig. 19) is also occasionally found in such situations, and being purely predaceous, may be presumed to take an occasional Cotton Worm, though I have not yet seen it do so. Neuroptera, or Nerve-winged Insects. — The only species of this Order that are likely to prey \\/y^\.^s3s^^^ upon Aletia belong to the Ant- ~^ lions {3IyrmeUonidw), the li{ice- Pig. 20. — CnRYSOPA: a, eggs; 6, larva; c, cocoons; with left wings detached. (After Westwood.) Pig. 21 wings {Hemerohiidw}, and the Dragon-Flies {Libellulido}). The Ant-lions work in the larva state in pits in the ground and the constant plowing thereof will always i)revent them from doing any material good, and they are naturally scarce. The Lace-wings are nu- merous, but their larvpe feed, like the lady-birds, on the plant-lice, and have refused to touch cotton ri'- 23.— MniMELEON 1! iG. MYK5IELE0N. worms whcu confined m lauva. boxes with them. The curious eggs of these flies, attached to the end 38 THI'] COTTOX WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. of a delicate filament (Fig. 27, a), are often supposed to be those of Aletia. The Dragon-flies or Mosquito-hawks are aquatic in the larva state, but Fig. 24. — Libellula trimaculata. (After Packard.) the perfect insects are active in their pursuit of prey while on the wing, and are reported on good authority to attack Aletia both in the worm and moth states. Parasites. It has very generally been believed that no true parasites were known to affect the Cotton Worm, and this belief has been used by Professor Grote, as we have already seen, as an argument in favor of the arrival of Aletia de novo from some exotic country whenever it appears with us. The belief was founded on the fact that no parasite had been recorded by name so as to be recognized by entomologists. Yet, as the sequence will show, two species at least have long been referred to without identi- fication as infesting the chrysalis, a fact overlooked by myself and other entomologists, but which I became aware of as soon as I commenced to collect chronological data while yet in the Department of Agriculture. The list of true parasites had, however, been greatly extended prior to my leaving said department, and some of the species are quite effectual in destroying Aletia, especially during the latter part of the season. Infesting the Egg. — The Trichoffmmma Egg-parasite: Attacking Aletia in its earliest stage, the unhatched egg, this winged atom must be, when abundant, a most effectual check, and the scarcity of the Cotton Worm in certain seasons may doubtless be partly ascribed to its work. It is at least known that a similar egg-parasite has in the New England States relieved the shade trees from the ravages of canker-worms — a good deed which the European sparrows, notwithstanding they received the credit for it, were unable to accomplish. The Trichogramma is a yellow fly, so small that were it not for its activity in jumping it could not be distinguished by the unaided eye as an animated being, and it finds sufficient nourishment in a single egg of the Aletia to support its growth and maturation. It emerges from a round hole which it gnaws through the egg-shell, and eggs infested by it or which have been de- stroyed by it may be recognized by their bluish or blackish color and the presence of this perforation. When examined under the microscope, Iparasites : jnfesting the egg. 39 the perfect fly is found to be an object of much beauty, the hairs upon the wings being arranged in regular lines. Some specimens of both sexes — the S may be distinguished by the bristlj^ antennte — were found to have one or more of the wings imperfectly developed, presenting the appearance of a paddle. I append a descriiition for the benefit of the scientific reader : Trichogramma pretiosa Riley {Can. Ent., vol. xi, p. 161). — Length about O-S™". YpIIow, tlie eyes red, the wiugs hyaline. Heail wider than the thorax ; autennie five- jointed, joints 3 and 4 in the 2 forming an ovate mass, and together shorter than joint 2; joint 5 large, thickened, and very obliquely truncate; in the J joints 3, 4, and 5 form a more or less distinct elongate club, beset with long bristles. Hairs of the wings arranged in about fifteen lines. Abdomen not so wide as the thorax, but as long as the head and thorax together; in the $ the sides subparallel and the apical joint sud- denly narrowed to a point. Differs from Trichogramma minuta Riley (Third Rep. Ins. Mo., p. 158, tig. 72, 9 ) in its smaller size and uniform pale yellow color, and also in the form of the third and fourth joints of the antenuie. As defined, and figured by Westwood (Intr. ii, fig. 77— ra), the antenua> of Trichogramma are six-jointed. Walker, in his "Notes on the Chalcidi;e," pt. vi, p. 105, employing Forster's characters, says the antenna? are eight-jointed; but an exaniiuatiou of the figure of the type (Trichogramma eranesccns, 1. c.,p. 114) shows that one of the joints counted is the "annulus" above the scape, which I do not con- sider to be a true joint, and that what I have indicated as the apical joint, in agree- ment with Westwood, is represented in that figure as three coalesced joints. I have proposed the generic name of Pentarthron for miniifa {Etc. of Am. Ent., 1871, p. 8), but Pmtarthrum has been used by Wollaston for a genus of beetles, and until the allied genera are better characterized than at present, it is best to use the old genus Tricho- gramma, in all absolute characters of which j>rt'«n'«iu— ().2.5-0..50 inch long; neither smooth nor highly polished, and varying from yellowish-brown to deep brown-black in color. Insectious more or less dis- tinctly traceable. Head and prothoracic joint retracted; the prothoracic spiracles protruding and forming two small ears about as long as joint 2; the mass of lobules hardened and rufous. Joints 2 and 3 constricted and flattened ; 4 suddenly bulging. End of body squarely docked by spiracular cavity, the rim of which forms quite a ridge. 42 THE COTTON WOKM IN THE UNITED STATES. Belvoisia bifasciata. — Lama — Leugth 15'"". White, the skiu soft; body cylin- drical, tapering ou the anterior joints towards the head, the apex obliquely truncated. Head small, furnislied with two stout black hooks, situated under two crescentic ele- vations at a moderate distance apart ; when viewed from in front the head obscurely bilobed, near the center of each lobe two cliitinous points, one situated above the other. No protlioracic spiracles apparent, a distinct circular spiracle on the posterior border of the fourth joint behind the head, and situated slightly above the median line. The anterior border of each joint slightly prominent and, except on the dorsal side of the apical joints, roughened with minute points, the posterior border of the apical joints similarly roughened. Joints 4-11 with a distinct transverse median depression ou the ventral side, the depression deejjest on the intermediate joints, the portion be- hind this depression on the joint 11 forming a ijrominent transverse tubercle beneatli the truncation, upon which the anal spiracles are situated. Anal spiracles black, each with the slit-like openings, and a circular sjiot in a clear space beneath them. In Westwood's Introduction, vol. ii, fig. 131, oo is copied from Bouch6, a figure of the larva of Tachiiia concinnata of similar form to that of Beh-oisia; but the peculiar "pro- thoracic spiracle " figured in connection is not apparent in the larva before me. In the normal form of the Tachinid puparium the anterior pair of spiracular openings are even with the general surface of the puparivim, so as to be discoverable with difficulty. The true spiracles are iatemal, and may be found opposite these perforations on the membrane which lines the puparium after the fly has escaped. The puparium is red- dish-brown, the anal si)iracles and the anus black; the joint of the body not distinct; the anal spiracles distinctly upon the surface of the subtruncated posterior end, not situated in a cavity as in Sarcophaga; just beneath these spiracles is a slight trans- verse elevation. The puparium of Belvoisia bifasciata differs somewhat from the ordinary form. It is black, roughened, increases in width posteriorly, has tlie anal spiracles drawn far for- ward upon the back, and each represented by three swollen tubercles, and the space between them and the tip of the iiuparium is very irregular and has a conspicuou.s transverse depression. Issuing from the Chrysalis. — The foregoing species issue in the larva or maggot state mostly from the worm and undergo their transforma- tions independently of their host. All the other parasites yet to be mentioned undergo their transformations within the chrysalis and gnaw their way out of the more or less completely emptied shell as per- fect insects. The Aletia is attacked, however, in the larva state, the parent parasite stinging and laying her eggs beneath the skin of the worm, and the parasitic larvaj affecting the vital parts only after the transformation of the victim to the chrysalis state. Whether or not any of the species here mentioned are secondary parasites will be considered in the final report ; at present there is reason to believe that they are all i)rimary- The Devouring Cirbospilus. — The chrysalides of Aletia formed dur- ing the latter i^art of the season are frequently infested with this little parasite, each chrysalis nourishing a number, which eat their way through the shell in the form of small black flies. This i)arasite is generally distributed, having been found by myself and Professor Willet in Georgia, and by Mr. Schwarz in Texas. The larvse are pale elon- gate, egg-like maggots, and the flies issue all through the autumn, during mild winter weather and (the later ones) in spring. It belongs to the family ChalcididcBj the insects of which are distinguished by their PARASITES: ISSUING FROM THE CHRYSALIS. 43 parasitic habits, small size, metallic colors, reinless wings, thickened hind thighs, and by the pupa being formed without a cocoon. 2. CiRROSPiLus ESURUS Riley (Can. Ent., vol. xi, p. 162). — Length 1..')™™. Dull black; knees, tibite, and tarsi yellowish; the posterior tibiae sometimes dusky. Eyes with scattered short bristles. Antenna; of the $ 9-jointed, with the joints of the tla- gellum subcqnal and beset with bristles, the ninth joint small. Antennce of the $ 8-jointed, the fourth and fifth shorter than the second and third, the three apical joints fonning a club. Thorax above microscopically punctate ; parapsides distinct and ele- vated ; scutellum with a longitudinal impressed line on each side. Wings hyaline, pubescent, but the cilia short ; base of ulna uneven ; radius not developed. Abdomen short and sessile ; ovate. This species shows relationship with the genus Tetrastichus Haliday, and may ulti- mately be referred there. For the present I prefer to place it in the older genus. The Ovate Chalois — A second species belonging to the same family as the preceding has similar habits, but being much larger issues in fewer numbers, and as a general thing singly, from the chrysalis. It is a black fly [Chalcis ovata Say,) with the greatly swollen liiiid thighs cliaracter- istic of the genus, and by means of Avhich these insects are able to jump with great vigor. The species may be easily recognized by the posterior thighs being black with a yellow spot at the tip and by the tegulfe being entirelj^ yellow. From the allied genus Smicra^ with which Chalcis agrees in the swollen hind thighs, it may be distinguished by the sessile abdomen. The larva is a slender legless maggot 7""". in length. The body tapers at each end, particularly behind, and has a conspicuous lateral ridge. The head is similar to that of the Pimpla larva described further on, but the mandibles are nearly concealed, be- ing covered by the other mouth parts. The first three joints of the body are separated by deeper constrictions than the succeeding joints, and the lateral tubercles on joints 4-10 have a smaller but distinct tubercle behind them. The spiracles in the alcoholic specimen are indistinct, owing to their agreeing with the skin in color; but their position is apparent upon the anterior border of the second, third, fourth, and several of the posterior joints. Length, 7""™. The pu})a is short and robust ; pale at first but becoming brown, the head and thorax anteriorly darker. It has two prominent tubercles between the eyes just above the insertion of the antenna;, and above each of these a slight ridge extending as high as the lower ocellus, which is situated on a slight prominence within the fork of an im- pressed line on the vertex. Only five distinct joints in the antenna? between the scape and the club. Posterior femora larger than the wing-pads and slightly overlapped by them, xiosterior tarsi not extending to the tij) of the abdomen. Tip of the abdomen narrowed and ending in a small truncated square. The species is widespread in the United States and occurs also in Mexico and the West Indies. I have reared it from Aletia chrysalides collected by Professor Willet in Georgia, Professor Comstock in Ala- bama, Mr. Schwarz in Texas, Dr. Anderson in Mississip])i, and myself in the first-mentioned State and in North Carolina; while I have like- wise reared it from Desmia maculalis (the Grape leaf- folder), in Missouri, and found it commonly infesting the chrj^salides of certain Hackberry- feeding worms {Apatura Lycaon, Fabr., and A. Herse, F.) in several of the Southern States. 44 THE COTTOX WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. Still a third of these smaller Hymenopterous parasites issuing in num- bers from the Aletia chrysalis was obtained the past summer, and re- ferred to me for determination by Professor Com stock. It belongs to an allied family (Proctotrupidce), in which, as compared with the Chalcididce, the body is generally longer, the antennae also longer, the colors more sober, the wings have a few veins, the hind thighs are not fitted for jump- ing, and the pupa is usually formed in a cocoon. The species under consideration approaches the genus Basalys of Westwood, and I ap- pend a description of it : DiDiCTYUJi* noT. gen. — JTead transverse ; tliree ocelli, approximate and triangularly arranged: labial palpi 3-jointed; antennae inserted in front and close together: iu the 2 hardly reaching to the abdomen, 13-jointed, the two basal joints stout ; joints 3-7 suddenly narrowed and together not much longer than 1 and 2; 3 being twice as long as the others; 8-13 twice as stout, pedimcled, subequal in length, very slightly narrowing toward tip: in the as long as body, lo-jointed, joint 3 twice as long as any of the others, 4-15 subequal iu length. Thorax as long asabdomen, slightly wider in the middle than the head ; scutellnm prominently raised, subovate and marginally ridged; legs with the tarsi imiformly 5-jointed; front wings without stigma, but with the veins forming with the costa two closed cells ; hind wings with a stout costal vein, reaching and broadening to basal third of wing, where it is suddenly bent upward. Abdomen narrower than thorax, wfth a short pedvmcle. D. zigzag, n. sp. — Average length 1.6""". Body uniformly polished black. Legs, palpi, and antennse reddish in female; coxas, femora, and antennse toward tip iufus- cate iu the male. Peduncled joints of antennte with a few minute spines around the crown and longitudinally striate. Base of thorax and of abdomen with pale pubes- cent hairs. Wings hyaline, sparsely beset with minute spines wliich increase radially and form a fringe around the posterior half; the veins of front wings forming a sprawl- ing W with xiartial cross veins proceeding from the lower angles, the basal cross vein longest; the longitudinal veins with a few j)rominent spines. Abdomen, 9 > showing but 4 joints, the terminal three short and hardly distinguishable ventrally. The genus is readily distinguished, by the character of the venation and the structure of the autennte, from Basalys Westwood, with which it has some aflSnity. We next have certain larger, true Ichneumon-flies {Ichneumonidce), of which but one specimen succeeds in matiuing and issuing from the Aletia chrysalis, though more sometimes hatch within the worm, the others being eventually destroyed by the more successful rival. The Watchful Poipla. — This species [Pimpla conquisitor^ Sayt), sometimes destroys from fifteen to twenty per cent, of the last brood of Aletia, and the chrysalides that are whole and that appear sound or alive after a good frost are found to contain its larva or puj)a in still greater pro- portion. It has been obtained from Aletia from all parts of the South, and by most of the observers and agents of the Commission, the fly issu- ing sometimes iu the Fall, but mostlj^ in spring. It is a black, four- winged fly, varying in length from one-fouith to one-half of an inch, and may be * Atf double ; tViK-vov. net. \Cryptus conquisitor, Say. Bost. Jour., i, 232, of -ivhicli, a,s Walsli, (Canadian Entomolopst, ii, 12,) pointed out, Cryptus pleurivinctus, Say, 1. c, 233, is a s,>Tionym. By some oTevsight plmrivinctus stands as a synonym xmHer anmdicomis. Cress., instead of conquisitor in Jlr. Cresson's List of the ^Torth Ameri- can Pi))ipJorias, (Trans. Am. Ent. Soc, iii, 170.) PAKASITES ISSUING FEOM THE CHRYSALIS. 45 distinguislied from other native species of the genus Pimpla by having the margins of the abdominal segments white. The exserted ovii^ositor does not exceed one-half the length of the abdomen, and the male may be recognized by the absence of an ovipositor and by his more slender body. SsLj reared the species from a follicle of a case-bearing Bombycid moth with transparent wings, probably the common Bag Worm [Thi/ri- dopteryx ephemercvformis, Haw.*). The larm of Pimpla conquisitor is a legless maggot of a whitish color, the head well defined, concolorous with the body and with distinct mouth parts; the tips of the maudibles black. The body tapers jjosteriovly, the skin is tiuely wrinkled and no spiracles are apparent ; the first three joints have a longitndinal, inii>ressed line low down on the sides, and the succeeding joints have a similar line higher up, and above it a distinct lateral ridge or series of protuberances. The mandibles are slender and pointed, situated beneath the labrum and above the three fleshy tuber- cles which represent the maxillfe and labrum. Above the labrum are two distant and very indistinct circles with a minute point in the center, indicating the position of the antennsB. The largest larva examined measured 9™'". The pupa resembles the imago in the form of body, but the colors are undeveloped, the wings unexpauded, and the legs, antenniB, and palpi laid along the sides and breast. In the robably the most effectual as it is the most noticeable check to Aletia, and that it has alwa;^'s attacked it seems most probable ; for the following account by Dr. Gorham, iiublished in 1852 in the article in De Bow's Industrial Eesources, etc. (p. 108), already cited, gives such an exact account of it and such a full general description, that, while he coidd not name it, there is no question as to its identity with the species under consider- ation. In endeavoring to explain the disappearance of the Cotton Worm in early winter, Dr. Gorham writes : t * * * Let us take a pocketful of these [the chrysalides] home and jilace them beneath tumblers, and wait patiently to sec what they will jiroducc. * * * About the fifteenth of November the insect appeared, but, mirahUv did id as different from the Cotton fly as it is possible to suppose one insect could differ from another. It belonged altogether to a different family, a description of which I give as follows : Antennaj filiform; black, six lines in length. Palpi four, two external and two in- termediate, the external white, twice the length of the other two, in shape angular, the angles projecting externally. The two middle are straight, scarcely perceptible over a strong light; they are of a dark color. Wings four; hymenopterous; incum- bent, extending to and exactly even with the end of the tail ; shape of the wings, which are small and extremely delicate, like that of a fan. Front legs half the length of the posterior, of a uniform orange color ; the intermediate legs very little longer than the anterior; the thighs of a deep orange color, the rest of the leg annulated with *In tlie Tians. St. Louis Acad. Sci., iii, 137, a detailed de.scription of conquisitor is given liy Mr. Walsb, who there identified Say's Hombyx witli Clisiocampa amcricana ; but this dotcnuination is not in aeoord \ritli Say's account of tlie moth. tDr. Phares refers to Dr. Gorh.am's experience with tbia parasite in his excellent article published in the Rural Carolinian for August, 1870 (vol. i. p. 689), but only in order to criticise some of Dr. GoiUam's deductions, and not to confirm its occurrence by his own experience. 46 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. orange and white. The posterior legs long in comparison to the others ; thighs of a deep orange color, the rest of the leg annulated with black and white, the rings being larger than those of the intermediate. The trunk is of a uniform shining black, as would be the tipper surface of the abdomen also were it not for the very narrow white bands which connect the black scales together, giving to the abdomen an annulated appearance ; these white lines do not encircle the abdomen, but terminate uniformly on the sides. On the under surface of the abdomen these white rings again commence, which are larger than those on the upper surface, causing the abdomen to look almost white. The tail terminates in a bifurcated shenth, inclosing a long bhmt sting, pro- jecting considerably beyond the tail, and forming a very promiuent feature in the gen- eral figure of the insect. This is a small, slender insect, much longer than the honey bee, but not so thick. Three years later what is evidently the same species is referred to again without name by Mr. Glover, who says:* "Some chrysalides of the cotton caterpillar, which had been pre- served during the summer of 1855, as an ex- periment to try whether they would live un- til the following spring, having been hatched prematurely by the heat of the room in which they were kept, two Ichneumon-flies were produced of a slender shape, and about half an inch in length ; the abdomen or body of the female was black, and marked with seven ^ light-colored, yellowish, narrow rings around ) it," etc. In the Agricultural Eeport for 1867 -'' (p. 61) his remarks that the cotton caterpillar is destroyed by a " small yellow and black Fig. 27.— Pimpla annulipes: outline, j j ■ " xi« j. mi. side view of female and of male abdo- banded ichueumou-fly " probably refer to the men. (After RUey.) Same SpCcicS. The Eing-leggbd Pimpla. — This is another species [Pimpla annu- lipes Br., Fig. 27) of the same genus, having about the same size and gen- eral appearance, but having the rings on the abdomen dusky or reddish instead of whitish, and differing in other minute particulars. It is less numerous than the preceding, but I have obtained it from chrysalides sent by Dr. Anderson, and received it the past summer from Professor Comstock as reared from Aletia. In habit it is precisely like conquisitor, and equally widespread and destructive to other species of Lepidoptera,t being one of the few parasites of the common Apple Worm (Carpocapsa pomonella). Cryptus nuncius. — A third Ichneumon-fly belonging to a different genus and having similar habits with the Pimplas just described, except that the i)upa is formed in a cocoon, may (considering the known varia- bility of coloration in the species of the genus) be referred to Cryptus nuncius, Say. It is a black and red, four-winged fly with transparent wings, and issues from the Aletia chrysalis during the spring. It is a well-known parasite of our large native silkworms, Attacus promethea, 'Patent Office Eeport 1855 (Agriculture), p. 111. tSee Mo. Ent. Kepts., iv, p. 43; v, p. 49. REMEDIES: MEANS OF COPING WITH THE INSECT. 47 A. cecropia, and A. polypliemus, from the cocoons of which it emerges in the Northern States early in the spring, a considerable number of the parasite appearing from a single cocoon. A female specimen from Aletia has the head and thorax black, the Hth-lOth joints of the antennae white, the palpi black, the legs including all the coxse red, with the tips of the posterior femora and of the posterior tibiiB black, and the posterior tarsi tingearticular i)atented combination ceases to infringe upon it. It will therefore be utteily im]3ossible for the patentees to enforce the penalty for infringement without proof that precisely the same ingredients and combination as patented were used; and to get such proof will, I take it, be no easy matter; for were it, we should hear of hundreds of thousands of ijrosecutions where now we hear not of a single one." Experience has justified this advice, for, while immense sums have been paid by planters to some parties for the right to use Paris green mixtures, the patentees have been unable to get protection from the courts whenever they have sued for infringement in the independent use of them by planters. The letter of the law too often negatives the spirit of tlie law, and it seems that the Patent Office has been forced to issue the jiatents above alluded to on the ground and decision that any change in the compounds of a mixture makes of it, in law, a new substance. Arsenic. — While commercial arsenic, salts of arsenic, and the various compounds of them are much cheaper than Paris green, yet this advan- tage is more tlian counterbalanced hy the injurious property they pos- sess, in a more or less marked degree, of scalding the leaves and causing the squares and young bolls to shed. Moreover, on account of their white color there is more danger of injury to man and animals in their use than in that of colored preparations, which are less likely to be mis- taken for harmless substances. Great care and precaution are, therefore, necessary in applying these arsenic poisons. When applied in just the right proportioiis to kill the worms without injuring the cotton they are valuable substitutes for the more expensive Paris green, but uufortu- * Sixth Mo. Ent. Eep., 1873, p. 21. POISONING THE WORMS: ARSENIATE OF SODA. 59 nately these proportions vary with each particular combination, so that they can be satisfactorily ascertained only by absolute experiment. In fact, experience would indicate that it is almost impossible to use arsenic in any of the forms considered under this head without producing a bad effect upon the squares. It is for this reason that the Paris green mix- tures have held their own against the cheaper compounds, and most planters, even where these. last are used, find it desirable to still mix a certain proportion of the Green with them. Counnercial arsenic, costing from 7 to 10 cents per lb., is api)lied in powder form at the ratio of J lb. to from 18 to 2o of any of the ingredi- ents used with Paris green. Used in water, these arsenic compounds give less satisfaction because of the dangers to the plant already alluded to, which are then increased. It is an interesting fact that already in 1871 a patent was obtained for the use of arsenic against the Cotton- Worm by Mr. Thomas, W. Mitchell, of Eichmond, Tex., (Jfo. 110774, January 3, 1871; reissue No. 5935, June 30, 187-4; 92 grains of opaque arsenic, or 293 griiins of transparent arsenic, to one pint of water). A more complicated compound, "Johnson's Dead Shot," has been patented by Judge J. W. Johnson, of Columbus, Tex. (Xo. 151000 June 2, 1874:), consisting of 8 ozz. arsenious acid, 1 oz. cyanide of potassium, 8 ozz. dextrine, dissolved in 40 gallons of water. One of the claims for this compound was that the vapor of the cyanide of potassium even killed the moths which came in the vicinity of the plants that had been sprinkled with the "Dead Shot". Experience has shown that the chiim was unwarranted, and, in fact, in the packages offered to the i^ublic. Judge Johnson did not adhere to the specification, being finally afraid to use the cyanide of potassium, and making a mixture composed of 3 lbs. of commercial arsenic, 1 lb. of starch, 1 lb. of salts of tartar, ground up togetlier. This was made up in powder packages to be used at the rate of 5 lbs. to 500 gallons of water and sprayed by means of his patent sprinkler i)resently to be described. This was found to have the same drawback, common to arsenical mixtures, of injuring the plant, and the later packages, advertised under the name of "Johnson's Improved Dead Shot," put up in 4 lb. tin boxes and to be used at the rate of 4 lbs. to 500 gallons of water, consist (according to the inventor's own statement to me) of 2 lbs. of commercial arsenic with a due proportion of rosin, caustic soda, and suli)hate of copper, all boiled together. This is sold at $1.25 jier box. It has, however, proved too often unsatisfactory and ineffi- cient, and Mr. Johnson has been obliged to add or recommend the addi- tion of one pound of Paris green to the mixture. Arseniate of soda. — This has the advantage of being perfectly soluble in water, but has the same disadvantages as conmiorcial arsenic. For a innuber of years an arsenical compound has been advertised under the name of " Potato-pest poison," by the Lodi Chemical Works of Lodi, K J. It is i)ut up in pound packages, which are sold at $1 each, with directions to dissolve 4 ounces in 2 quarts of hot water, then pour into 60 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. a barrel containing 30 gallons of cold water, and use on the plants in as fine a spray as possible. A patent (No. 151078, May 19, 1874) was obtained by Messrs. J. D. Braham and A. Robira, of Galveston, Texas, for tlieir Texas Cotton Worm Destoyek," wbicb is essentially tbe same as tbe Lodi prepara- tion, and put up at tbe New Jersey works for tbe Galveston firm. Fifty grains of arseniate of soda and 200 grains of dextrine are to be dissolved in one gallon of cold water. Tbe mixture was formerly sold at tbe exor- bitant price of $1 per lb., and is now offered for oO cents per lb. It is put up in packages of GO and 100 lbs., and tbus sold at a discount of 10 per cent. It is to be used at tbe rate of 4 ounces of tbe mixture to about 40 gallons of water, making tbe cost of one application per acre about 12 J cents. It has been extensively used. Another " pest poison," also essentially the same as the Lodi prepa- ration, but faintly colored with rose aniline, is put up by the Kearney Chemical Works of New York, in ^ lb. packages, sold at 50 cents, and to be dissolved in 60 gallons of water. This powder is obtained in the following manner in the manufacture of aniline dyes. Crude coal-oil is distilled to produce benzole. This is mixed with nitric acid and forms nitro-benzole. Iron filings are then used to produce nascent hydi-ogene with the excess of nitric acid in the benzole. When distilled, aniline results : to this arsenic a.cid, to give an atom of oxygen which produces rose aniline, and qiiicldime are added to absorb the arsenic. The residuum which is obtained by filtration or settling is what has been denominated " London Purple," the sediment being dried, powdered, and finely bolted. The powder is, therefore, comi)osed of lime and arsenious acid, with about 25 per cent, of car- bonaceous matter which surrounds every atom. Experiments which I made with it in 1878 imj^ressed me favorably with this powder as an insecticide, and its use on the Colorado potato-beetle by Professors Budd and Bessey, of the Iowa Agricultural College, proved highly satis- factory. I was, therefore, quite anxious to test its effect on tbe Cotton- Worm in the field on a large scale, and in the winter of 1878-79 induced tbe manufacturers to send a large quantity for this purpose to tbe Department of Agriculture. The analysis made of it by Professor CoUier, the chemist of the Department, showed it to contain : London Purple. Per cent. Eose anilino Arseiiic acid Lime Insoluble residue Iron oxide ...... , Water Loss 12. 46 43. 65 21.82 14.57 L 16 2.27 4. 07 100,00 POISONING THE WORMS: LONDON PURPLE. 61 Througli the liberality of the manufacturers, Messrs. Hemingway & Co., a number of barrels of this i)owder were i)laced at my disposal the past season and distributed to various observers and agents in Georgia, Alabama, and Texas. Early in the spring Mr. A. E. Whitney, of Frank- lin Grove, Illinois, found it to be a perfect antidote to the canker-worms which had not been prevented from ascending his apple-trees, and the experiments of those whom I had intrusted to make them on the Cotton- Worm, as well as those made under my own supervision, all showed that its effects are fully equal to those of Paris green. Like the latter it kills the worms quickly and does not injure the plants if not applied in too great a quantity. Farther, it also colors the ingredients so as to prevent their being mistaken for harmless material. Finally, its cheap i>rice removes the temptation of adulterating the poison, as every adulteration would j^rove more expensive than the genuine article. It is even superior to Paris green, as, owing to its more fmely-powdered condition, it can be more thoroughly mixed with other ingredients and used in smaller proportion. Experiments on a large scale have been made with the dry application at the rate ot 2 lbs. to 18 lbs. of diluents, also at the rates of 1, J, -J, and J lb. to 18 of the diluents. The last proved only partially effectual, and in no case were the plants injured or the leaves even burned. In all but the last case the worms were effectuallj' killed, but as the mixture, at the rate of I lb. was applied with greater care and regularity than is generally had on a large scale, . and also in very dry weather, the proportion of ^ lb. to 18 of the dilu- ents is most to be recommended. All higher proportions arc simply waste of the material. Like Paris green, it is not soluble,* but is much easier kept suspended in water than the former. If api>lied in this way some care has to be taken in stirring it in the water, as it has a tendency to form lumps, owing to its finely-powdered condition. Experiments on a large scale with this material diluted in water gave the following results : When used in the same iH'oportion as Paris green, namely, 1 lb. of the poison to about 40 gallons of water, one experimenter reports that the leaves were slightly crisped, while four others report a perfect success, and no injury whatever to the plant. Experiments by myself and Mr. Schwarz showed that when applied in the proportion mentioned and thoroughly stirred up in the water the leaves were partly crisped, though by no means so much as by arsenic, even when applied in weaker solution. When used in smaller proportion, or at the rate of J or -J lb. to 40 gal- lons of water, it did not burn the leaves and still proved eft'ectual in de- stroying the worms. Repeated exijeriments on a smaller scale con- firmed these results obtained on large fields, and also showed that the proportion may be still farther reduced, and w4ien applied with great care and in very dry weather 4 lb. to 40 gallons will kill. Still farther reduction in the proportion of the powder used gave negative results. * The manufacturers can render about 13 per cent, of it soluble if desired. 62 THE COTTON WOEM EST THE UNITED STATES. I "would, therefore, recommend the use of ^ lb. of this powder to from 50 to 55 gallons of water as the proportion most likely to give general sat- isfaction by effectually destroying the worms without injuring the plants. All that has been said under the head of Paris green as to the desir- ability of adding a small quantity of flour or other substance to give adhesiveness to the liquid will hold equally true of London purple, but the latter has in manj'^ respects a great advantage over the former, especially in its greater cheapness, being a mere refuse which, from its poisonous nature, was a drug to the manufacturers and had to be gotten rid of by being dumped long distances out at sea. This substance can be l)ut upon the market at the bare cost of transportation. It can be sold in New York at the low rate of 6 cents per lb., and there is no reason why it should not be obtained at any of the large shipping points in the South at figures ranging between 7 and 10 cents a pound. This means virtu- ally that the cost of destroying the worms by this powder is reduced to such a minimum as to depend mainly on the labor and the other ingre- dients or dilutents employed ; in other words, that, while the planters, as heretofore, were obliged to pay as much as $1 for the first cost of the active poison needed for one acre, and never less than 15 cents, he may now obtain it for from 3 to 5 cents. London purple has this farther advantage over other arsenical com- pounds hitherto employed: Its finely-pulverized condition seems to give it such penetrating power that, when used in liquid, it tints the leaves so that cotton treated with it is readily distinguished at a dis- tance, the general effect being quite marked as comijared with any of the other i)oisons similarly applied. It seems also to be more efiectually absorbed into the substance of the leaf, and is therefore more persistent. At the same time experience shows that it does not injure the squares any more than Paris green. Pyrethrum Powder. The insecticide and insectifuge qualities of the dried and finely- powdered flower-heads of difi'erent species of Pyrethrim, and the harm- lessness of the powder to man, to other animals, and to plants, have long since been known. Used against various household pests under the names "Persian Insect Powder" or "Dalmatian Insect Powder," it has hitherto been put up in small bottles or packages and sold at such high prices as to preclude the idea of using it on a large scale in the field. The so-called Persian Powder is made from the flowers of Pyretlirum cameum and P. roseum, while that from P. cineraricvfoUmn, a native of Dalmatia, Herzegovina, and Montenegro, is more generally known as Dalmatian Powder. Some interesting experiments made during the year on different insects by Mr. William Saunders, of Lon- don, Ontario, show that the use of this powder may be satisfactorily extended beyond the household, while a series which I made in the summer of 1878 with the same powder on the Cotton- Worm showed it POISONING THE WORMS: PYRETHRUM POWDER. 63 to have striking destructive powers, tlie slightest puff of tlie powder causing certain death and the almost instant dropping of the worm from the plant. Kepeated on a still more extensive scale the present year at Columbus, Tex., the powder proved equally satisfactory in the field. Here, then, we have a remedy far exceeding any other so far known in efficacy and harmlessness to man and plant, and the only question in my mind has been to reduce its cost. There was some hope of doing this by ascertaining the destructive principle, and it is to Prof. E, W. Hilgard, of the University of California, that we owe the first accur;ite determination of the same. The following extract from a letter received from Professor Hilgard last September indicates the results of some of his experiments : Deaii Sir : Yours of 22(1 is to hand. I have had Milco's product in hand for some time, and have tried it on various bu^^s both iu powder ,iiid infusion. To understand the best manner of using it in each case, it must be kept in mind: 1. That the active substance is a volatile oil. 2. That said oil, under tlio influence of air, uot only volatilizes, but is also oxidized, and thereby converted into an inert resin. It follows from 1, that the pyrethrnm is at a disadvantage when used iu the shape of powder in the open air, especially when the wind blows; from 2, that it is of the greatest imiiortanco that the substance should be fresh, or should have been kept tightly packed, for the same reason that hops must bo simil.arly treated. Hence I find that Milco's fresh powder is of greater efficacy than the best imported, although some of the latter contains twice as nnich matter soluble in ether ; but the extract from the "buhach" is a clear greenish oil, while that from imiiorted iiowder, and especially that from "Lyon's magnetic" — ground-up refuse, stems, &c., as I take it — is dark and thickish, or almost dry and crumbly. Like all volatile oils, the essence of pyrethrum is sohible in water to some extent, and the tea from the flowers, and to a less extent, that from the flower-stems and leaves, is a valuable and convenient insecticide for use iu the open air, provided that it is used at times when it will not evaporate too rapidly, and that it is applied in the shape of spray, whose globules will reach the- insect despite of its water- shedding surfaces, hairs, &c. Thus applied, I find that it will even penetrate the armor of the red scale bug — or rather, jierhaps, get under it — so that the bug falls off dead, in a day or two. The hairy aphides are the most troublesome, and require a strong tea of the flowers, atomized. The diluted alcoholic solution can, of conrse, be made as strong as yon please, and will kill anything entomological. Some i)ersons hare tried the decoction, and have of course failed, as the oil is dissipated by boiling. My own experiments and those of Professor Hilgard were made with the powder from plants grown in California by Mr. G. if. Milco, of Stock- ton, and this powder, when used fresh, I have found to be more power- ful than the imported kinds. Mr. Milco, a native of Dalmatia, lias been cultivating the P. cinerariccfoUum in California in constantly increasing area for the past three years, and deserves great credit for his efforts in introducing it. The Californian iiroduct is put upon the market iu neat bottles and packages under the name of "Buhach," and I am under ob- ligations to Mr. Milco for the liberal supply which he has pLxced at my disposal free of cost, wherewith to carry on my exi^erimente. Before considering the cost of using this insecticide in the cotton-field it will be well to summarize the results of these exijeriments. 64 THE COTTOM WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. Pure Pyretlirum powder, mixed witli a small quantity of finely-pow- dered rosin, was applied to the under-side of the leaves by means of a small pair of bellows. Taking advantage of the direction of the wind, and using the bellows freely, all the upper leaves of the plants were found to be well i)owdered, and consequently almost all the worms upon these leaves received at least some particles. The smaller worms died in convulsions in. from 10 to 20 minutes, according to theu' size, and to the quantity of powder they have received. Larger worms soon became uneasy, and finally fell to the ground, where they invariably died in from 5 to 24 hours. Every attempt to restock with worms a freshly-powdered plant failed. They evidently do not like the sinell of the powder, and throw them- selves from the leaves until they either fall to the ground or reach a leaf which has not been powdered. Diluted with flour in varying i)roportions from one part of each up to one part of Pyrethrum and ten of flour, it produced equally good results as when -pure. Mixed with 16 parts of flour, it proved at first insuffl- cient, but upon being kept in a tight glass jar for two weeks, it evidently gained in i^ower, for it then proved almost as effectual as the stronger mixtures. The powder can be successfully sifted on the plants during cloudy days or during the evening when the worms are on the upper side of the leaves. On sunny days, or when the worms are just hatched, it is more necessary to apply it to the under side of the leaves, as it acts only when coming in actual contact with the worms. A strong decoction of the powder applied to the leaves produced no effect ; nor did the worms appear to suffer from eating leaves thoroughly soaked with this decoction. An alcoholic extract of the powder, diluted with water at the rate of one part of the extract to 15 of water, and sprayed on the leaves, kills the worms that have come in contact with the solution in a few minutes. The mixture in the proportion of one i^art of the extract to 20 i)arts of water was equally efficacious, and even at the rate of 1 to 40 it killed two-thirds of the worms upon which it was sprayed in 15 or 20 minutes, and the remainder were subsequently disabled. In still weaker solu- tion or at the rate of 1 to 50 it loses in efficacy, but still kills some of the worms and disables others. I confidently recommend, therefore, the alcoholic extract of Pyrethrum, diluted at the rate of 1 part of the ex- tract to 40 parts of water, and sprayed upon the plants as an effectual remedy against the worm. The extract is easily obtained by taking a flask fitted with a cork and a long and vertical glass tube. Into this flask the alcohol and Pyrethrum is introduced and heated over a steam tank or other moderate heat. The destillate, condensing in the vertical tube, runs back, and, at the end of an hour or two the alcohol may be drained off and the extract is ready for use. Let us now briefly consider the approximate cost of using this mate- POISONING THE WORMS : PYRETHRUM : KEROSENE. 65 rial at present figures. The powder is now selling in California at whole- sale, in 8-lb. packages, at $1.25 per lb. ; but from facts kindly commu- nicated by Mr. Milco, it appears that he has raised as much as G47 lbs. to the acre, and that the cost of production, milling, &c., on a large scale, need not exceed 6 to 7 cents per lb., because in the experiments attending the introduction of the ])lant many obstacles and expenses incident to new enterj)rises have had to be met. The plant is wonder- fully free from insect enemies and blooms all through the summer, and there seems no good reason why it should not grow in most of the South- ern States. Carefully estimating from the results of experiments made, it will require about one and three-quarter pounds of the Pyrethrum powder to go over an acre of cotton at medium height; in other words, that quan- tity of Pyrethrum to 20 lb. of flour or other diluents will answer the purpose. Such being the case, the question as to whether the Pyre thrum can be used as a substitute for Paris Green, London Purple, and other arsenical powders resolves itself in one of relative market price, and if Mr. Milco's estimates are warranted — and no one in the country is better able to state the facts or give the figures on the subject — the Pyrethrum may be produced as cheaply as even London Purple. It is a question which future experience alone can determine, but that the prospects are encouraging there can be no question, and it is highly probable that the planter in the future will make it a rule to grow a patch or a few- rows of this most useful plant as a ready means where- with to protect his croj) from the worm whenever the occasion for so doing presents itself. So far as experiments have been made there would seem to be a de- cided advantage in point of economy in the use of the crude powder, since, in the ordinary methods of spraying, 40 gallons of liquid are re- qiTired for an acre, and to jjroduce this amount of diluted extract of Pyre- thrum at the above figures would require about G lbs. of powder. This diluted extract has the advantage, however, over every other liquid so far used that it contains no solid and obstructing particles. It may, therefore, doubtless be used in a much finer spray than any of the other poisons. Kerosene Oil. It is a well-known fact that this is a most powerfiil insecticide, and experiment has shown that a fine spray of kerosene applied to the leaves wiU kill all worms thereon in a remarkably short time. This deadly effect is produced by the contact, the smallest quantity of the oil applied to any part of the worm causing instant death. Unfortunately, how- ever, the oil has the same pernicious effect on the leaves, and the diffi- culty of applying it in such fine spray as not to injure the plants, and at the same time touch every worm, has not yet been overcome. The same objection applies to the use of the oil mixed with water. An 5 EI THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. attempt has beeu made to apply the oil iu form of vapor by means of steam. There is no question but that the worms are effectually killed by this aliplicatiou, and, i^erhaps, without injury to the plant, but the machine necessary for the production of the vapor, which will be de- scribed below, is so ponderous and awkward as to be of no practical value. When mixed with a sufficiently large quantity of wood ashes, kerosene can be applied to the leaves without damaging them, but the mixture cannot be sprinkled in particles small enough to have much effect on the worms. A patent was obtained by Mr. George W. Powell, of Halifax County, Virginia, in April, 1876, for the simple mixture of one half pint of kerosene to one quart of fine, dry, well-sifted wood ashes. The pat- entee claims that by sprinkling or scattering this preparation lightly over the plants it will drive off or destroy insects of every kind without injury to the leaves. When converted into soap by means of lye and boiling, kerosene, like any other oil, loses much of its deadly quality ; hence its applica- tion in soap form has but little effect. While kerosene is thus of little value for direct use on the plants, it is most valuable for destroying the worms that are in one way or another brushed off the plants, as already described (p. 54). It may be successfully used also in pans around lamps as a means of insuring the destruction of the moths attracted thereto. Cottonseed Oil. This cheap product has almost the same deadly effect on the worms as the more volatile kerosene oil, but it also kills the leaves of the plant even when applied to them in the form of a fine spray. The same obsta- cles as those mentioned in connection with kerosene oil also render a successful application of this and other cheap oils impracticable. It occurred to me that by making a soap by using this oil and the ashes from cotton-seed hulls, which are so generally used for fuel in the man- ufacture of cotton-seed oil, we might obtain a liquid that could be sprayed upon the plant with good effect, thus, on the principle similia similibus curantur^ employing the products of the plant itself as an anti- dote to its worst enemy, these products being easily obtainable at nom- inal cost at all points where cotton-seed oil and cake are being manufac- tured. The experiments made by Mr. Schwarz certainly show that there is a possibility of successfully utilizing these materials where they can be abundantly and cheaply obtained. A strong suds from this soap was found to destroy the young worms, but seems to have little effect on the larger or full-grown ones. In this respect it acted very much as any other strong soap suds would, and it cannot be said to have any advan- tage over other saponaceous compounds except iu the cheapness and abundance of materials at command by planters in the vicinity of cot- ton-seed oil factories. Its efticacy is greatly increased by the addition POISONING THE WORMS : VARIOUS DECOCTIONS. 67 of a small proportion of Loudon Piu])le or Paris Green, but it is more than piobable that under ordinary circumstances this saponaceous mix- ture would i>rove more expensive and troublesome than the other mix- tures already recommeuded. Carbolic Acid. The late Thomas Affleck was a firm believer in the efficacy of this sub- stance in preventing the moth from depositing her eggs upon the plant, and strongly urged its use in his correspondence with me. The sapona- ceous compound has been more or less successftilly used against many other insects, and, so long as the smell of the acid remained upon the leaves, the moth would doubtless avoid such leaves for others that had not been treated. Dr. Phares pretty thoroughly tried it, however, some ten years ago, without satisfactory results, and the fact that it is so commonly used in the South for the "Screw "Worm"' and as a general disinfectant, and is yet not employed against Aletia, is fair evidence that it has little value in this connection. My own experience in trying it for other worms is that it has little eftect on the worm when made weak enough to be harmless to the plant. Sulphur. A machine for the application of the vapor of this mineral is described farther on ; but, so far as I can see, the machine has not been used to any extent. Nor is it probable that sulphur vapor will destroy the worms when applied in the open air. Extracts or Decoctions from various Plants. There is a wide field for experiment in this direction, though those which have so far been carried on under my direction or independently by others, have so far given very unsatisfactory results. Mr. Schwarz carried on a series of tests with some of the more common and promis- ing plants that grow in South Texas. Strong extracts of Poplar and Hickory leaves ; of the leaves and berries of the Poke Weed {Phytolacca decandra) ; of Cocklebur {Xanthitim strumarium) ; of Wild Hemp {Am- brosia trifida) ; of Heliophytum indicum, Euphorbia marginata, and Ses- hania vesicaria, produced no eftect whatever. Others that have a strong smell, like the different species of Goat Weed {Croton texamm, C. glandti- losum, C. lindheimerii, C. capitatutn, and C. monanthoginum), or poison- ous properties like the different species of Solarium {S. cornutum^ S. ele- cegnifoliiim, and S. carolinense), gave equally unsatisfactory results. Strong decoctions of the leaves and green berries of the China tree {Melia azedarach) killed a portion of the young worms when copiously used in spray, but had no appreciable effect on the larger worms. The "Coffee Weed" {Cassia occidentalis), used in the .same way, was less injurious, though evidently distasteful to the worms, and the same proved true of Jamestown Weed {Datura stramonium) and tobacco. 68 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. Yeast Ferment: Fungus Infection. The fact that insects, like other animals, are subject to diseases of an epidemic nature and of a fungus origin has led some persons to hope and believe that the germs of destruction could be, so to speak, artificially sown among those which it was desired to destroy. Dr. J. L. LeConte, of Philadelphia, Avas the first in this country, so far as I am aware, to suggest the introductiou and communication of such diseases at pleasure for the destruction of insect pests, in a paper read at the Portland (1874) meeting of the Association for the Advancement of [Sci- ence. Dr. H. A. Hagen, of Cambridge, Mass., has recently elaborated the idea, and strongly recommended as a general insecticide the use of beer-mash, or diluted yeast, applied with a syringe or a sprintler. I quote the following somewhat sanguine words from an article which he published in the June number of the Canadian Entomologist : "Dr. Bail asserts that he has proved by mauy skillful experimeutsthat four species of uiicroscopical fniigi are merely differeut developments of the same species. One of them, the fungus of the common house-fly, is the vexation of every housekeeper. The dead flies stick in the fall tirmly to the windows, or anywhere else, and are covered by a white mold not easy to be removed. The second is the common mold, known to everybody, and easily to be produced on vegetable matter in a damp place. The third is the yeast fungus, a microscopical species, and the basis of the work done by yeast of fermentation. The Iburth is a small water-plant, known only to professional bot- anists. Dr. Bail contends that the spores of the fungus of the house-fly develop in water in this last species, out of water in mold, and that the seeds of mold are transformed in the mash-tub into yeast fungus. ' ' The experiments made by Dr. Bail cover a period of more than a dozen years, since the numerous objections which were made against his results induced him to repeat again and again his experiments in different ways. I am obliged to state that even now prominent botanists do not accept Dr. Bail's views, which he maintains to be true and to be corroborated by new and sure experiments. This question, important as it may be for botanists, is without any influence regarding my proposition, as Dr. Bail has proved that mold sowed on mash produces fermentation and the formation of a yeast-fungus, which kills insects as well as the fungus of the house-fly. I wa& present at the lectures of Dr. Bail before the association of naturalists, in 18(il, which were illustrated by the exhibition of mold grown on mash on which the fungus of the house-fly had been sown, and by a keg of beer brewed from such mash, and by -a cake baked with this yeast. * Jf # # # # "Dr. Bail has ]iroved by numerous experiments that healthy insects brought in con- tact with mash and fed with it are directly infested by the spores of the fungus with fatal consequence. These facts, not belonging strictlj' to the main part of his experi- ments, were observed first by chance and later on purpose. The most different insects, flies, mosquitoes, caterpillars, showed all the same results. The experiments were made in such a delicate manner that a small drop of blood taken with an oculist's needle from the obdomen of a house-fly left the animal so far intact that the same operation could be repeated in two days again. Both drops examined with the mi- croscope proved to be filled with spores of fungus. * * * # » » it " Considering those facts, which are doubtless true, and considering the easy way in which the poisonous fungus can always and everywhere be procured and adhibited^ THE USE OF BEER MASH: FUNGUS INFECTION. 69 I believe that I should be justified in proposiug to make a trial of it agaiust insect calamities. Nature uses always to attain its jiurposes the most simi^le and the most elFectual ways; therefore it is always the safest way to follow nature. "Beer mash or diluted yeast should be applied either with a syringe or with a sprinkler; and the fact that infested insects poison others with which they come iu contact will be a great help. Of course it will be impossible to destroj' all insects, but a certain limit to calamities could be attained, and I think that is all that could reasonably be expected. In greenhouses the result would probably justify very well a trial, and on currant worms and potato bugs the experiment would not be a difiScnlt one, as the larvfB of both insects live upon the leaves, which can easily be sprinkled. But it seems to me more important to make the trial with the Colorado grasshopper. I should recommend to infest the newly-hatched brood, which live always together in great numbers, and I should recommend also to bring the poison, if possible, iu con- tact with the eggs iu the egg-holes, to arrive at the same results, which were so fatal to Mr. Trouvelot's silk-raising. After all, the remedy proposed is very cheap, is every- where to be had or easily to be prepared, has the great advantage of not being obnox- ious to mau or domestic animals, and if successful would be really a benefit to man- kind. Nevertheless, I should not be astonished at all if the first trial with this rem- edy woiild not be very successful, even a failure. The quantity to be applied and the manner of the application can only be known by experiment, but I am sure that it will not be difficult to find out the right method. I myself have more confidence in the proposed remedy, since it is neither an hyiiothesis nor a guess-work, but simply the application of true and well-observed facts. I hear the question — When all this has been known for so long a time, why was it not used long ago ? But is that not true for many, not to say for all, discoveries? Most of them are like the famous Columbus It will be seen that Dr. Hagen attaches little importance to the pres- ent oi>iuion and jndgment of mycologists as to the non-identity of the several fnngi alluded to. I have corresponded with some of the leading cryptogaraists of this country on this subject, and they are quite unani- mous in the 0]>inion that there is no one '^of the least reputation," to use Professor Farlow's words, who admits that there is any connection between the &y fungus, known as Empusa musco: but belonging to the genus Saprolegnia, and the yeast fungus, Saccharonyces cerevisicc. It is to be regretted, also, that more precision has not been used by Dr. Hagen in referring to these fungi, for the "common mold known to everj'body" is most vague, since many different species of mold are recognized by specialists, while " a small water-plant, known only to professional bota- nists " is such an indefinite expression as to inspire little confidence in the thoroughness of Dr. Bail's experiments. Leaving to the specialist, however, the question as to the kind of relation existing between the lower foruis of fungi intended to be referred to by Dr. Hagen, I felt that the suggestion coming from so eminent an entomologist was well worthy of practical trial. I took occasion, therefore, to experiment with beer mash by spraying and sprinkling it upon various plants that were to be fed in my vivaria to Lepidoptei-ous larvae. The principal larvae thus ex- perimented with were of Papilio asterias, Danais arcMppus^ and Pleris rapcc. The results gave no encouragement to the hope that anything practical would result from the proposed remedy. The larvae fed with equal avidity and went through their transformations as well as the 70 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. same species liacl clone on repeated occasions without being treated to beer mash. Au incident connected with these experiments which I made is, however, well worth of being mentioned ; because it shows how very easily single experiments may lead to false hopes and conclu- sions. A certain proportion of the last-named larviie — the proportion dif- fering in the diliereut lots treated — perished before or while transform- ing to the chrysalis state. They became flaccid and discolored, and after death were little more than a bag of black putrescent liquid. I should have at once concluded that the yeast remedy was a success had I not experienced the very same kind of mortality in previous rearing of this larva, and had I not, upon returning to the tield from which the larvae in question were obtained, found a large proportion similarly dying there. Though from this experience I had little faith in the value of the pro- posed remedy as against the Cotton Worm, I nevertheless took pains to have it tested both by Professor Smith in Alabama and Professor Willet in Georgia, sending a copy of Dr. Hagen's article to each, with the re- quest that they make the experiments thorough and, so far as possible, in the open air. The experiments were made in each instance during the latter part of the season when the vitalitj' of the worms was already considerably lowered, a condition which, in my experience with fungus diseases in insects, was eminently favorable for satisfactory trial. Pro- fessor Smith, who Used the yeast ferment, had a similar experience with my own, the result being that the worms were not affected one way or another. Professor Willet's experiments, on the contrary, seem to indi- cate that a larger proiiortion of the worms treated with the ferment perished, as compared with those that Avere not so treated. I therefore quote his report in full, the experiments having covered a jjeriod from September 20 to i^ovember 6 : ' ' On going to Montezuma, Macon County, Georgia, September 20, where the cotton caterpillars were said to be in abundance, it was found that they were for the most part " webbed up."' Moreover, a Northeaster with rain set in which prevented opera- tions in the field for several days. It was, therefore, determined to conduct the experiments within doors. After the sun came out on the 24th, however, two attempts were made to operate in the field, with very interesting but unexpected results. The caterpillars being much scattered in the cotton-field it was thought best to collect them together. Accord- ingly, September 24, at 11 a. m., 330 were gathered and colonized on two rows of cotton, in the garden of Rev. A. J. Cheves, at whose house the experiments were made. They were placed, 165 on each row, 5 caterpillars to eacli stalk. Beer and diluted yeast were si)rinkled, each over half of one of the rows. The other row was left undisturbed. The next day at 1 p. m. the caterpillars were examined and counted. No dead ones were found. Of the caterpillars, 80, sprinkled with beer, only 10 larvfe and pupas wei'e found; and of the 85 sprinkled with yeast only 13 larviB and pupse were found; only 23 out of 1G5 being accounted for. This deficit of 142 was very remarkable. It could not be explained by the rapid poisonous ettects of the beer and yeast, for no dead were to be seen. And though many wasps and bees were attracted by the beer, only one larva was seen to have been attacked by them ; a feeble one had been seized by a yellow-jacket ( Vespa germania). The row, which had received no beer nor yeast EXPERIMENTS WITH YEAST FERMENT. 71 ■was then examined, and 53 larviB counted, leaving 112 unaccounted for. It was bus- pected, then, that the caterpillars had deserted the cotton and crawled away in the night in search of better pastures. Accordingly, September 26, .53 caterpillars wore placed on 12 stalks of cotton and sprinkled with beer, and 15 others on a row along- side, but not sprinkled. They were watched diu-ing the day ; three or four fell to the ground, but did not crawl away ; the others seemed not disposed to eat. A swariu of Hies, bees, wasps, &c., came to suck at the beer, but did not disturb them, with one exception, as before. The next day ii of the 53 sprinkled with beer were found ; and 2 of the 15 not sprinkled. The remainder had without doubt decamped during the night. This hint should be naucmbcred hereafter in future experiments in the Held. Only the dead and wounded should be numbered as the victims of poison. The miss- ing may be vagabond deserters. The experiments, the results of which are given below, were necessarily conducted within doors. The materials employed to produce the yeast fungus were "yeast cake," brown sugar, and water. One pound of brown sugar to one gallon of water, with half of a "yeast cake," fermeuted readily, and was applied when in active fer- mentation. This is called hereafter beer-mash or beer. A portion of yeast cake mixed with tlour and water also fermented quickly, and was applied diluted with an ecjual quantity of water. This is called yeast. Molasses or sirup can be substituted for the sugar. On September 21, 28 caterpillars about half grown were placed in each of 3 paper boxes with tops. The 28 caterpillars in box No. 1 were supplied, as they needed, with fresh cotton leaves wet on one side with beer-mash. The 28 in box No. 2 were sup- plied, likewise, with cotton leaves wet on one side with yeast. The 28 in box No. 3 were supplied with cotton leaves wet with water to serve as a basis of comparison, these being in the natural state, except as to continement, want of sun, and excess of moisture. September 23, 20 caterpillars were placed in each of three other paper boxes, larger and better arranged. The 20 caterpillars in box No. 4 were supplied with leaves wet with beer-mash; those in box No. 5 with leaves wet with yeast ; and those in box No. 6 with leaves wet with water. The two series w^ere duplicates, except that the last had better quarters. They were cared for thus till September 27, when they were removed to Macon, Ga., where the experiments were concluded. All the larvfB except one webbed up hy Sep- tember 30 ; the first moth appeared in box No. 2, October 3, and the last one, in box No. 6, October 13. The influence of the cool weather is seen in the slowness of the transformation. Only a few died in the larva state ; and it was only when most of the moths had come out that a difference in the results of the boxes was observed. It was then seeu that a considerable number failed to pass through the pupa state, and that the largest number so failing were of those that had been fed on beer-mash and yeast. As this seemed to lend countenance to Dr. Hagen's theory, an ettbrt was made to re- peat the experiment with a new lot of caterpillars. A small number were procured from a field near Macon, October 14, and placed in two paper boxes. The 12 in box No. 7 were fed on cotton leaves wet with beer-mash, and the 12 in box No. 8 were sup- plied with cotton leaves. October 18 all in box No. 7 had webbed up, some having eaten little or no leaves, and none of them having consumed the leaves and beer-mash to any great extent. All were nearly full-fed when caught, and were very sluggish from the coldness of the weather. The first moth came out October 31, and the last November 5. The results in full are shown in the following tabular form : 72 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. l» >0 rH *tt ISIH ^ fi*H « SB "g t5 £5 ca lO M 5, and Inserting a perforated bottom in the bos A, and charging the same with poisonous liquid, the latter may be atomized by the current of air originated by the blower, and thus applied to the row of plants over which the apparatus is drawn. It is evident that these devices, while useful in a small way, are in- sufficient for large fields. Whenever it becomes necessary to protect the cotton, success often depends on the rapidity with which the work can be done ; else the worms may totally destroy parts of a plantation before the planter manages to prevent it. Hence the importance of machines which apply the remedy to several rows at once. Before describing these machines, it may be mentioned that the Fountain Pump, manufactured by Mr. Josiah A. Whitman, of Provi- dence, R. I., has been extensively used in the South for applying liquid Fig. 54.— Fountain Pump. poison. These fountain pumps (Fig. 54) are too well known to need any further description. They are sold in the South for about $10 apiece, including the rubber hose. The most common mode of using them is the following : A barrel containing the liquid is put on a cart or wagon and drawn over the field. One hand is employed, if necessary, to keep the poison stirred up, while three others, each with one of these pumps, apply the liquid from the rear of tlie wagon, one taking charge of the three inner rows, the others each about three moi'c rows on either side. In the use of this and of all other pum^js it is advisable to add a strainer to the lower end of the hose in order to prevent impurities from enter- ing the valve. In an emergency, where no machines are at command, these fountain pumps do excellent service, and manj' prefer them to other means of applying the poison. They are, however, Avasteful of material, and the poison is more apt to get on to the bodies of those em- j)loyed in their use than in most of the other modes of sprinkling. Most of the machines used for throwing liquid on a large scale, whether patented or not, are modifications of one and the same idea and principle, viz, a barrel or other vessel to contain the liquid, a vehicle to carry it, a force-pump firmly secured to the top of the barrel, and a distributing nozzle, or several of them, connected with the discharge- pipe. The differences they exhibit are found principally In the nature of the distributors, the most successful ones being those which least clog, since it is almost impossible to get such pure Avater that there will not be some clogging material, even where strainers are used. The Goodin Speinklkr. — This machine, invented by Mr, James L. Goodin, of Montgomery, Tex. (patent No. 198014, December 11, 1877), is represented by the accompanying cuts. Fig. 55 is a top view, and 86 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. Fig. 56 a side view of the same. The letter A represents a tank or any other vessel to receive the poisoned liquid. In the lower part of the forward end of the tank A is secured a discharge-pipe, B, the inner end of which is provided with a valve or ordinary sirup-faucet. The stem C of the valve or faucet passes up through a hole in the top of the tank A, and its upper end is pivoted to the end of a lever, D, which is Kg Fig. 56.— The Goodin Spkinkleb: side view. , 55. — The Goodin Sprinkler: top view. pivoted to a short standard, E, attached to the top of the tank A. To the forward end of the pipe B is attached a cross-pipe, F, from the forward side of the center and ends of which project short pipes, G, having heads, H, attached to their forward ends. The heads H are perforated with numerous small holes. The pipes B F are jointed as shown in the drawing, so that they may be lengthened or shortened as circumstances may require. The Teagee Spkinklek.— This is a sprinkler invented by Mr. George Yeager, of Flatonia, Tex. (patent No. 204410, May 28, 1878). Fig. 57 is a part sectional side view, and Fig. 58 a plan view thereof. It consists of a platform, A, upon which is laid a barrel, B, contain- ing the poisonous liquid. A rubber hose, C, connects this barrel with the bottom of a pump-cylinder, D. This cylinder is supported on a step, A^, and its ui)per end held in a brace, A-, attached to a stand- ard, A', which rises from the plat- form A. E is the pump-plunger, connected to a lever, F, which is pivoted in the upper end of the standard A-'. The liquid poison is- forced out through the sprinklers G G G, which are three in number, and throw the water in a iine mist over three rows of cotton. A rubber hose, I, is attached to each of the spouts H of the pump to form connection with the sprink- lers G, for the purpose of length- ening or shortening the spouts, especially the two on opposite sides of the pump, and of detaching and Fig. 58.— The Yeager Sprinkler : top view. cleaning the sprinklers. The up- per end of the pump-cylinder is left open and a spout or tube, J, is connected thereto, to conduct the liquid, which would otherwise be wasted, back into the barrel. The connection of this waste-pipe with this machine is the only point which is claimed as new by the inventor. The sprinklers or nozzles are Fig. 57. — The Teager Sprinkler: side view. r J ^ 2T — ^ \^ 1 i ■ . — -TT y MACHINES FOR SPRINKLING. 87 0. — The Ui iimann Si'I!I.\ki.eii: longl- tudiual section. not further described, but it is to be understood that the spray is pro- duced in the same way as described in this class of sprinklers. The Ruhmann Sprinkler. — Invented by Mr. Julius P. Euhmann, of Schulenburg, Tex, (patent No. 20G901 August 13, 1878). This does not differ in any essential respect from the machines just described. Fig. 59 is a longitudinal section of the machine; Fig. (50 sl)o\vs the coiniec- tiou of the punip-cylinder with the air-chamber; Fig. Gl represents the strainer; Fig. 02, the nozzle, showing the arrangement for cleaning the same; and Fig. 63 shows a modification of the discharge-pipe. The lettor a prcpreseuts the reservoir for holding the xioisonous liquid; h is the pump- cylinder, in which the piston c is worked up and down by means of the lever d. The lower end of this cylinder is made funnel- shaped,' and to it is fastened the rubber tube e which connects it with ihe strainer/. This strainer is made in two ])artsfor the introduction of a .straining-cloth, r/, and for convenience in cleaning. The lower end of the strainer is perforated, and, if desired, any additional straining matter may be placed between the perforated bottom and (he cloth, so as to mako sure that no sub- stances shall be forced into the sprinkler to clog its action. To the lower end of the cylinder is secured the discharge- pipe /(, upon the top of which is formed the air-chamber i. Upon the outer end of the discharge-pipe is placed the sprinkler /, which is round and flat, as shown, and perfor- ated about one-half around. Upon the top of this sprinkler is screwed the cap or cover ?h, secured to which is the brush j(. The handle of (he brush is bent at right angles, as shown, and is secured to the cap in such a manner as to form, as it were, a part thereof, so that as the brush is moved around to clear away any obstructions which may have a ten- dency to close up the fine perfora- tions in the edge of the sprinkler t he cap turns with it. By means of this screw-cap the brush can be adjusted up and down at will, so that after cleaning ofi tli<^ perforations the brush can be depressed down below the level of the holes, so as to be out of the way. Instead of a single nozzle, there may be two or more used by simply changing the construction of the discharge-pipe, as in Fig. 63, which represents one made for the use of three nozzles. Fig. 62. Via. CO. Fi(^ 01. Fk;. m. PvUHJlAXN's Sri!iNKLi;i;: parts referred to. 88 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. Several otlier macliiues of this class have been patented, but as they are mere repetitions of those akeady described, and the patents have been obtained on slight changes in the pump and in the arrangement for cleaning the nozzles, it is sufficient to merely mention those that have come to my knowledge. Mr. J. C. Melcher, of Bl^ck Jack Springs, Tex., has constructed one, and obtained a patent for the nozzle Janu- ary IS, 1879. It is of the same shape as that of Mr. Euhmann,,but without the brush, and the cleaning is done by unscrewing the upper cover of the nozzle. Another of very similar nature is the improved sprinkler of Mr. G. Jeager, of Flatonia, Tex., for which a patent was appbod for last April. If the pump of these machines is made of good material, so as to give and stand a good deal of pressure, and if the nozzle is of sufficient size, or if several smaller nozzles are used, a fine and eflficienl spray can be thrown over fi-om five to seven rows of cotton when the wind is favorable. In this way about 40 acres can be sprinkled in one day. The price of these macliiues ranges from $6 to $9, and they do good work, the principal difficulty being found in keeping the nozzles clean. The Johnson Spray Machine. — This sprinkler, invented by Judge Jehu W. Johnson, of Columbus, Tex. (patents No. 145571," December 16, 1873, and ]S^o. 145572, of the same date), is not only the oldest one on record for the application of liquid poison on a large scale, but pro- duces the spray in a novel and peculiar manner. The accompanying sketch represents this machine in operation. It will be seen therefrom that it consists of a tank placed upon a two- wheeled cart. The pump secured to the top of the tank is a common double-acting force pump, and with the discharge-pipe is connected a transverse pipe. These parts need no further description, and nothing new or peculiar is claimed for them. The claim for the second patent mentioned above is based upon the addition of a self-acting pitman, the arrangement of which can be seen in the sketch, and which is more fully illustrated at Fig. 65. The letter A represents the tank, B the platform of the cart, which is provided with the two wheels, C. These are much smaller than ordinary cart-wheels, in order to give the required number of revolutions necessary to the successful operation of the pumj). In order to place the cart-bed at such an elevation as to pass over the rows of plants, it is raised by means of vertical bars, as will be seen in the sketch. One of the wheels C has a crank jiin, c, attached to it, at a suitable distance from the center, and to this crank-pin is attached the lower end of a pitman, the upper end of which is attached to the pump- lever G. The discharge-pipe of the pump is provided with a valve to regulate the flow of the liquid. With the transverse pipe before men- tioned are connected, by means of screw-joints, branch pipes K, which in the sketch and in the diagram are five in number. These branch pipes are made of cast metal, and on their inner sur- face, at the lower end, grooA^es, I, are formed, either during the process MACHINES FOli ATOxMIZING. 89 of casting or by planing or cutting them out afterwards. In the lower end of these branch-pipes a plug made of rubber or cork is inserted, and a i-od extends from the plug to the upper end of the tube A-, where it engages with a nut by which the plug may be tightened or loosened. I It will be seen that the liquid j^assing through this pipe must escape by j way of the grooves and assume the form of spray, and that by tighteu- I ing or loosening the ulug the size of the grooves is increased or dimin- ished. 90 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. This machine makes same disadvantage as Tig. 65.— Johnson's Sprat Machine : top view. a remarkably fine spray, but it possesses the those already mentioned, namely, the ease with which the nozzles clog, notwith- standing the receiving-pipe of the pump is provided with a strainer. This I found to be a serious draw^ - back, reqnmng frequent stopping of the driver and his dismounting to remove, cleanse, and readjust the plugs. The addition of the self-act- ing pitman has proved less useful than one would suppose, for Judge Johnson himself writes me that experience has demonstrated the fact that it is about as easy and far more economical to work the pump by hand-power than to use the pit- man rod." By disijonsing with it, the tank may be placed on any cart without special construction. This machine has been considerably used, but its price ($05 without the cart) is very high when compared with that of others here described. The following machines jiroduce the spray on a quite different prin- ciple and one much better calculated to prevent clogging. They are all recently invented, and by virtue of their decided advantages will, in my judgment, supersede those hitherto mentioned. Thej^ do not clog up ; they distribute the spray over more rows of cotton, and they are sim- pler in construction and cheaper. The Waeneb Saddle Sprinkler. — A device very well spoken of and advertised as the saddle sprinkler has been perfected by Mr. Jack- son Warner, Austin, Tex. The liquid is contained in a bag which is used on the back of a mule or horse as a saddle, the liquid being forced out by the action of the feet. I have not been able to see either the contrivance or any specification of it. The Binklet Atomzer. — This sprinkler, invented but not patented by Mr. J. IS". Binkley, of Columbus, Tex., and herewith illustrated, is one of the simplest and yet one of the best in use. Fig. GO, A, represents it in operation with a part of the pump. This pump is the usual double- acting force-pump secured to the top of a-barrel containing the liquid. The letter a represents the pump cylinder, b the air chamber, and c a transverse tin pipe connected with the discharge pipe of the pump and having four of the atomizing nozzles. Fig. 66, B, shows a side view^ of the atomizer on a somewhat larger scale. A conical tin piece, d, is soldered to the pipe c, having at its end an orifice much larger than the fine per- forations of the previous machines described. A circular tin plate, e, is soldered to the lower side of the cone f7, so that the jet of water, issuing with great force from the orifice, strikes the plate at an obtuse angle MACHINES FOR ATOMIZING. 91 and is scattered iu very fine and far reaching spray. The large orifice permits smaller objects to be thrown out with the jet, larger objects be- ing prevented by a strainer from entering the pump, while by a slight bending of the distributing-plate, so as to bring it at more acute angles with the nozzle, the spray may be thrown more and more ui^ward. The whole machine is very light and simple and easily made by any tin- smith at comparatively trifling cost. The principal drawback to it as Fig. CO. — The Binklev Atomizer. at present constructed by Mr. Binldey is that it is made in one piece, so that in case a Inri^er object obstructs the orifice there is some difficulty in removing the same. This defect could be easily remedied by making the cone in two pieces, the nozzle itself to be screwed on to the basal or soldered piece. The plates and the orifices should be thoroughly cleansed and dried after use, in order to prevent rusting. The machine with four spouts, as in the figure, throws the spray over six or seven rows, but its capacity Is easily increased by lengthening the transverse pipe (c). Its cost is less than $10. After witnessing this machine in operation, I am satisfied that the atomizing principle is a most valuable one, and that with modified con- ducting pipes or tubing, so as to throw the spray from near the ground up into the plants and on the under surface of the leaves, as in Mr. Daughtrey's machine (see p. 94), it will give great satisfaction because of its cheapness and simplicity. The Schier Atomizer. — This atomizer was recently perfected by Mr. John Schier, of Ellingen, Tex., and is on the same general princi- ples as the preceding. For the spraying arrangement proper a patent 92 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. was obtained October 2, 1879. In the accompanying illustration (Fig. 67) it is represented in operation, attached to a small band-pump such as is commonly used throughout the country. The pump is to be con- nected by a hose with a vessel containing , - . the liquid, and the ^, whole machine to be operated from the rear part of a cart drawn through the field. At Fig. 68 I have given an en- larged view of the atomizer and mode of attachment, and at Fig. 69 the same with ^^^^ the distributing- plate ' disconnected, so as as to show the Fig. 67.— The schieb atomizek. mode of adjustment.* The nozzles e c e are connected with the conducting pipe (a) by means of a nut (&), and throw the liquid on to a distributing-plate (d) of brass, backed and strengthened by an outer layer of tin. This i)late is secured Pig. 68. — The Schier Atomizer: nozzle antl distributer connected. in place by means of a screw soldered beneath the nozzles, running through a tube connected with and rendered firm by a bow (e) soldered at each end to the outer layer of the plate. The screw issuing from this tube receives a nut; while still greater security is given to the i)late by a projec- tion, g, beneath, which fits into a tube (h) attached to the nozzle-i)iece. The liquid, therefore, strikes the plate at an obtuse angle, but instead of one jet of liquid, as in tlie Binkley sprinkler, Mr. Scliier brings three to bear on the same ijlate, the orifice Fig. C9. — The Schier Atomizer: nozzle ^ ^ j and distributer disconnected. of Cach UOZZlc bciug aS large aS the llCad of an ordinary pin. This sprinkler can be operated either as shown in *Mr. Schier writes that in his sprinkler, as it is patented, there is an additional arrangement for conducting back the liquid that drips from the plate. MACHINES FOR ATOMIZING. 93 Fig. C7 or fastened to a frame on a cart. When the distributor is held down the spray is directed upward, and it can therefore be used for spraying the under side of the leaves. The peculiarity of this machine consists in the fact that with an ex- ceedingly small and light instrument an efficient si)ray can be pro- duced that reaches over five rows of cotton, the strength of the dis- tributing apparatus being such as to warrant great concentration of pressure. The contrivance may be considerably simplified, and Mr. Schier, who calls his atomizer the " Diana Cotton Sprinkler," is now per- fecting a machine that will supply three of these atomizers and cover sixteen rows of cotton at once, so that in one day from 150 to 200 acres may be ijoisoned. Euhmann's Improved Atomizer. — For his improved sprinkler, a patent of which has been applied for, Mr. Euhmann uses the same pump and tripartite discharge-pipe already described and figured (Figs. 63 and 70a), and the improvement consists in an entirely new arrange- ment for i)roducing the spray. In Fig. 70, which shows the im- proved sprinkler in operation, the letter a represents the dis- charge-pipe, bbh three rubber tubes (each about one foot in length, with the in- termediate somewhat shorter) that connect the three arms of the discharge-pipe with the nozzles or sprink- lers proper, ccc. One of these is represented on a larger scale in 71, and consists of a tin pipe about Fig. 71.— Ruhmann's Impuoved Atomizer. eight inchcS iu length and somewhat funnel-shaped, in order to fit tightly in the rubber tube. To the anterior end of this pipe is soldered a conical nose, a, having an orifice of about the size of an ordinary pin-head, or large enough to prevent clogging by minute obstacles, larger ones being prevented from entering the pump by the strainer connected therewith (Fig. 01). Oppo- site this orifice, and almost touching it, is the point of another conical, hollow piece, 6, with a slightly dilated or recurved rim, and held in posi- tion by a stout wire, c, soldered on to its edge and to the side of the tin pipe. The licpiid, issuing with great force from the orifice, strikes the Fig. 70.— Uiihm ANN s I.mpuovei) Atomizer: in oireration. 94 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. point of the lioUow cone, and is carried in all directions along its sides, when, by striking the bent rim, it is scattered in a bell-shaped spray. With these three atomizers the spray may be distribnted over seven rows in calm weather, and over nine rows if the wind be favorable. The price of the machine, including the pump, is $7.50. This form of sprink- ler has also the advantage that it may be used to distribute the liquid from below^ For this purpose the rim of the distributor should be bent back so as to form a more acute angle. Other changes necessary for this purpose have already been indicated in treating of previous ma- chines. There is no doubt but that these three atomizers last described are aU valuable as embodying a simple principle which may be made use of at comparatively little cost, and both to throw the spray on to the plants above or up among them from below. That they have, in these respects, a decided advantage over all the other contrivances mentioned will admit of no doubt. The Daughtrey Atomizer. — There still remains one machine to be described in this connection which is highly interesting for several reasons: 1st, because it is the only one actually in use for the dis- tributing of the liquid from below; 2d, because the construction of the pumj) is quite peculiar ; and, 3d, because the arrangement for livo- ducing the spray is not only entirely different from any described in the foregoing pages, but also most simple. This machine was invented by Mr. William J. Daughtrey, of Selma, Ala. (patent No. 200370, February 19, 1878). The accompanying sketch (Fig. 72) represents it as it appears. It consists in the main of a pump, which is made self-operating hj means of a pulley, and which forces air into the receiving tank and into a com- pression cylinder connected therewith, thus supplying the pressure necessary for the production of the spray. As wUl be seen from the sketch, a transverse distributing pipe is connected with a number (four in the sketch) of vertical pipes recurved at the ends, which receive the nozzles, one of which is represented in section in the accompanying Fig. 73. The nozzle N, which is screwed onto the pipe, has a closed end, n, provided with two opeuings, v}, oppositely inclined, so that the jets delivered through them meet at a point near n and deflect and disperse each other so as to form an extremely fine spray. The openings are large enough to avoid being obstructed by small obstacles, and the spray i^roduced by the two inclined jets is at once coi)ious and powerful. The following is a more detailed description of the machine, very much in the inventor's own words. Fig. 74 being a vertical section and Fig. 75 a detailed view of the axletree, showing the parts connected therewith in section: In the drawings, A represents the frame of a vehicle, B B the wheels, and C C the two axles constituting the axletree, which have their bearings cfastened below the frame A. Between the bearings c the axles C C are pro vided with shoulders c', whereby they are prevented from parting with each other longitudinally, while a socket, c\ MACHINES FOR ATOMIZING. 95 at the iuuer end of tlie axle C incloses the inner end of the axle U, and thereby 2>re- vents hoth axles from moving ont of line. The two said axles maj- be foni)led by means of a pin, ('■', inserted into the socket e'^ and axle C, bnt nsiially it is omitted, and the axles C C are allowed to revolve independently of each other. The hubs b of the wheels B B are provided with set-screws 6' or coupling-pins b'^, or with, both, in order to fasten them to the axles C C. The use of the set-screw 6' and pin b'^ may be dispensed with to allow the wheels to run loosely on the axle, in which case a collar, C'^, is placed on either side of the hub b, with a set-screw, c*, to keep the wheel from sliding longitudinally on its axle. The de scribed application of the wheels B Bto their axles serves to enable the operator to s^t A' 96 THE COTTON WORM ]N THE UNITED STATES. Fig. 74. — Daughtrey Atoiiizer : sectional view. them at any distauce ajjart required to suit tbe distance a^iart of the rows of any field to be operated upon. The axle C is provided with a pulley, D, which, by means of a belt, drives a pulley on one end of a shaft, e. The shaft e runs in bearings fastened to the top of the frame A, and has a pulley, E^, at the other end, which, by means of a belt, drives a piilley,F, on a shaft,/. Tlie shaft / is secured in a central position to the ends of a bar- rel, G, by means of stuffing- boxes, and inside the barrel Gr is provided with a number of agitator-arms, /-, for the purpose of stirring the con- tents of the barrel. The shaft e is also provided with an eccentric, H, vrhich operates a pump, I, of ordi- nary construction. The sup- ply-pipe i of the pump I is adapted to have a hose at- tached to it when water is to be pumped. The discharge- pipe f of the pump I passes through the barrel G near its bottom part, and is closed ui> at the end with a plug, which is removed when the pipe is to be cleared. Within the barrel G the pipe i' is provided with per- forations, i"', through which either air or -water, as the case may be, is forced by the pump I into the barrel G. The barrel G is provided ■with an opening iu its top part, through which its charge is supplied, and which, during the operation of the machine, is closed with a screw-plug g. The barrel G communicates with an air-vessel, J, by means of a pipe, K, which has a valve or cock, E, for the purpose of stopping such comniunicatiou when desired. The air-vessel J has a spring safety-valve, j, of common construction, which pre- vents the bursting of the barrel G and the vessel J, by too great a pressure of air. A cock, at the bottom of the vessel J serves to let off water accidentally deposited there. From the bottom of the barrel G a pipe, L, condiicts the charge of said barrel to a distributing-pipe, M, which is provided with a number of small pi^oes which are con- aected with the nozzles N, already described. The operation of this machine is as follows : The barrel G is filled with the liquid either through its iipper opening, or while the machine is stationary, by throwing the belts D and e- oS the pulleys and operating the pump by turning the shaft e by means of crank-handles. For this i)urpose the pump is provided with a hose at i for lifting the water from a pond or well near by. When the machine is in motion the eccentric H on the shaft e operates the pump I, which forces air into the barrel G through the openings of the pipe i'-. In leaving the openings the air makes its way up through the water in the barrel, and produces a continuous and powerful agitation, whereby the water is thoroughly combined with its poisonous admixtures. The air is led from 3 Pig. 75.— Daughtrey Atomizeu: axletree. a MACHINES FOR APPLYING VAPORS. 97 the barrel G tlirougli the pipe K into the air-vessel J, from which it exerts its pres- sure upon the surface of the water. When a sufScient pressure is obtained the stop- cock 0 is opened, whereby the water is forced into the pipes L, M, and m, and thence through the nozzles N. If the pressure of air within the barrel G and the Mr-vessel J becomes too great, the surplus is let olf by the safety-valve J into the air. At the same time tlie pulley e- moves the shaft / and the agitator-arms whereby the agita- tion of the liquid bj' the air forced through the openings P is increased in force. The inventor of this machine, who is a jiractical machinist, has proba- bly given more time to it than has been given to any of those described in this bulletin, his object being at once to accomplish the desired end of throwing a fine spray from below, to pass over tall cotton without in- juring it and to save labor. The great objection to the machine is its complication, expensiveness, and weight. It differs from the Johnson machine in that the wheels are so widely separated that they include two rows of cotton, and the whole machine is so elevated that the tongue is on a level with the backs of the animals which draw it, and the ci'oss- tree is connected to a peculiar saddle, so that the whole weight of the machine falls upon the back. In practice this is found to be very gall- ing to the animals, and various modifications have already suggested themselves to the inventor. There is little ho])e of this machine coming into use until Mr. Daughtrey succeeds in materially reducing its weight and cost, notwithstanding the excellence of many of its features. Machines for apply ing Vapors. Several years before mineral poisons came into use against the Cotton Worm two machines were invented and patented for the wholesale de- struction of the insect. They are of interest here as illustrating the first attempts made to destroy the pest by maehinery. One of them is more particularly worthy of mention, as it aims to apply one of the ileadliest materials against insect life known, viz., oil, and this in the shajie of vapor. The other is intended to apply sitlphur vapor. ^A^hether these machines were ever in use or whether they ever did any effective work is ex- tremely doubtful, but it is certain that they are to-day superseded by the atomizers already described. The accomijanying descriptions of them have, therefore, histori(;al rather than a practical value.. The Steinmann Vaporizer. — This was invented by Mr. Charles Steinmann, of ^Tapoleonville, La. (patent No. 741G5, February 4, 1868). Its character may be thus briefly given : Steam is raised by a transport- able steam-boiler and issues from a series of jet-pipes or nipples. At the same time some cheap oil, as kerosene, lard, or cotton-seed oil, is made to dri^) from a reservoir over the orifices from which the steam escapes. The oil is thus vaporized and envelops the rows of plants be- tween which the machine is to be drawn. The inventor claims that the vapor kills the worms without injuring the plant, and that one applica- tion will protect the field for the rest of the season, and that his inven- tion " upon its general use wiU finally exterminate every tribe of insect," 7 RI 98 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. &c. It is hardly necessary to say that the two latter claims are Utopian and extravagant. The following is a description of this machine in the inventor's own words ; the Fig. 76 being a side elevation, and Fig. 77 a rear end view of the machine : A represents the receiver or reservoir to contain the oil, and B a fnnnel for supplying the boiler with water, and wLicli conKects directly with a heater, E, that is placed on top of the boiler, instead of with the boiler proper, in which heater a supply of water is always kept, to be heated by the radiation of heat from that part of the boiler or shell of the boiler on which it rests. The in- terior of The heater is connected with the interior of the boiler F by two pipes, H and 0, which are each pro- vided with a stop-cock. By this mode of connectiou, the water in the heater can be retained or driven into the boiler at pleasure, it being only necessary to keep the cocks closed to retain it, or to open them to force the water iut o the boiler. The latter re- sult is accomplished by the pressure of the steam through pipe H, the vrater goius into the boiler through pipe O. Whenever the water is thrown out of the heater into the boiler, the former should be refilled through the funnel B, the htop-cock, in the short pipe R to which it is attached, being opened to allow the water to enter. On top of the boiler, at some point betw-een its rear end and the heater E, a ])erpendjcular i>ipe, C, is inserted into it, which pipe should be lono; enough to carry its upper end to a height somewhat above the tallest cotton- plants. The pipe C is provided with a stop-cock, D, and con- nects at its ujjper extremity with a cross pipe, M, of the form as shown at Fig. 77, and to approach very^ near the ground at both its ends. lu that portion of the pipe M that is horizontal are two stoj)-cocks, one upon either side of the point of connection with pipe C, which serve the j)urpose of stopping the issue of steam either entirely, or upon one side only of the machine. At a point near and below the flexm-es or elbows of the pipe M at which it turns towards the ground, on both sides of the machine, and Irom this point down to the two extremities of the said pipe, at short intervals, are inserted small short pipes a, which, dimin- ishing in size to their extremities, where they come very nearly to a jjoint, serve as vents or jets for the escaping steam when the machine is in ojjeration. Placed alongside the pipe M, in front of it, and in contact with it everywhere, excepting only for a little space near its top part, where it bends forward, as shown at Fig. 76, is another pipe, K, exactly corresponding with iiipe M in size and shape, and provided with the same number of precisely simi- lar jet-pipes, fl, that are so placed as to be exactly ovt^r the corre- sponding jets in pipe M, that is to say, at their extremities, aud in the closest possible contact therewith. The object of this is to insure the dripping of the oil over the orifices from which the steam escapes. Over the center of the upper The SiErNMAKN Vapokizeb : side elevation. Kg. 77.— The Stein MANN Vaporizer rear view. MACHINES FOR APPLYING VAPORS. and liorizoutal soctioii of pipe. K, and connecting therewith Ijy a short pipe, d, is placed the reservoir A for oil. Stop-cocl;s in the pipe K, near to and upon each side of the pipe d, prevent a flow of oil down either end of .said pipe K, or penint it to flow into both or only one end, as occasion may require, at the pleasure of the operator. A plat- form in front of the boiler or furnace is provided on which a snpjjly of fuel may ho carried, a light railing or hittiee-gnard on the .sides of the platform ])rotecting it. A driver's .seat, P. is placed on this iilatform inidcr which a vessel of oil may he carried, as well as other things needed in the operation of the machine. This invention may be of any dimensions, to be drawn by one or more horses. The Perl Vapor-Generator. — Thi.s was invented by Dr. M. Perl, of Hou.ston, Tex. (patent No. Dl^G."), June LI, 18G9), for the pnrjjose of destroying the worms by means of .stilpbur vai)or, and consi.sts, in tbe main, of a gas-generator, whicb is i)lace(l on a cart, intended to be drawn between two rows of cotton, and provided witli a fire-box and a im ii- of bellows, which are worked by means of a pulley. The accompanying diagrams (Fig. 78) represent this machine, the upper figure being a vei tical section and the lower a side elevation. Upon the wagon A is placed the gas-generator B, consisting of a fire-box, c, separated from the lower part of the generator by a concavo- convex bottom c'. To the upper chamber D of the generator is attached one end of the blower or bellows E. This bellows is provided with a shaft, d, upon which are secured metal wings, d'. On one end of the shaft d is attached the cog- wheel e, gearing into the cog-wheel e', secured to the wagon-wheel G. The otluu' end of the shaft is provided with a crank, /, which is at- tached to upper end of pitman (, the lower end of this pitman being attached to the pedal h, secured to pendants h' li', attached to the under side of the axle-tree H. G" is a hose, with a perforated nozzle, in, and stop-cock, v, which is attached to the top of the gas-generator. M is the chimney. The machine can be operateVl, when in mo- tion or stationary, in the following manner: A fire is made in the tire-box c, iind a certain quantity of sulphur is placed in the gas-gen- erator B, in order to form sulphureous gas. The blower E is set in operation, when in motion, F'"' '^S.-Thr Perl Vapor-Geneuator. by the cog-wheels t- e', and \vhen stationary, by detaching the cog-wheel e', and attaching it to the crank /. The action of the blower or bellows will not only furnish sufficient air in forming sul- phureous gas, but it will also force the gas through the hose to any desired point. Aside of the circumstance that only two rows of cotton are supplied at once with vapor, it is very doubtful whether the worms are killed by sulphur vapor in the open air, judging from its effects on other insects when not confined. Finally, in this connection it is well to state that Mr. Charles T. Hurd, of Victoria, Tex., whose machine for dusting has already been described 100 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. (p. 76), suggests that with some slight changes it can be converted into a vaporizer, so as to throw a jet of poisonous vapor on the plants. DESTRUCTION OF THE MOTH. Easy as it may seem to prevent the mischief done by the worms by trapping or otherwise killing the parent moths, and notwithstanding the fact that one method of attracting them has been known and used for very many years, and that another method of doing so has been more recently discovered, yet the results that have followed the attempts to destroy or exterminate the moths by these methods are not, as a rule, encouraging. The unsatisfactory results may be attributed to, first, lack of concerted action ; and, second, delayed attempts to kill when the moths had ah'cady become too numei-ous and the worms had done considerable damage. It has already been remarked, with regard to the first point, that con- certed action over the whole cotton- growing country cannot be expected; but if the planters in those more or less limited districts that are known as the distributing centers of the insect, or even in those i)articular spots where the worms appear and reappear year after year, would make earnest effort, at the right time, to trap and kill the moths, there is little doubt but that the excessive increase of the insect would be either retarded or prevented. If this pest is suffered to increase until the third or fourth generation, any attemi^t to lessen the number of worms bj" killing the moths will necessarily prove futile. To make this method of preventing injury of any avail, action must be taken early in the season. Lamps for attracting the Moth. That the moth is attracted by light is an old and well-known fact, and in the days of slavery the only remedy generally used by planters, besides the hand-picking of the worms, was to light large fires in, or have burn- ing torches carried tlirough, the fields at night. It is impossible to say at the present time whether or not these efforts were successful, but it re- mains a certainty that in "worm years" the progress of the ravages has never been iirevented by such means. It is almost needless to remark that in those days, as in the present, such means were generally resorted to when the moths had become quite numerous, and when, therefore, no success could be expected. Special fires intended for this purpose were generally made of dry wood placed upon earth elevated on platforms. While for the reasons here given I have little faith in the utility of such means at any other season than early spring, yet the practice of cleaning the fields of all rubbish and old stalks by making large bonfires in winter — a practice that prevailed before the war, but which has been largely abandoned since — is greatly to be commended on general grounds. It has been found troublesome, and, in some parts of the counti'y even DESTRUCTION OF THE MOTH: LAMPS FOR ATTRACTING. 101 expensive, to keep up large fires during the whole or greater part of the night ; and during the hist decade a great many lamps have been in- vented to take the place of tires. A lamp is more eftective in attracting the moths than is a large oi)en fire; for the heat and smoke of the hitter scare away great numbers. Where lamps are employ ed there nuist be connected with them devices to kill the moths that are attracted by the light, and such killing is best accomplished by placing the lamps in pans filled -svith various substances of a sticky or destructive nature. During the earlier part of last summer extensive experiments were made by Mr. Schwarz to test the efficacy of lamps. Though it was already too late in the season to check the increase of the insect, some of the results are not without interest. The number of moths nightly killed by a single lamp varied very much according to its location, but averaged not more than six specimens in the latter part of June, the number increasing rapidly during the next month. It was also found that these lamps attract and kill an immense number of other insects. Among these are many injurious insects, as HeJiothis armigem (the pa- rent of the Boll Worm), which, by the way, appears to be more readily attracted than the Cotton Moth, and several species of May-beetles {Lachnosferna) and others ; but also, unfortunately, large numbers of the natural enemies of the Cotton Worm, as the nocturnal Tiger-beetles, Ground-beetled, and some of the Heteroptera already mentioned. It be- comes questionable, therefore, whether the lamps are not more produc- tive of harm than good, especially at times when the moths are numer- ous. However, if, as is doubtless the case, the hibernating moths fly about early in the spring, then this will be the best time to use lam])s in places where the moths have been seen flying, as in the vicinity of gin-houses, »fec. In the month of March and in the earlier pari; of Aijril they should be placed at such spots in the fields where the first worms had been observed in previous years. Experiments made under my direction have proved that during moon- light nights fires or lamps have but little attraction for the moths, and, further, that better results are obtained before than after midnight. The only instance with which I am familiar where lamps (those made by Colonel Lewis and hereafter described) have been used on a suffi- ciently large scale to fully test their efficacy, is that around Ilearne, Tex., in 1878. Over 1,000 lamps were used in that vicinity during a period of several weeks, and while it was true that cotton was not injured that year, the same was equally true throughout that whole section of the country ; so that it was impossible to draw any satisfac- tory conclusions. Still, where they were used pretty extensively the present year they did not prevent final injury to the cotton, and where but a few are used in some particular fields, it is undoubtedly true, and in accordance with general experience, that more harm than good ensues to the individual using them — the moths being allured from other fields and frequently laying their eggs before perishing. The worms are, con- sequently, often more numerous at such centers than elsewhere. 102 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. The following enumeration of lamps for attracting and killing the moth is by no means a complete one. Some of the inventions are no longer used, and descri]Dtions or samples of them unattainable ; others are mere copies of such as are here described, and are therefore omitted ; while still others are too comphcated and expensive to warrant mention. A few words have still to be said concerning the mixture to be used, in connection with the lamps, for Idlling the moth. Almost any sticky substance, such as paint, tar, molasses, soap-suds, &c., will answer the purpose; but the cheapest and most effective means is to half till the pan with water, and then pour in about a table-spoonful of kerosene. The mixture can be strained off in the morning and used again. The lamps may be divided into two classes — those which are to be kept stationarj', and those which are to be drawn or carried through the fields. The Gareett Lamp. — This was invented by Mr. James G. G. Garrett, of Port Gibson, Miss., in November, 1872. The accompanying Fig. 79 is a side view, partly in section, of the same. The letter A represents a stake driven into the ground, with a plank (B) nailed to the upper end. Upon this point is placed a sheet- iron pan (C) about 18 inches wide and 2 inches deep. In the center of the pan is a block or support (D) about two inches high, upon which is set an ordinary lantern (E), which is being secured to the edges of the plank (B) by two or Into the i^an (0) some coal-tar or molasses, or other suita- ble material, is poured so as to a little more than cover the bottom thereof. The Binkley Lamp. — Mr. J. N. Binkley, of Columbus, Tex., uses a lamp which I herewith illustrate (Fig. 80). It is essentially the same as the foregoing, and consists, like Garrett's lami), of -a tin jjlate which may be rectangular or roiiud, and -which is placed ou a board, nailed to the uiiper end of a stake or pole. A lantern of the foinn shown in the.ligure is sol- dered to the centre of the plate, the cover of which lantern has openings to aid ventilation, and may, when necessary, be removed. A common kerosene lamp, with or without chim- ney, is placed in the lantern, and the pan is half-tilled with water and a little kerosene on top, or with soap-suds, or molasses, &c. Fig. 79. — The Garrett Lami'. kept in place by more cords (F). 80.— The Bixkley Lamp. LAMPS FOR ATTRACTING THE MOTH. 103 A similar but still simpler lamp, first made by Col. Charles Xewis, of Hearne, Tex., lias for some time beeu in nse in tbe fields in the Brazos liiver bottom. It consists of the usual shallow tin plate placed upon a hoard that is nailed to the upper end of a stake or post. In the middle of this pan is placed a common kerosene lantern, large enough to burn the wiiole night, or at least the larger part thereof. In 1S78 the jdanters near Hearne, Tex., were nightly burning- over 1,000 of these lamps (hu'ing a i)eriod of several weeks. The cost of this lamp, with the tin pan, is between .'50 and 40 cents, and the cost of burning it one night about one cent. One lamp is generally used for every five acres where the laud is level, but iV shorter intervals where it is rolling. The McQuiOEN LA:\rp, — This again does not materially differ from the others so far mentioned. Patented by Mr. B. F. McQueen, of Man- ack, Ala. (Xo. I(>011i4, July 27, 187.3), it consists of an ordinary lantern which is secured to the center of a shallow basin, beneath which is fiist- eued a tube intended to fit on a post or stake. At the top of the lantern is a horizontal screen of tin, forming a reflector and serving also to i)re- ci])itate the insects in the pan below. The Rigel Lamp. — Invented and patented by Mr. Mark Rigel, of Ala. (patent dated January 28, 1873), this lamp differs oidy in being made so as to hang by a ring, and in the lantern having, in addition to a iiorizontal reflector, several vertical ones. There is another class of lamps of a still simpler nature, consisting of a torch-light, large enough to prevent its being extinguished by the wind, and placed in the middle of a tin pan. While cheaper than those with a steady light they are decidedly less effective, and, moreover, they consume more oil. The simplest lamp of this class is a stout bottle filled Avith kerosene and nujunted with a wick. The Walker Lamp. — This has been constructed by Mr. Walker, of Winchester, Tex., and is rei)re- sented herewith (Fig. 81). It consists of the usual tin pan placed on a post, and of a short, funnel-shai»ed pipe soldered to its center. A second hollow tube of the same shai>e, inverted, is attached to the bottom of the oil-reservoir so as to fit firmly over the first. The reservoir has at the top a raised mouth, with a worm, through which the oil is poured and on to which the wick- tube is screwed as in the figure, the lower part of tlie tube which enters the reservoir being perforated. The shoulder above the screw is designed to prevent the falling of cinders or fire into the kerosene. John E. 81.— TiiK Walkeu Lamp. 104 THE COTTON WOEM IN THE UNITED STATES. One of the simplest lamps is that which I herewith illustrate (Fig. 82). It has been extensively used and is a mere modification and simplifica- tion of the Walker lamp. The reservoir is here soldered to the center of the pan, and the wick-tube to the top of the oil -reservoir. The oil is poured in through an opening near the edge of the top of the reservoir. Fig. 82.— Simple form of Lamp. The Pugh Lamp. — Another somewhat more complicated contri- vance of this class is that in- vented by Mr. Edward D. Pugh, of Fort Plain, Iowa (patent ISo. 130390, August 13, 1872). Fig. 83 shows that it consists of the u.sual shallow pan A, wherein is placed a rectangular case, B, made of glass and sheet-iron, with short feet attached to its bottom and with a cover, c. The bottom is ijerforated foi; ventilation, and a lamp, D, is placed within the case. So far there is nothing particular about this lamp, but it has, in addition, an arrangement to increase its attract- iveness to the moths. Around the case is a frame, a a, with tubes, b b, attached to the inside and aperture communicating with the outside. B represents a common, long-necked bottle placed on one of the tubes b, Kg. 83.— The Pugh Lamp. PORTABLE LAMPS FOR ATTRACTING THE MOTH. 105 on the inside of the case. The unmber of the frames and of the tubes may vary, but on each of them a bottle is placed containing- liouey and wax, or other suitable bait thati is attractive to moths, which are conse- quently not only attracted by the light, but by the smell of the baits, and are either killed by falliug in the pan or by passing through the apertures into the bottles, from which they cannot escape. Lamps in Motion. — As a result of the observation that the moths that are flying in the field are not so residily attracted by a stationary light as by one in motion, the two following machines have been in- vented with a view of being drawn or dragged through the field : The first of these is the Le Blanc Cotton-Moth Destroyer, in- vented by Mr. Auguste Le Blanc, of Louisiana, La. (patent No. 101028, March 22, 1870), and represented at Fig. 84. The api)aratus is mounted on wheels (A) and con- sists of a platform (B), to which are secured a luxmber of extensible posts (c) supporting a roof (D), from which is suspended by a chain or rope the devices to ob- tain the light. This device con- sists of the reservoir (E), which communicates through i)ipes {a and b) with a series of radial burners (F), whicli are arranged so as to form a circle of about eight feet in circumference, though the dimen- sions may be increased or de- creased. The posts (c) are rendered extensible by being formed in two parts (c d), the one fitting and sliding in the other. A series of holes (e) are made, one in the part (c), while a spring stop or pin (/) is fixed to the other {d). By this means the burners may be raised or lowered at pleasure. The roof does not serve alone to shield the burners from rain, but, if painted with a white paint or with any other sticky sub- stance, also helps to attract and destroy the moths. In order to use this machine effectually, Mr. Le Blanc suggests that the cotton should be jjlanted so as to leave at intervals, say, of two acres, a space wide enough between the rows to permit the machine to pass through. The second machine to be mentioned in this connection is the Ford- tran Cotton-Moth Desj'roter, invented by Mr. E. H. Fordti-au, of Flatonia, Tex. (patent No. 19G211, October 16, 1877). It consists of two S -shaped runners very much like those of a common sleigh, and which are made of bent gas-pipes. They are connected with each other at their upper end by a cross-beam, to which is attached a tongue for draw- FiG. 84.— Le Blanc's Cottok-Moth Destroyer. 106 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. iug- i)urposes. Aiiotlier gas-pipe between these ruimers is so fastened to tlieui that it can be lowered or raised, according to the height of the plants, by sliding along the runners; and on this pipe are several mov- able rings which can be firmly secured to the pipe by means of a screw. These rings support each a round shallow tin pan, which, by means of the movable rings, may always be held in a horizontal ijosition. In the middle of each of these pans (the number of which may vary) is secured a common kerosene lantern. The apparatus, which is large enough to reach over three rows of cotton, is drawn over the field at night time. It is on runners and not on wheels, because the former do not injure the cotton. These movable lamps are doubtless very effective, and if used exten- sively and at the right time would be of good service. Aside fi'om the unsatisfactory results of lamps generally, these have an additional dis- advantage in that they must be worked at night. Poisoned Stceets and Fluids as Means of destroying the Moths. It has long Deen known that the Cotton Moth, like most of the other species of its family, has a gi-eat fondness for sweets. Southern writers upon the insect repeatedly mention the fact that the moth is numer- ously attracted by barrels or other vessels containing molasses, by sugar- vats, &c.; while, as we have already seen (p. 15), it is very fond of most ripe fruits. The second peach-crop very often suffers materially from the attacks of these moths, as, by means of the spinous tip of their tongue, thoy literally' work through ^he skin, suck out the juices, and excavate large holes. Figs and melons are often injured in the same way ; in- deed, it is almost impossible to raise some of the finer varieties of figs if these moths are abundant. There was some hope of beneficial results being obtained by using baits that would prove at the same time attractive and destructive to the moths, since, if we kill the parents, we pi'event the injury of their progeny. Taking advantage of the fondness of the moths for sweet substances, many planters have been in the habit of breaking open ripe watermelons, sprinkling them with Paris :,Toen or arsenic, and deposit- ing them in cotton fields. Very good results have followed, so far as the destruction of the moths is concerned; and it is a little surprising, viewed at from the preconceived notions of entomologists, that compar- atively coarse substances like these minerals should be sucked up through the proboscis. A number of experiments, with a view of testing the most attractive as well as the most deadly substances, have been made in vaiious parts | of the cotton belt during the past two years under my direction. Eiiie ! peaches dusted with arsenic or drenched with a solution of arsenic, dried peaches moistened with water and poisoned in the same way, were I placed in boxes on the ground in the fields. On examining the boxes ' the next morning, several dead moths were found in those containing !i POISONED SWEETS TO ALLURE THE MOTH. 107 tbe fresh peaches, but none in those with the dried ones. Experiments with a mixture of molasses and rum, or vinegar, or beer, poisoned with a small quantity of arsenic, Paris green, London purple, or cyanide of potassium, and smeared onto the trunks of "trees, or onto fence poles near cotton fields, or again onto the leaves of the plants, also proved that a luimber of moths may be killed in this way, though it is difficult, if not impossible, to get at the exact number, since many tly awny before idying. The mixture of molasses and beer seems to have the greatest attractiveness, and the virtue of all these mixtures for this purpose may be enhanced by the addition of the essence or tlavoring extracts of certain fruits, as peaches and apples. Xone of these mixtures are as attractive, however, as the fruits themselves, or even as watermelons. The liquids may be employed not only by smearing m the manner set forth, but also in shallow tin pans or A^essels placed in the fields npon pedestals, as in the case of the lamps already described. Where such pans or other vessels are used there should be a wooden lattice-work made to float on the liquid, so that the moths may reach it without drowning, and thus be able to get away to perish elsewhere and make room for otheis. Tliese liquids are frequently used in wide-mouthed bottles distributed over the fields. One general rule, already laid down hi treating of the use of lamps, should be observed in the employment of these liquids and poisons. It is that they be placed in the field only about sunset, and not allowed to remain during the day ; otherwise, more beneficial than injurious insects are actually allured. The smearing has the advantage over the use in pans and bottles, in that fewer beneficial insects are destroyed. I cannot say that these experiments have led me to be in any way san- guine of substantial benefit flowing from this mode of killing the moths in the autumn, which is the season when they are most easily so de- stroyed ; for they do not seem to care much for such baits except when they cannot get their more natural food, in the shape of saccharine exu- dations. The fact that early or summer ripening peaclies are not in- jured— a fact that is well attested by many correspondents — also indi- cates that the moths do not care so much for fruits even, so long as they can obtain nourishment in the cotton fields and so long as they are not congregating in numbers. Experiments made in the summer season with these artificial baits in- dicate that a mucli smaller percentage of moths is allured thereto, and while there can be no question of our ability to kill a certain numl)er in this manner, it would prove a most expensive remedy if used on a sufli- ciently large scale to materially reduce their numbers. In fact, I have become convinced that there is very little use in attemi)ting to destroy the parent moth in the latter part of the season. In discussing the ques- tion of hibernation, it has been made pretty clear that the great bulk of these are naturally destined to parish in any event, so that the labor is largely thrown away. 108 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. Until, therefore, we discover some baits tliat shall have a greater at- traction for the moths than the natural sweets they feed upon, there is little to expect from this mode of warfare. There is a season, however, when the use of these baite is strongly to be recommended, and, oddly enough, it is the season when nobody thinks of using them. It is in this as it is with the lamps ; the greatest good will result from attracting and destroying the first moths in spring after they issue from their win- ter quarters. Ever^^ female killed at that season is equivalent to the de- struction of several hundred worms later in the season, whereas not one in a thousand, and perhaps not one in a hundred thousand, of the moths killed in autumn would, in the natural course of events, have survived to beget progeny. Ooucei'ted action is just as necessary here as in the use of lamps. The recommendation to use white rags in the field has frequently been made in the Southern pajjers, on the supposition that the female moth is attracted to such rags and will lay her eggs thereon. I know not how this idea originated, but so far as I am able to learn it is one of the many fallacies that have prevailed regarding the habits of the insect. Finally, in this connection, I would mention a theorj' or proposed remedy by Dr. J. L. Lu^iton, of Frederick County, Virginia. JS'oticing that the Bee-moth was more attracted to a fluid sweetened and flavored from the hive than to any other kind, he conceived the idea that the Cotton moth would also be most attracted by sweetened water which was flavored with the bruised leaves of the cotton plant. Prof. N. T. Lupton, of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, made an experiment in 1872 which seemed to indicate th^t the liquid thus prepared with cotton leaves had the greater attractiveness for the moth as compared with ordinary molasses and water; but it is doubtful whether it would com- pare as favorably with some of the other mixtures already alluded to. I itm ittcll 'to ha! BJIf tills iiTia ittio im JMai pstr 'm igabi %k Mn APPENDIX. [As a sequence to the Bulletin proper, and as illustrating the conflicting views and theories held by the more intelligent correspondents, I add a few of the reports re- ceived in response to the circular printed in the Introduction. The replies are num- bered to correspond with the questions, and it is hardly necessary to inform the reader who has perused the Bulletin j)rOper that the views and theories of the different writers are not necessarily indorsed, because they are printed just as they were received, and without comment. ] Saint Feancisville, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, Octoler 2, 1879. ' A circular from you requesting answers to certain questions relative to the Cotton Worm was received some months since, and my reply has been deferred to this date in order to enable me to observe the worm and its depredations throughout the entire season. Last year a similar circular was received from the office of the Agricultural Department, to which I replied fully and specially to all the questions as far as my information extended. 1. Cotton has been grown here since this ceutm-y began — eighty years — and perhaps longer. I am a native, fifty-eight years old, and my family and relatives came here 'from North Carolina in Spanish times and soon afterwards, i. e., from 1800 to 1810. They always raised cotton from their first settlement here. 2. I have no records or histories to refer to in order to answer this question fully and accurately. From old settlers I have heard that the Army Worm came here before my recollection — this is, before 1827 or 1828 — and destroyed the crops. I think this was between 1820 and 1824. I have heard old settlers who came here from South Caro- lina say that the Cotton Worm came there before 1815, and ravaged the crops. From my recollection, the worms never appeared here in any great numbers after 1828 un- til 1840 or 1841. I was raised on a plantation, where I now live, my father and all of 'my family on my father's and mother's side being large cotton planters, and my recol- lection dates back to 1828 about all matters of any great moment. In the above year, 1840 or 1841, I returned home on a visit from school late in the fall, say October, and found the cotton fields white with the open cotton and filled also with Cotton Worms. In a few days they ate all the leaves from the stalks of cot- ton, and then began to crawl off, moving like a great army, and filling the ruts and washes in the roads and fields with millions of worms, which being unable to crawl out died there in masses. As the worms appeared that year quite late in the season, no damage was done to the cotton crop, except to make the open cotton dirty and trashy from the excrements and cut leaves dropped by the worms on the cotton. In 184C the worms appeared again, and that year the crops were greatly injured, the worms eating the cotton up so early in the season that not more than 50 to 70 per cent, of a full crop was made by planters in this section. The worms never came again in sufiicieut numbers to attract any general notice until after the war began. We heard of their appearance soon after the Federal occupation of New Orleans and •the lower part of the State, from the great desire to get cotton to supply the markets and factories abroad and at the North and the many attempts made in that region to raise cotton for that purpose. Inside of the Confederate lines, in this section, very 109 110 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. little cotton was raised during the war, the peojjle tm-ning thi-ir attention almost ex- clusively to raising food crops. \Vorms appeared, however, in the small fields of cot- ton raised here for several years -Ijefore the war ended. Beginning with 1866, they have been in this section every year since, sometimes many and again very few ; hut no year has passed with an entire absence of the worm since 1866. 3. I do not think the coldness or mildness of the winters affects the worms here — our winters are never very cold — as our latitude is too far South to permit it. We have had very cold weather, for this section, many times since 1866, and the worms have api^eared every year, more or less. 4. They are always worse in wet summers ; never very bad in very hot, dry sum- mers. They are generally noticed first in July, and if its after progress is attended j by repeated rains during July, August, and September, the crops are very apt to be much injured, if not comijletely demolished. But if it remains hot and dry during the i above-named months, the worms never do much damage. /j 5. Of my own knowledge, they are to be seen here first in June or July, but some i of my friends and neighbors have reported seeing them occasionallj' in May, in iew numbers. 6. They are almost always found first on the same jjlaces and same plantations, scattered over the country, without any apparent regard to character of soil or sur- rounding circumstances. This fact has been generally noticed and spoken of, but no solution has been made of it that is satisfactory and reasonable. Like most other^ questions among men, outside of mathematics, discussion never satisfies all parties, nor settles the question. 1 7. I have no experience at all of the winter habits of the insect, bu.t I am satisfied it remains here during the winter, in some form, and does not come here regularly or at intervals from any distance. My reasons for thinking so are too numerous to at- tempt to write them to you, unless I thought I could prove the fact to a demonstra- tion, and thu? settle the matter beyond all future question or dispute. 8. Birds of many kinds prey upon the worms, and many insects prey on both thd worm at all ages and stages of its growth and also feed on or destroy the eggs. No, quadrupeds disturb either eggs or worms, to my knowledge. Ants of various sort^ prey on them — both eggs and small worms. I have heard many insects spoken of, b^ persons who had given the matter close attention, as being enemies to the Cotton Worms, and preying on or destroying the eggs, young worms, and also those fully: grown. I cannot speak on these points from personal knowledge, not being a scien| tist nor professional man, and having no turn of thought in that direction. I am sat- isfied that many animals and insects prey on and destroy the Cotton Worm's eggs young, and grown worms, or they would eat up the cotton every year they appea: here. They increase by nature so very rapidly after their first appearance that, un- less they met many and destructive enemies besides man, they would always in- crease in numbers so great as to destroy the crop annually. In wet years these vai rious enemies are not present themselves in sufficient numbers to make any impression on the Cotton Worm, but in dry seasons they are numerous enough to nearly anniht late the Cotton Worm, and thus prevent any great damage to the cotton crop. | 9. I have no experience about destroying the Cotton Moth. Many might, no doubt, be destroyed by lamps, fires, &c., but the whole planting population would have to engage in it systematically and persistently, or it would amount to nothing. The destruction of any number of moths by a few planters or neighborhoods would do no good. I have never heard of sugar, molasses, or anything of the sort being tried to lure the molhs. I think all such things humbugs, and on a jjar with the Yankee -plun tried in Lower Louisiana during the war, i. e., to spread tar around the cotton-fields to prevent Ihe Cotton Worms from entering them. 10. I have no experience to enable me to reply to this question. 11. I cannot afford any information on this question. 12. I have never seen jute nor any other plant being tried in this section for anj such purpose. Have heard stories told of such things being tried elsewhere. APPENDIX: ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. Ill 13. Paris green, Texas Worm Destroyer, and such i)oisoiious medicine are the only tilings which have ever been used liere to destroy the worms. I have seen Pans green tried many times, and heard of its trial for years. There is no donht that it will de- stroy the Cotton Worm and ])reserve tlie cotton plants, when the preparation is gen- uine and not a cheat and it is used properly and thoroughly. Like everything else done in this world, it must be done properly, thoroughly, and persistently to succeed. I have no personal knowledge of the Texas Worm Destroyer, but it is very highly Tecommended, indeed. 14. I have never known any injury to happen to man, beast, or plant here from using Paris green. All know that it is a violent poison, and use it with caution. No doubt, man, animals, and plants can be injured by it, and perhaps all have been in- jured in some places by its incautious use. 15. Paris green used in li(iuid form, from large tin watering-pots made specially for the purpose, has been most successful here ; it is the prei)aration generally used. 10. I cannot state the cost of using Paris green per acre, but its cost is not irreat, and does not enter into any man's calculation when he sets about to kill the Army Worm. I have seen a tield of cotton saved by two applications of it, which were made at intervals of a mouth apart. This tield yielded one bale per acre, whereas witliout the destruction of the worms it would not have made half a bale per acre. These worm-poisons are now made and sold in great quantities l)y responsible parties, and, like all other articles of general commerce, are abundant and cheap. There is no ques- tion but that the cotton crop can be saved in part, if not in whole, from any future destruction by the Cotton Worms, in all sections where the planters are energetic, in- telligent, and harmonious in action by the use of poisons — Paris green, Texas Worm Killer, arsenic in some form, or some other poison. I cannot now say that any plan can be proposed to destroy the worm or moth before its appearance in the cotton fields. Fires, lamps, &c., would kill immense numbers of moths, but would only re- tain the worms, and not destroy them. I hope what I have written above may prove acceptable to yon. I have given you all the information I conld which I could vouch for jjcrsonally. Any future commu- nication from you or your oftice will be readied to fully and candidly. The Cotton Worms have made their annual appearance in our parish this year, but have done no general damage. Some few fields have suffered, on alluvial lands, so far as I have heard. The summer has been very hot and dry. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, DOUGLAS M. HAMILTON. C. V. Riley, Chief U. S. K C. Evergreen, Ala., August 24, 1879. I beg leave respectfully to submit the following answers to your circular (No. 7) concerning the Cotton Worm : 1. About the year 1817. 2. In 1825, or about eight years. 3. It is most generally dreaded after a mild winter, but experience teaches that this fear is ill founded. It is probable that a greater number of the chrysalids survive a mild winter than a severe one, but the present season proves that they cannot all be destroyed by cold, for having passed through the severest winter since their advent, the worms are at this time (August 24) destroying the cotton in some localities, and bid fair to make a clean sweep within the next two or three weeks. 4. Wet springs and summers are decidedly more favorable to their production than Idry ones. 5. On or about the 25th of May, 1873. 6. In moist, rich soils, where the weed is most luxuriant. 112 THE COTTON WOEM IN THE UNITED STATES. 7. I know but little from' actual observation. I bave seen tbe cbrysalids in tbe ground exposed by plowing, sometimes under turfs or logs, or auytbing tbat affords protection from cold and wet. 8. None. Every variety of birds feed upon them, but there are not enough birds in a State to devour all the worms on a single plantation. The English sparrow is the only bird that could be introduced which would be available, and it is not considered practicable to try him, for the number required to do the work woirld require a vast amount of food at all times, and of itself become a greater pest to the farmer than the worm. 9. All efforts in this direction have been fruitless. The writer is of the opinion that as soon as the moth emerges from the chrysalis it proceeds at once to dei^osit its eggs (of which it contains a vast number), and are not attracted by anything to be eaten until they have performed that function. They are attracted by any saccharine substance, like sugar and water or molasses and water, but, for the reasons stated above, they are considered of little value. Fires or lights \^'ill also attract them, and, if not too expensive, might be more available than poisons. Owing to the uncertainty of the time of their advent, and of the very short time required for the laying of their eggs, the plan of destroying by iires can hardly be made available, ho\\ ever. 10. It is immaterial whether the poison is contained in vessels or spread upon boards, trees,. »fec. ; they are as likely to find it at one place as another. The writer has seen myriads of them destroyed by di'oppiug into evaporators used in making sirup. This, however, is never observed until late in the fall, after the cotton is destroyed and the color of the moth is changed. The last crop of worms are black, or nearly so, and the moth springing from them is of a darker hue than tlie first seen, and are non-pro- ductive. Those coming from the green worm are brown, and supply all the eggs. 11. There are none known to the wrirer. 12. I have no experience with jute, but have seen cotton grown among com escape the ravages of the worm when all other was destroyed. The writer does not favor the plan, however, practiced by many cotton planters, of crossing cotton with corn at from 12 to 20 feet, inasmuch as the effect of retarding the progress of the worms is not suc- cessfully attained, and the com thus made will little more than pay for the cotton lost, besides impeding the cultivation of the cotton in case the corn is blown down or bent by wind (as happens as often as not). In the opinion of the writer, the better plan is to plant cotlon in corn; i. e., after securing a stand of corn early in the spring, plant a hill of cotton between each two hills of corn, so what corn is made may be considered clear gain. If the corn is not bent, the cotton may be worked after the corn is "laid by," and if it is bent, so as to jirevent the cultivation of the cotton, nothing is lost by having the cotton there. Of course this plan can only be made profitable on good land, where the cotton will continue to grow after the fodder is pulled. The writer saw last year, however, on x>oor land, more than 200 pounds of cotton per acre gathered from laud where 15 bushels of com were grown, and this with one additional working. Moreover, cotton grown alone immediately by the side of this com and cotton was entirely destroyed by worms, while that grown with the corn was untouched. 13. Nothing. From exjperieuce in the use of a tea or aecoction of the China berry on cabbage, to drive away worms, bugs, &c., the writer is induced to believe that the same might be used with success on cotton. It is well known that all insects or ver- min are averse to the taste or proximity to this plant, and the writer has no doubt that a thorough api^lication of it to cotton, made at the pro^jer time, would drive off the worms. I will not undertake to say that it is practicable, for the labor of making the tea and applying it may overbalance the profit. In other respects, however, it has the advantage of being cheap and harmless. 14. I have seen the cotton plant scorched and ruined by using the poisons in too concentrated a form, but have seen no injury to persons or animals. Being a deadly poison, however, the Paris green will certainly kill animals as well as worms if taken \ APPENDIX: ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 113 into- the stomach. It acts as a poison also when introduced into the sj'stem througli the blood, and should consequently be handled with a great deal of care. 15. Of the means yet discovered, no agent has the advantage of Paris green. IG. For the protection of cotton of average size of weed, an outlay of about $2 or $2.25 per acre will be incurred in this locality, including the cost of the jioisou, flour or gypsum for mixing, and labor of applying. In i)laces where water can be had without too nuich labor the cost might be a little less ; but comparatively few farmers have this natural advantage. The writer takes occasion, in this connection, to suggest a solution of the " cater- pillar question " in a very few words. Let every cotton planter in the South adopt a system of reduced acreage, high manuring, and thorough cultivation. Let him plant only such lands as will return a large yield, say one, two, or three bales per acre, and he can alibrd to apply Paris green and save his cotton. Of course, this can be done iu most sections of the South ouly by high manuring; but no farmer should plant more cotton than he can make remunerative. If he can manure but one acre, let him plant but one. This system would not ouly save the cotton from destruction by worms, but would immeasurably improve the tinancial condition of the South and the whole country. The farmer, having less cotton planted, would have more land to devote to grain-crops and stock-raising, and after one or two years the market value of cotton would be so enhanced that he would receive as much money for his few bales as he now does for his many. Very respectfully, ROBT. A. LEE. C. V. Riley, C^ic/ U. S. E. C. Henderson, Tex., November 27 , 1876. In reference to our Cotton Caterpillar, it is hard to drive to an uncontested conclu- sion, as there are almost as many opinions as there are cotton farmers in the South. I am a native of Louisiana, sixty-four years old, and have been growing cotton the greater portion of my life ; still I know but little that is worth telling in reference to this terrible Southern pest. The first Cotton Caterpillar I ever saw was iu Holmes County, Mississippi, in 184G. The second time I saw them, in numbers worthy of notice, was during our last nnfortunate war, 1864. Since then they have appeared annually (more or less) in all the cotton States. They appear to be migratorij, but many deny this, and support their views with some plausibility. But we are taught by experience that they do not appear simultaneously over the whole country, but annu- ally appear in the extreme southern portions of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. We often hear of them four to six weeks before they raise, hatch, and accu- mulate sufficient numbers to reach the northern portions of these States. The first- comer (or parent) is a small yellowish fly, resembling somewhat our nsual summer- evening candle fly. Whether from instinct or not, I cannot tell — but I will call it instinct — the first fly visitors always deposit their eggs in the center of each field. Why so in every instance, if it is not to place himself, as well as his first brood, as far away from birds and other enemies which might annoy them near to the forest trees and woods ? Again, they invariably deposit the eggs in the top — yes, in the bud — of each stalk or plant, for there the little embryo leaf is full of downy fuz, in which the eggs lie closely bedded, elevated high to the dew and warm sun, and soon hatch. Now we have the worm, so small as to be almost unobservable, but safely secured iu his downy bed, which down is his food for a day or two, when he begins to feed on the yet small and tender leaf, and eats day and night until he webs up, to reappear another fly. This is our first crop ; and from first observation of the fly until the second crop ap- pears is about fifteen to twenty days. This second crop proceed as the first, deposit- ing their eggs in the bud, and this time extend their dominions to three-fourths and 8 RI 114 THE COTTON WOEM IN THE UNITED STATES, sometimes over tlie whole field, matnriug as before, giving tbe third crop, wliicli soou finishes the last leaf of the young fruit. I -will add that many suppose this last crop, after devouring the crop, deposit their eggs in old hollow trees, old dry fence-rails, • dry weeds, or other dry rubbish, to slumber till another year, and then reappear. This does not look reasonable as compared with the observations aS above stated ; besides, they would then hatch out and reapx>ear at every place where they existed the year previous; so I rather believe they are migratory, and come from the south annually. I am of the opinion that if planters would top their cotton, say three or four inches below the bud, about the time they see the first fly, much benefit would be had. First, the natural place for depositing the eggs would be removed; second, if any eggs had been deposited about the time of topping, the topped part would become dry in a few hours ■end the egg woiild perish, or, if hatched, the little baby worm could not feed on the dry, parched leaf, and would thus perish. If, however, he had strength to make his way to a neighboring stalk, he could not feed so young on the lower tough leaves, as he can only survive on the downy part in the bud first and then on the youngest and tenderest leaves. Thus he acquires size and strength in a few days to feed on older leaves. It is natural that they do not deposit the egg anywhere on logs, trees, or woody substances, or even. on grown tough leaves, where the diminutive baby worm cannot feed, thrive, and live; so the last or third crop, if deposited on these substances, would soon, become extinct. Therefore they are migratory and come from the south. Then, as a remedy, I would suggest, first, to work and cultivate fast, get a good growth as early as possible, but, large or small, top the cotton as soon as you see the first fly; second, I would urge, as an additional remedy, tojiut up* poles with martin- boxes on the top, and cultivate and raise our black martin bird. It is a South American bird, innocent and harmless to all vegetation. They arrive here in May, raise their yoimg, and migrate the 1st of September. They are a flue, greedy insect-scavenger, and increase rapidly. Again, they are by nature adapted to the work, because the caterpillar-fly works from about 5 o'clock p. m. till dark each day, and while all other birds retire +o roost early, the black martin feeds till dark. In fact, this mode of fur- nishing artificial homes for birds would invite many of our native birds to occupy these homes, and particularly our bluebirds, which are also flue insect-destroyers. Thus, by largely increasing our birds whicL j.eed on these insects, we would be well fortified against the boll-worm fly, which much resembles the caterpillar-fly, both of which appear about the same time, first in small force, and increase very rapidly. If birds could be distributed over the fields in these artificial homes, they would effectually destroy them on their first arrival, when so few in number. You are aware that in the early history of the Sovithern States, where the farms were small and few in number, then the forests were vocal with the song of birds, As the fields increased in size the forest decreased, and since our late war the freedmen all, young and old, used every means to procure guns for the pui'pose of killing game, and no bird, however small and innocent, is allowed to escape their deadly aim. Nor will I stop in condemning the negroes for this unwise i)ractice, but the same holds true of our idle young white men, many of whom indulge in the practice as mere sport. Our forest songsters are now seldom to be seen, their songs are hushed, and the meaning noise of the wind in the tree-top is undisturbed by the note of the bird. Laws should be passed by all the States to put a stop to this unwise practice. Yours, truly, JNO. M. WOLKOM. C. V. RiLKY, Chief U. S. E.G. appendix: answers to circular. 115 Hempstead, Waller County, Texas. I berewitli seud i'ei)lies given by different farmers in this connty in answer to the question asketl on the first page, and you will see that there is a variety of ideas as to the manner of hibernation. The (luestions in Circular No. 7 having been carefully answered, to your first cir- cular, I do not think I can add any more information, save perhaps to reiterate my firmer belief in what I had stated, to wit : That the worm has four changes : from chrysalis to moth ; moth to egg ; egg to ■worm ; worm to chrysalis. That the moth is short-lived, from five to seven days ; is not an eater ; always an egg-layer ; remarkably timid ; a strong light readily attracts them ; they perform their mission and then die. That the egg hatches in from about five to seven days; is deposited on the under side of cotton leaf in regular layers. That the worms as they hatch proceed at once to do their mission, and take from seven to nine days to pei'fect themselves, when they begin to spin their w(>b. lu about thirty-six hours rhe chrysalis — the hiberuator — is ready for its long or short sleep, according to the protection or exposure, the heat or cold, surrounding it. It is the seed, that chance may throw on stony ground and it will perish, or it may fall in some sheltered spot and there be preserved through any wiuter. The cause of so few appearing in spring may, audi think does, result from the fact that so few chrysalids fall into nooks or x)laces suitable to protect them through the wiuter, and are de- stroyed by winter's cold or their own decay. I suggested that perliai)s the plant on which the egg was deposited might give direction or imj^ress the worm with desire to eat of that plant. I am ready to change or modify my views, and say that now I think the plant on which the worm feeds must have the eftect to determine the plant for the future worm. I have observed this year that the Cotton Worms, after finishing the cotton, at- tacked the crab-grass, and have eaten it up — nothing left in the corn field I'or stock to eat ; looks like a frost had killed it. These worms did not retain their cotton-leaf color, but underwent a great change ; the black streaks were obliterated and green color took its place ; the half-grown worms became stouter and shorter and more sluggish and of a dirty green color. The change in the worm is so great that the identity of the worm has been most stoutly denied by very good farmers, who have said, "if you examine them closely you will find them to be the genuine ' grass' worm." If all things work according to my views, we shall be visted by "grass"' worms next spring, which will eventually attack the cotton. 9. A large and strong light carried slowly through the fields will surely destroy the moth; but this must be kept up once a week, and the moth must be startled from its rest. 13, 14, 15. Paris green cheapest, used in powder ; if too strong, will kill plant and any animal that will eat the jilant. Should be used only sufficiently strong to kill worm and not damage the jilant. Animals should not be allowed in fields where Paris green is used. In regard to the answers herein given, my aim was to get the farmers' individual opinion unbiased, and after taking it down would read it, and ask if I had exjiressed him correctly. P. S. CLARKE. C. V. Riley, Chief U. S. E. C. Question addressed to farmers of Waller County, Texas. — What is your opinion as to the manner or mode of perpetuation, or preservation of the Army or Cotton Worm from one year or season to another ? In what condition does it hibernate 1 Answer by J. A. Peebles.— The miller, or fly, makes its deposit of " eggs" in the 116 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. faU ill the ground; they hatch out in the summer, these eggs reproducing the miller. The miller subsists on some kind of food. Believes in a male and female fly, and cop- ulation. Answer by Dr. J. J. Perry. — Believes it is iiropagated in the chrysalis from the chrys- alis burrowing in the ground, there remaining intact till the period of incubation has expired, when the moth appears. Duration of incubation from six to nine months. Thorough system of winter plowing would eradicate them. Answer by John Peebles. — Believes the eggs are deposited in the ground by the fly ; there remaining till cold weather is over, when they hatch as a fly. They (the fly) subsist on some kind of food while existing ; they copulate. A-Uswer by A. T. Bedell. — Some of the eggs remain unhurt by the winter and are hatched out in the spring, and in this manner are perpetuated. ' Answer by Dr. L. W. Groce. — Beheves the eggs are deposited under the bark of the cotton-stalk, under and at the ground, and in this manner lie dormant through the winter and hatch out in the spring. No copulation. Answer by J. C. Ealston. — The fly deposits its egg, which becomes a worm, which becornes a chrysalis, which becomes a fly, which again deposits eggs. The fly does not eat. The egg is the medium of perpetuation, which holds through the -SYUiter in a capsule. Answer by Dr. William Clinton. — The flies or moths are brought from the per- petual cotton fields of South America by strong southern breeze. Each year terminates them, and again are brought by southern breeze. . Answer by Frank Cooke. — Originated in Southern States, is a hybrid or cross from common grass-worm ; deposit their eggs on cotton stalks or in the ground, from which comes the first crop, these eggs lying in the ground till spring. Can be destroyed by I; deep plowing or freeze. Answer by Dr. R. C. Watson. — The moth deposits eggs on leaf, hatches in worm, | then goes into chrysalis ; depends on peculiar conditions how long it remains in this state, from wMch comes a moth. The chrysalis hibernates, the fly copulates. Answer by E. G. White. — The chrysalis drops from the stalk and becomes covered under ground ; in this manner is preserved during the winter. The moth copulates. Answer by B. F. Elliott. — Believes the caterpillar goes in the ground in the fall ; then becomes a chrysalis; remains dormant till next summer, when it hatches out a fly. The fly eats, copulates, lives three or four weeks. Answer by Zack Wooley. — The moth deposits eggs in the fall, which are preserved through the winter and hatch out a worm in the spring, vhich attacks vegetation; ! then go to work, web up, and turn to the miller again, which deposits eggs ; these eggs hatch out the worm that goes to work on the cotton. The fly eats, copulates, lives j; three or four weeks. , Answer by M. G. Stanley.— The caterpillar itself deposits eggs in the ground in the fall This egg becomes the miller. The fly co^iulates ; does not eat. Answer b y W. W. Moore. — The vv^orni passes into chrysalis and in this condition remains till spring, when it emerges a butterfly. No copulation ; no eating. i Answer by A. A. Pettuck. — The worm goes into the ground ; there changes to chrys- • I alis and remains till spring, when the butterfly comes forth to deposit eggs to start the worm; fly copulates and eats. Answer by W. J. Buchanan. — They go into the stalks of cotton or small stumps at or near the ground ; there they stay as a worm until we see them as a fly in the spriag. The fly copulates; lives uxion juices of flowers. Answer by William Ahrenbeck. — ^They pass into the ground in the chrysalis state; there remain during winter, become perfected by spring, and come out a fly in spring; must be male and female ; do not eat. j Answer by Daniel Loggins. — They go into the chrysalis and remain in that condi- i tion till next year, when they come out a butterfly ; copulate ; do not eat ; fly lives ! four days. ; APPENDIX: ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 117 Answer by Dr. R. H. Boxjley. — They pass into chrysalis state, and in this manner hibernate, when they emerge the next year a fly. The fly copulates, but does not eat ; lives three days. Answer by N. K. Alston. — The caterpillar deposits eggs in the ground in the fall ; they lay there all -winter and come out a fly in the spring, which dejiosits eggs to make the -worm. Male and female fly ; copulate. They must eat ; fly lives two or three months. Answer by James Loggins. — The caterpillar changes into some other insect — don't know what this is — which hides itself till spring and then comes out a fly ; fly copu- lates ; feeds on something ; lives nine days. Answer by John Loggins. — The caterpillar burrows in the ground in the fall ; it changes there to chrysalis, and in the spring comes out a butterfly ; fly copulates ; lives on juices of plants ; exists about twenty-one days. Answer by J. F. Groce. — The fly goes into the ground or secretes itself in some hid- den place in the fall to protect itself from winter's cold, and comes out in July and August to deposit eggs ; no copulation ; no eating by fly. Answer by Johnson Hensley. — A small butterfly lays its eggs in the fall in old trash, leaves, or bark of cotton-stalks. These eggs remain intact during winter, and in months of June and July hatch out the worm. The fly copulates and eats juices of vegetation. First saw the worm is Washington County, Texas, in year 1834, on Milk Creek. . Answer by Waxler Cochkan. — The caterpillar burrows in the ground; there changes into chrysalis, and in this condition stays till proper time to hatch out a fly. The fly copulates ; does not eat ; live two or three weeks. Answer by J. D. Mitchell. — They remain in chrysalis state in any place suitable to protect them during winter ; in spring it comes out a fly, which deposits eggs ; fly copu- lates ; subsists on juices of plants ; live fifteen or twenty days. Answer by H. Lewis. — They go through the wiuter in the chrysalis state. After eating up the cotton (1879) they took to the crab-grass in the corn-field and devoured it completely. Did not discover any change in the color of worm after eating the grass. The fly lives six or eight weeks. Answer by Dr. E. Montgomery. — The chrysalis is the medium of perpetuation dur- ing and through winter. The fly eats and copulates. Answer by J. H. Davis. — The chrysalis for the most part turns out a fly, but some- times a cross between a chrysalis and worm. This cross goes into the ground and into trash and lays there till spring, or a suitable time, when it comes out a fly. Sometimes, when the weather is not suitable, very few develop, and consequently wo have very few worms. The flj^ does not copulate, and does not eat. Answer by Thomas Armee. — The fly secretes itself in some warm jilace, where it hides till winter is over and warm weather comes to bring it out ; male and female fly ; coinilates, but does not eat. Believes the worm eating up the grass is a totally different one from the Cotton Worm. Answer by Thomas Ray. — Believes they pass the wiuter in the chrysalis state ; have frequently seen them plowed up out of the ground ; male and female fly ; fly lives about ten days. The worm now eating up the grass is a totally different worm from the Cotton Worm, it being of a green color and smaller. Livingston, Sumter County, Alabama, September 5, 1879. Maj. J. G. Harris handed me your circular and letter, with request that I should reply to the same. I herewith inclose my essay on destroying the Cotton Worm, writ- ten in 1^73, which will give my answers to many of the questions. 1. This county was occuxiied by the Choctaw Indians till 1832, and was mostly set- 118 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. tied up by the Trliite ijeople iu 1833, and rapidly cleared up aud planted largely in cotton. 2. The first year of the worms was iu 1842 (so far as I know), when they stripped the foliage from the cotton in September. 3. They are generally worse after a winter of even temperature, not very cold. Last winter was a very cold one, and the worms have worked about in patches through the two past months, but not extensively damaging the cotton, though the weather has been very wet, and the moths are now appearing iu considerable numbers. We have them in damaging numbers one or two years, and then an intermission of two or three years, and, sometimes alternating in different sections of the county. 4. Wet summers are much the most favorable for their multiplication. In dry, warm summers they do not multiply. 5. By the middle of May, but generally not till June, in their earliest but small gen- erations. In 1873 the destructive brood — second or third generation — stripped the cotton of foliage iu July and early in August ; usually not till the last of August and September. 6. They generally appear earliest iu " bottom lands " and prairie, where adjoining thick-set wood lands. 7. They hibernate in the moth state ; and also the very la;te formed chrysalis exist in that state through the winter, where protected from severe cold by grass or other- herbage or covering, and perhaps in the ground. 8. All our insectivorous birds consume the worms, and the moths to some extent, but which are not out on the wing except at late evening and at night, or at a dark, cloudy evening. 9 No methods to destroj' the moths have proved effectual; but fires attract them most, when some are burned or their wings disabled, and molasses will stick and hold some when attracted by a candle standing in the plate or vessel. This is the only known means of destroying the moth of the boll- worm, and preventing the great damage to the cotton-cro]3 by their more obscure depredations, and might be effectual to lessen them much by the persistent use of great numbers of these plates of molas- ses, with lamps or lanterns so made that they could fly into and be burned, and thus destroying them before laying their eggs in the cotton-blossom. But sugar or sirups do not perceptibly attract by themselves. 10. These things are only useful in plates, when the moths are attracted by lights. 11. Know of no flowers which attract the moth, except the cotton-blossoms attract the moth of the boll-worm, iu which it deposits the eggs, one in each blossom ; and these blossoms are expanding from early June to September which perfect cotton,, and thence on into October, but which are too late to mature. 12. Know nothing of the influence of jute grown near cotton. 13. Know nothing better than Paris green or cheaper than arsenic to destroy the worms, but have an essay, iu ijamphlet, published in 1874, on "the Texas Cotton Womi Destroyer," discovered and patented by J. D. Braman and A. Eobira, "which is a salt of arsenic that readily dissolves in cold water," "four ounces of which, dis- solved in 40 gallons of water, and costing 25 cents, and sprinkled over an acre of cotton with a watering-pot or sprinkling-machine, will eft'ectually destroy the worms and preserve the cotton." Patented by Robert Renuie iu 1874 And they claim that it is better, safer, and cheaper than the other articles named. 14. Have not known of any injurious effects from (he poison to men or animals, but heard of some tlirough want of caution. The cotton leaves are quickly crisped and kill^Al by the application of more poison than is necessary to kill the worms or iutoO' concentrated a form. 15. The best methods of destroying the worjus are given iu the above answers and iu my essay, and the most expeditious, with the cheapest, will be to use the poison in a dissolved form, and applied with a fountain hand-pamp. 16. The cost ]Der acre to protect a crop of cotton by killing the worms with poison APPENDIX: ANSWEES TO CIRCULAR, 119 will be from 25 cents to $1 aufi about half a day's work with the fountain lian(l-])nnip, to apply the poison iu water, dissolved ; or with sifters lined with muslin, to ajijily the poison iu dry form, well mixed and incorporated with i)laster or Hour, when the cost of the flour may be added to the above-named cost, which was given only as the cost of the poison. What would be the cost of lamps, lantern traps, vessels, and material to destroy the moth, particularly that of the boll-worm, which does a vast amount of injury to cotton crops, or even to materially lessen the numbers, cannot now be esti- mated, as it has not been sufficiently tested. The fouutain pump costs about $k>. Respectfully, I. D. HOYT. Prof C. V. Riley. Parish of Concordia, Louisiana, Lake Concordia, An;/iist S, 1879. 1. About the year IHIO the planters of this p;irish and the adjoinini^ county of Adams, most of whom owned i)roperty iu both localities, commenced abandoning the culture of indigo and substituted that of the cotton-plant. 2. The first Cotton Worius or Caterpillars were noticed iu 1840, both in this ])arish and in Adams County. Tlu-y were noticed in August, cutting the cotton in rank spots. The second crop stripped the rank cotton in September. The appearance of an heretofore unknown insect caused a meeting of all the leading planters, and it was generally agreed that, owing to the luxuriant rank growth of the cotton stripped by the worms, that they were rather a benefit than otherwise, leaving the bolls exposed to the sun and thus insuring their rixiening. The worms again appeared in greater numbers in 1844 and 1846, doing considerable damage both years, especially in the lat- teryear,as they stripped every field iu thecounty before maturity. Thej' continued to appear in numbers at intervals up to the breaking out of the war, but, as the culture of the cotton-i)laut was pushed forward very early under the then existing system of labor, the yield w.asnot unu'h shortened by the stripping of the leaves iu Septem- ber, and many planters continued to think that the large cotton in new grounds, of which there was a considerable (piantity, was benefited by the loss of foliage. 3. The character of the winter seems to have very little influence upon the propa- gation of the Cotton Worm; its develo])nient in greater or less numbers seems to depend ^;c(Mc/jja//i/ upon the character of the summer season. A wet, rainy summer, causing a rank, succiilent, growth of the i)lant, is peculiarly .adapted to their i)ropaga- tion in countless numbers, evini apparently shortening the period between their reap- pearance fi'om 21 to 18 days, and causing them to appear in such numbers in what is commonly called the second crop (in August) as to almost destroy tlu^ leaves on the cotton and not leave sufficient foliage to sustain the next gemmation, in September, for more than half their allotted 7 days. For instance, the winter of 1872-7:? was one of the coldest known iu this latitude for years. M^orms wei-e noticed iu the lat- ter p.art of May, and by the last of August the cotton-fields of this ]»arish were per- fectly bare, and yet still another crop of worms hatched in latter part of Sei)tember, and destroyed crops sav(^d by application of Paris green. 4. Wet suuuuers are almost essential to the reproduction in any great numbers of the worm. Many of the eggs do not hatch in dry weather, and then the many enemies of the worm have a better chance to destroy them. 5. In l8t)8, the first year of my experience as a planter, I noticed a few in spots about July 15. August 7 they were quite numerous in spots. August 25 they reap- peared, and injured the crop considerably ; worms green, with two rows of yellow with black spots down back. September 8 a uujre numerous crop .stripped portions of the field. September 25 the green, with black stripes down back, appeanid, aud soon stripped the plants of every leaf and small boll. In 1809 I found a few worms as early as June 24, full grown, i)ale green, marked with white and yellow spots. July 15 a few were noticed in rank cotton. August 7 they were quite numerous in spots of same 120 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. character of cotton. August 27 the green and black spotted worm " chopped " the leaves badly over whole crop, and successive crojjs appeared each week, September 2, Septem- ber 8 ; and then on September 20 the green and black striped worm commenced strip- ping the crop. This was a very wet season, cotton growing very large, and despite the loss of leaves, the yield per acre was about one bale of 400 pounds weight. In 1870 the season was one of the dryest ever known. I did not find worms until September 15, and then the green and black striped. They were not in snfQcient num- bers to do any harm. In 1871, the first worms noticed from 1st to 15th July, green ; reappeared August 15, green, with black spots ; September 10 appeared in considerable numbers, green, black striped, but did not entirely strip the plant ; extremely wet spring, but dry summer. In 1872 the first noticed were on September 9, green, yellow stripes, black spots ; reappeared July 15, all sizes and stages ; August 20 to 25, heavy crop of green, black striped, stripping the cotton early in September. In 1873 found first worms latter part of May ; had seen flies around buildings on warm days in February; did not pay much attention to their reproduction until July 25, when the green and black spotted ones appeared in considerable quantities. August 15 the green and black striped worms came in myriads, and made short work of the rank, succulent cotton, the growth of a rainy summer. I saved 900 acres by api^lying Paris green ; 600 acres in one part of the parish was destroyed by October 1, the flies having been blown into my fields from adjoining plantations by a heavy wind the week previous ; 300 acres on another plantation, being isolated, was not again molested. In 1874 the first and second appearances were noticed latter part of July and August ; September 4, considerable numbers of all sizes and grades ; September 14, numbers suf- ficient to strip the cotton crop, as it was mostly planted after an overflow. Applied Paris green in places, but the worms disappeared, probably destroyed by birds and insects. In 1875, although not an unusually dry year, no worms were noticed. In 1876, found a few worms on July 12 ; August 2, considerable numbers in spots ; August 22, reappeared in considerable numbers, all grades and sizes, but by September 7 they had mostly disappeared, it being very dry and hot, and birds and insects being plen- tifiil. In 1877, noticed worms in July ; August 10, good many ; August 16, in suffi- cient numbers to justify use of Paris green in places, which saved that portion of the crop, but the worms reappeared in force September 20, and by 25th there was not a leaf left. In 1878, full-grown worms seen August 9, earlier broods not noted ; August 21, fuU crop green, black spots, out over large area of the country, though not gen- eral ; again used Paris green with success ; September 12 to 19, ^iotton stripped. In 1879, the worm was first seen about June 20 ; about July 15 it was again observed, and now they are found through the fields in all i^arts of the parish, always the pale green, yellow, striped, and black spots. We look for a pretty full crop about 25th, and a destructive one about September 10, with continuance of this favorable showery weather, unless some natural causes, in way of birds or insects, prevent their propa- gation. 6. The Cotton Fly is a shy insect, and seeks shelter in large cotton, which grows in damp spots ; there the eggs are deposited and the first worms hatched. 7. The moth hibernates between the bark of old logs and dead trees in the lofts of bams, gins, and outbuildings, protected between shingles, or in crevices, in a state of torpor. Only a few survive the rigors of winter; hence the very few which appear in the early spring. It is my impression that the moth is impregnated in the fall, but this is simply a matter of conjecture. 8. Nearly all birds and fowls devour the Cotton Worm with avidity, but the com- mon black-bird, which to a considerable extent hibernates in this region and breeds here, is the greatest enemy among birds. The common red wasp, the small red ant, a species of large green spider that I have never observed except on the cotton plant, a hexagon shaped bug, green and sometimes brown (it being api>arently of a chameleon nature), flat and emitting a very disagreeable odor when roughly touched, armed with a long, sharp bill which it carries under the body— commonly called the pump- APPENDIX: ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 121 kin-bug — and lastly, the Ichueiimou fly, all destroy the worm iu its various stages of transition — the ant even taking the larvse from the underside of the leaves. The wasp and Ichneumon fly, where numerous, seem to be most destructive. 9. The experiment of saving a crop from worms by destroying the moth was most effectually tried prior to the war when well-controlled labor was at hand and money was plentiful, and since then some enterprising men have spent much money and time in the vain attempt to save their crops by this means, but none in this section have succeeded. There are many, many times more worms hatched than necessary to com- plete the work of destruction ; besides, my belief is that the moth deposits its eggs before leaviug shade of the thick cotton, and having accomplished its destructive mission then flies about in the air. 10. The moth is attracted by the light, and my observation is that the vessels con- taining molasses, &c., being placed around the light, serve more to entrap than attract them. The moth is very destructive to fall fruit, puncturing it so soon as it begins to ripen. 11. Have never noticed moth about flowers. 12. Have never seen the experiment tried. 13. Arsenic itself is used by some persons, they claim, successfully, and of course, as it only takes about one-quarter of a pound to an acre, it is th6 cheapest poison that can be used ; but owing to the great weight and the perfect insolubility of arsenic with water, I have found it a very unsatisfactory application ; first, unless incessantly stirred and shaken it precipitates and clear water is applied, and the Cotton Worm lives on. Secondly, if too much is carried in suspension on to the cotton it burns all young bolls and leaves. The Texas Worm Destroyer, a salts of arsenic, has considerable rep- utation and does dissolve in water, but, individually, I have been unable to attain the happy medium of mixture — either the worms are not killed or the cotton is much burnt when applied strong enough to kill. A solution of arsenic known in this section as "Early Bird," and which dilutes readily with water, has the same objection — it has to be made too weak to kill worms or it kills worms and burns cotton at the same time. Hence I find myself compelled to adhere to the Paris green, even when run up to 75 cents per poimd, as was the case in 1873. Have tried sundry other poisons without elfect. Am now having prepared several solutions of Paris green with ammonia for experiment. As the great trouble is that Paris green will not dissolve in water — being only held iu a st£tte of suspension and precipitating so soon as the water ceases to be agitated — the water into which it is put has to be constantly stirred, and the 2-gallon pots from which it is sprinkled have to be constantly shaken violently ; therefore we have been, so far, unable to use any mechanical process of sprinkling. 14. When apjjlicd too strong, say iu greater proportion than 1 pound of green to 40 gal- lons of water, or (5 pounds of green to 200 pounds of flour and land-plaster, the mixture will burn and kill young bolls, forms, and tender leaves, and thus do as much harm as worms. Occasional instances of men being nauseated while mixing the green with flour and plaster, or even Avhile sifting it on the plant, have come to my notice ; but a single dose of the antidote, hydrate oxide of iron, always gave relief. A good many instances occur of men becoming chafed by riding, and the flour mixture and even the water getting on their persons causes soreness, and sometimes swelling of the parts accompainied by an eruption of white pimples ; but this is soon relieved by the use of the antidote externally or an occasional application of sweet oil and sijrinkling of flour. This trouble is prevented by use of oil-cloth aprons and free use of strong soap after working with the mixtures. Mules are sometimes made sore arouud and under the tail and on flanks and shoulders if care is not taken to wash them clean of the flour mixture, which becomes calced iu the hair. 15. I have found the application of Paris green the surest poison for destroying the worm, applied iu the early morning and late evening, mixed with flour and equal parts plaster of Paris and land plaster, 6 pounds green to 200 pounds, carefully and 122 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. thoroughly mixed aud sifted before using, and then sifted on each side of the row- through a No. 24 sifter, aud during the heat of the day when the leaves are dry, f pound to 1 pound green to 40 gallons water, sprinkled on each side of the row with a 2-gallon watering-pot, ordinary sized rose, perforated with holes about the size of a knitting-needle. The drawbacks the cotton-grower has to contend with are many. First, if the worms come early, say about August 1, in sufficient uumbei-s to justify the use of green, the next crop, which comes about September 1, will destroy his crop, besides the work of cultivation is not comoleted. If they do not appear until 1st to 10th of September, he is then compelled to devote his time to picking the crop on sandy lands, aud a loss of a week from this important work results eventually in great loss. If the worm appears in force about the middle of August the planter is then better prepared to destroy them, aud the plant in a better condition to justify the ex- pense ; but often the weather is very showery, aud much of the green is washed off, and the i>lant is partially stripped before the wornis are killed; also, now that Paris green is so extensively used for this purpose, the article is very much adulterated, and while he pays less apparently per xjouud for it, it requires more of it to saqie quantity of flour or water, aud even then it is not so destructive. Our great need is a cheap, soluble poison, which will dissolve thoroughly in water and kill the worm and not burn the cotton. 16. The cost of application, outside of first cost of theParis green, depends upon a good many contingencies — convenience of water, size of cotton plant requiring more or less of the mixture to the acre. Where applied mixed with water and the water is con- venieut, as is generally the case in ihrs parish, it will cost from !|l to l{il.50 per acre. When applied mixed with flour and plaster (by far tlie most efficacious process) it will cost from §1.50, at the lowest, to !|2..50 per acre. The best and surest plan for the cotton-planter to protect himself against the ravages of Cotton Worms is to list up his lauds in December, and verj^ early in January replow, plant early, and force the jilant to maturity by constant, judicious cultivation. This mode costs as much per aero as the application of Paris green, but it is money better spent, as the soil is kept in better plight by such a process. Still, under favorable circumstances, I am a strong advo- cate for the use of Paris green, or any other efficient poison, to kill the worm, and nse the green whenever my crops are threatened with injury by the worms. Very respectfully yours, F. S. SHIELDS. C. V. Riley, Cliief U. S. E. C. Natchitoches, La., Sepiemher 29, 1879. First, in order to answer your questions intelligently, I will give a slight outline of the geographical location aud sittiation of the parish of Natchitoches. It is situate in the northwest part of the State of Louisiana, the greater portion being imme- diately south of the thirty-secoud degree of north latitude, its greatest length being from southeast to northwest. It had a poxDulation, according to the census of 1870, of 18,235. Had iu cultivation last year, or rather iu the previous year (1877), in cotton, 23,80 » acres, and produced 13,949 bales of cottou. The lands arc particularly fertile and productive, yielding the greatest abvtndance of the fruits of the earth Avith a small outlay of labor. As to your questions : 1. I answer only for the parish of Natchitoches, La. Cotton was first planted in this parish about the beginning of this century. 2. The first appearance of the worms iu this locality was in the year 1323, late in the autumnal season, and they did but little damage to the cotton plant. The second time was in the year 1840, doiug again very little damage, aud creating no alarm in the minds of the planters; but when they came again, iuthe year 1844, they did con- siderable damage, causing serious alarm to those engaged in planting, making them ask the question if it would pay to continue the business. By the end of the month of August every leaf was stripped from the plant as if a killiug frost had fallen. appendix: answers to circular. 12a After this, confidence was restored and cotton planted extensively nntil the year 1846, when again the crop was destroyed. The damage was considerable, and the yield lessened at least 25 per cent. After this no particular attention was paid to the worma until after the close of the late war, since which time they have reduced the yield year after year, until they became so destructive as to almost deter planters from engaging in the business. 3. In order to answer this (piestiou intelligently I have obtained the following facts iu regard to the appearance of the worm from the j'ear 1867 up to and including this present year, 1879. Rain for the months of April, May, June, and July: Inches. i-fo- 7^ 20^ lliiS IGi^ Inclu's. 1867 29^ 1874 1868 : ... 18^ 1875 1869 22^% 1876 1870 19^ 1877 1871 21-A- 1878 1872 1879 1873 23M As to the temperature of the months of December, January, February, and March, Dr. F. Johnson says: "As to mean temperature of these same months, the variation is too little to hav(^ any influence on the question before you. Compare your notes ou Caterpillars, and see if yoti can find any mutual connection between temperature, rains, and worms. I do not think there are any satisfactory bonds of connection." Cateri)illars in — 1867. — First appeared about 6th of June; destroyed crop last of July. 1868. — First appeared 1st day of May; destroyed crop 10th of August. 1869. — First appeared 20th of June; destroyed ci-op 20th of August, partially, 1870. — First appeared 20th of Juno; destroyed ei-op 20th of August. 1871. — First appeared l.")th of June ; destroyed crop 20th of August. 1872. — First appeared 20th of June; destroyed crop 20th of August. 1873. — First appeared 10th of June; destroyed crop 1st of August. 1874. — First appeared 20th of June; destroyed crop 20th of August. 1875. — First appeared 20th of June ; destroyed crop 20th of August. 1876. — First appeared 20th of Juno; destroyed crop last of August. 1877. — First ap])eared 20th of June; destroyed crop 20th of August. 1878. — First api>eared 15th of June; destroyed crop 25th of August. 1879. — First appeared 20th of Jiuk^; did not destroy crop. 4. This (piestion is answered by the preceding answer so far as figures can, and from the statistics it appears that weather has no particular influence on them. You will observe that the months of April, May, June, and July, of 1869, were among the wettest of the ca.teri)illar years, yet the crop was only partially destroyed, and for the same months of the year 1876 we had nearlv two-thirds less rain and the crop was destroyed as usual. As to their destruction by the ants, that will be more fully ex- plained later on. Thei)laut during a dry spring is of very slow growth, and may not be able to furnish the necessary j>a7)«7ifw for the life and growth of the worm. This might be accounted one of the causes of a wet year favoring their development, there is more surface and food for them in a wet spring than in a dry one. 5. They have frequently been seen as early as the first days of the month of May,, notably in the year 1868, when they ai)peared in great numbers in some localities, and did considerable damage to the cotton plant. Many ]5lanters were much alarmed at this early appearance, and thought themselves ruined again. The plant was, however, yet young and recovered from the damage, and a pretty good crop was made. 6. Iu the low moist places when the cotton is greenish and more tender. 124 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. 7. The insect undoubtedly passes the winter in the butterfly form, which is the fourth and last stage of their existence. They belong to the species Lepidoptera, and genus Papilio, and are the proceeds of the chrysalides from the caterpillars. They are About seven-eighths of an inch long, of a dark greyish color, not so pronounced on the under side of their wings, with a characteristic dark circular spot ou each wing. The last seen of the caterpillar in the autumnal season, when the crop of cotton is destroyed, is in the form of the chrysalis, for after they eat all of the cotton leaves they proceed to "web up" on any leaf that will afford them protection. This chrysalis jiroduces the butterfly, which immediately prepares for hibernation It is my opinion that they seek winter quarters before they mingle in concourse with the males, hence their eggs are not fertilized until after they come from their torpid state in the spring of the year. They may be seen in the warm days of January, February, or March, near the eves of houses covered with shingles, or in corners of fences made of rails with the bark on them. Just before sunset, after one of these warm days, they Avill come out and fly around. At this time they do not possess the same brilliant colors that they do in spring and summer when they are depositing their eggs, and one not perfectly acquainted with them might mistake them for another species. They therefore pass the winter in the butterfly form, in a semi-torpid condition, yet, strange to remark, enpassant, the first thing seen of them in the spring of the year is the worm itself. 8. First, birds (Aves) of various kinds and conditions feed more or less on them ; among others I will mention the mocking bird {Orpheus polijglottns of LinuiBus). This bird feeds extensively on the Cotton Caterpillar {Aletia argillacea) in the e.arly months of its existence ; but they are not gregarious, hence their work is little api^reciated in this direction, they not being disposed to go in flocks or localize or concentrate their destr u ctiveness. This present year (1879) the Cotton Worms have not developed as rapidly and as numerously as they have done usually heretofore, and among other causes retarding 1 heir progress has been pointed out as their great enemy the red- winged black-bird {Agelwits phceniceus). This bird has been seen in large flocks in the cotton-fields very early this year. These birds have been seen frequenting our fields and forests in great numbers late in the autumnal season, but have never been known here in the months of July and August before. One planter told me that he saw one flock of at least forty thousand in the cotton-field! This number may have been considerably exaggerated, but there is no question that they have been in the cotton -fields during these early months, July and August, in very great quantities, such as have never been seen before. I have been informed that they feed upon the worms in three of their forms, the butter- fly, caterpillar, and chrysalis. These birds should be protected and permitted to build their nests undisturbed by the hunter's shot or idle boy's hand. Many other solitary birds feed upon them, but their work is not appreciated. As to quadrupeds, there are none known, with perhaps the single exception of the raccoon (Frooyon lotor). He has been seen feeding on them, and planters inform me that they have seen the tops of the stalks bent and broken, evidentlv the work of the ■coon in search of the caterpillar. Insects. Ants (family Forniioidce, order Hymenoptera) have always been looked uponj k as one of the most inveterate enemies of the Cotton Caterpillar, destructive to them in all of their four different forms. They will detach the egg from the leaf and bear it off to their formicary; attack and kill the worm either in its active eating state or when under the torpidity of the second or chrysalis state, and if it is possible for them to capture a butterfly it shares the same fate. It may be owing to their inability toj procreate and move about duriug wet weather that the worms are enabled to escape] their depredations. It is a well-known fact that the femahi ant is winged, hence it is| plain to be seen that wet weather will considerably interfere with their proper func-i tional office. The female ants are furnished at their exclusion with two pairs of wings,| which after swarming in concourse with the males they almost immediately cast. The office of the perfect or winged female is to provide a constant supply of eggs for the! maintenance of the population. Rainy weather can therefore keep the female anf m n. ici btl lllfV K IlEil APPENDIX: ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR, 125 "cribbed, cabined, and confined" to lier prison life ; if she is permitted to venture forth it is possible for her to be lost in the storm. The superabundant surface-water remain- ing after heavy rains will greatly impede the active operations of the "neuters," or working ants, whoso office it is to supply and protect the colony. The wasp (Genus Vespa, order Hi/menoptem) attacks the worm, and will carry them olf to feed their young, and should they be so unfortunate as to drop one on the groond, en route the ants will be certain to pick it up. There is a small chinch-bug constantly found on the cotton-plant leaf, which un- doubtedly feeds on the ova or eggs of the butterflies. They are not numerous, how- ever, and are too small and insignificant to do any great amount of damage or interfere materially with the rapid increase of the worms. 9. The only effort ever made in this parish to destroy the butterflies has been by .fires at night. They are easily attracted by the "glitter of a garish flame" at night, and great quantities can be destroyed in this manner. It, however, requires concert of action on the part of a large number of planters, which has never been done. As to attracting them by sugar, &c., it is generally believed that the butterfly does not take nourishment during its short life, or, if it does, the quantity is too small for them to be successfully poisoned. 1 10. They will be attracted only by the lights. I 11. I do not know of any flowers that will attract them. They are not seen on any I other plant than the cotton. ! 12. Nothing. I 13. Nothing. r 14. First, as to the plant : If the mixture is put on too highly concentrated it ■will kill leaves, blooms, and bolls. Second, as to man : When any portion of the cuticle is j abraded and the mixture allowed to get on this particular place it is apt to cause local T Inflammation and inflammation of the neighboring lymphatic glands; no case, however, I to my knowledge has ever been known to result seriously. Third, as to animals: I f I know nothing of any serious accident to them. t 15. The best method yet tried is the application of the Paris green suspended in water, s 1 pound to 40 gallons. The Paris green being the arsenite of copper, it is not soluble y in water, and when the two are mixed the Paris green is only suspended ; hence it is I, necessary to keep the mixture constantly agitated, otherwise some portions will be T stronger than others, and will in that case be apt to injure the plant. The mode of applying it differs according to the means of the planter using the poi- [- son. Many persons make brooms of the Mayweed {Anthemis cotula), which are handy d and very convenient ; others use the common garden watering-pot with the perforated J Qozzle, which is expeditious, efficacious, and at the same time inexpensive. The beat mode yet found is with the fountain-pump ; with this the work can be accomplished le with neatness and dispatch without wetting the clothes of the one applying it. The 16 poison must be applied just after the worms are hatched and begin to crawl, other- le wise it will be too late. It requires careful looking to find the worms at this stage of their existence. Four or five days after the butterfly emerges from the chrysalides )B she begins to lay her eggs, on the under side of the leaf, and after about the same time 0! the eggs begin to hatch ; then look carefully under the leaf in the locality where you ar 3xpected to find them, and almost to a certainty they are there. In order to better or find them every planter should provide himself with a small magnifying glass, which u vrill cost them only about twenty-five cents. This summer I had in my office one leaf to from the cotton plant, and on it there were ten worms and in it at least one thousand pe boles, yet on handing it to several persons they failed to see either caterpillars or holes is until they were pointed out to them. le- By request I received the following letter from one of our largest planters : Natchitoches, La., September 26, 1879. , Dear Sir : In 1876 I experimented with arsenic to destroy caterpillars, with the fol- lowing result : 1st, I took one pound of 16 ounces of commercial arsenic, which cost lilt 126 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. about 25 cents per pound, dissolved it by boiling in 8 gallons of water; after it was dissolved replaced the quantity of water lost by evaporation ; with this 8 gallons I went to work. Ist. Put 2 gallons of the solution in a pork-barrel of water, say 33 gal- lons, sprinkled two rows of cotton ; result of this application was death to both cotton and worms. 2d. I then used H gallons to the barrel of water; same result to the worms, cotton badly scalded. 3d. I then took one gallon of the solution and put it in a barrel of water; this time my solution seemed to be a little too strong, but did no per- ■ceptible injury to the ])lant ; the leaves retained their color except in places. A tourth application of three-quarters of a gallon of the solution to a barrel of water was tried and found of sufficient strength to kill the wopins and not damage the plant. The.se ■experiments were made at the same time Paris green was applied to the balance of the cotton on the plantation, none, however, being used when the arsenic was ap- plied. The rows in which the two last applicatious were made (i. c, 1 gallon and f gallon to the barrel of water), the cotton lived and bloomed about three weeks, at which time the worms destroyed all of the cotton on the plantation. Respectfully, H. B. WALMSLEY. Dr. Geo. E. Gillespie. The Paris green has been sold in this market for $1 per pound, but it can now be bought for from 25 to 35 cents per pound. It is calculated that three-quarters of a pound will poison an acre; however, if the application is made just before a rain, it will be necessary to repeat it. Most planters think that $1 per acre will cover all the necessary expenses. Respectfully, GEO. E. GILLESPIE, M. D. C. V. Riley, Chief U. S. E. C. Jackson, Miss., September — , 1879. In answer to some of the questions of your circular No. 7 : 4. Warm, wet, and cloudy weather favors the appearance and reproduction of the Cotton Caterpillar. 5. Never have known them to appear in the spring when June and July have been wet ; the 1st August is about the earliest period in this locality. 6. In cotton of the largest growth without regard to the situation. 7. Observation has led me to believe that the worm in none of its forms lives through our winters in this locality, and also form an opinion in direct variance with science as taught in the schools. I have attempted to arrest their increase when only a few hadmade their appearance by destroying by hand, but without success; for suddenly, without the possibility of such an increase by rejjroduction, they would api^ear in such numbers as to destroy every leaf in two or three days. Again, in another instance, when no worms were in this neighborhood, four days after a diligent, and careful search, when no sign of them could be found, they suddenly appeared, and in three days not a cotton leaf could be found in my tield except about one acre near the mid- dle of it, which was planted much later than the rest, not a leaf of which they touched, although some of the branches interlocked; but some weeks nfterwards when this patch of cotton had arrived at the same stage of growth it was also stripped of its leaves as the other. In all my observation, the worm when it has exhausted the sup- ply of cotton leaf will eat nothing else, but crawls up on the weeds, ljuslios, and fences, and die. 8. From this experience, connected with the facts of their irregular appearance, and that only under the same conditions of wet, warm, and cloudy weather, which is always unfavorable for a healthy growth of the cotton plant, and that the worm never ap- pears in the spring or early summei', at least, not in such numbers as to be noticed ; its power of quick reproduction ; its total absence from the cotton plant at that time when it could not escape detection ; and the temperature of May and June always high enough for the development of the worm through all its forms, leadsme to believe that the Cotton Caterpillar is the spontaneous production of diseased cotton plants. appendix: AISSWEKS to (J1K(JIjL,AK. 9. All efforts to destroy and stop the progress of the worm when the condition for its appearance and increase is favorable, has proved futile so far as my experience extends in the cultivation of cotton for thirty years. Yours, very respectfully, H. O. DIXOX. Prof. C. V. Riley. Larissa, Cherokee Couxtv, Texas, October 13, 1879. In answer to your 4th inquiry, viz: "Do wet or dry summers favor its multiplica- tion?" I would answer that about ten years ago the Rev. N. A. Davis, now of Jack- sonville, in this county, suggested to me the probability that the small red or brown ant, abundant in the South, was the natural enemy of the Cotton Worm and especially effective during dry summers. After two summers' observation, I was convinced of the truth of the reverend gentleman's conclusions. His opinion and two years' obser- vation induced me to write the following to one of our county papers : THE COTTON WORM (1871). " The danger from the Cotton Worm is now over and we may review the history of its depredations during the summer. Ouly a few farmers have suffered save in the anxiety which they have felt during the maturation of their crops. If yon recollect, the worm was worse during the few weeks following the rainy season ; and as the dry season since advanced, the worm gradually receded and the hopes of the farmer revived. The first generation of these troublesome insects appeared to have taken place in the wettest lands early in the spring, and it was about the second generation that menaced the crops. Wet weather favors the increase of the worm and dry weather soon destroys it. This observation has been made by many fanners long ago. A similar observation has long since been made in regard to the Cott(m Louse. Early in the spring (when the cotton is in its first and second leaf), if the weather is rainy, the louse soon covers the tender cotton jilant and threatens to destroy it. But when the dry season sujjervcnes the little insect disappears, and the plant soon recovers from the mischief. To what shall we attribute the disappearance of the insect in both cases ? It. is evidently due to that little iiredatory and almost omnipotent ant which retreats to its hole and gathers in large bunches in dry places during the rainy sea- sous; but whenever the drought sets in, it climbs the stalk of every plant in search of prey. It is carnivorous and deals death and destruction among insects in the crawl- ing stage of existence wherever it goes. When the Cotton Louse multijjlies danger- ously on the tender i»lant, favored by a rainy season, the farmer loses all hope of his crop unless the dry weather comes and the little ant begins to milk the cows (the lice ai'e called " ant cows ") by climbing up to them and striking them with their hands? and eating a fluid, which is made to exude from them, by the concussion. This process soon destroys them. Then, at a later season, especially if the ant is driven to its shel- ter by rains, the Cotton Worm, having increased to a dangerous extent, threatens the more mature plant. Again the same ant, when the sunshine permits, saves the cotton by climbing the stems and seizing the flouncing worm, cuts it into two on the ground, to which both ha ve fallen in the struggle, and thus in a very short time it thinned out the worm, either destroying or holding it in abeyance. " The historj^ of these two enemies of cotton growers accords with the experience of observers. The dry weather, 2)er se, does not save the cotton from louse or worm in the former or latter season only as it permits the jiredatory ants to destroy them ; nor does the wet weather favor the production of the insect only as it drives the ants to their holes. Were it not for the ant the cotton plant would never make the first limb, or, escaping this, could not mature a single boU on account of its second enemy, the worms. 128 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. "Then let us curse the little biting ant no more when ■we happen to get a shoe full, but remember that we are indebted to this diminutive creature for every tliread of cotton that has gone into the commerce of the world." Thus you see that about ten years ago the Rev. N. A. Davis informs me of his dis- covery of the destruction of the Cotton Worm by the ant ; to which I have added the additional fact of its destruction of the Cotton Louse earlier in the season by the same ant. The observation of each succeeding year since that time has confirmed me in the opinion, and our last summer, the driest I ever saw, yielded no specimens of the worm or louse within my observation. Please obtain the technical name of inclosed ant. Yours, respectfully, F. L. YOAKUM. Prof. C. V. Riley. Perry County, Alabama, Sepiember 17, 1879. I beg leave to offer the following, in answer to your questions in regard to the hab- its of the Cotton Worm, and the best modes of destroying the same : 1. I can remember seeing cotton grown as far back as 1820 in Autauga County, Ala- bama. Since 1822 I have been cultivating the plant in Perry County on sandy land. 2. In 1837, about the middle of September, was the earliest I ever saw them. No damage of any consequence afterwards until 1866. 3. In my opinion, the worms are worse after a severe winter. I suppose it is be- cause they come out oftener during mild winters and are consumed by the birds. 4. Hot, dry weather seems to be the life of them. 5. The 20th June is the earliest I have noticed them, but doing no serious damage until 20th July. 6. They invariably make their appearance first in the low, black lands of West Perry County. 7. They hide themselves in old bams and rotten trees during the winter, coming out in the afternoon of warm days. 8. The appearance of the worm does not seem to attract any kinds of birds to our fields but all domestic fowls devour them ravenously, as do also hogs and ants. 9. There has been no method adopted for destroying the moth successfully. 10. They are attracted in larger numbers by decayed fruit of almost any kind than by anything I know of (during night). 13. Paris green seems to be the most reliable mode of destroying them, though some of my neighbors have used Loudon purple with good effect. 14. It is dangerous to men, animals, and cotton when used with indiscretion. 1.5. I have used kerosene oil, one part to thirty parts of water, effectually, and spirits of turijentine will do about as well. I believe pine sawdust sown lightly with the seed would be a preventive. Yours, &o., O. H. PERRY. Prof. C. V. Riley. Walterborough, Colleton Coxtntt, South Carolina, September 28, 1879. I mail you this day my report, as requested by you in circular No. 7, This report is not as full as one I made last year to the department, but what I have said is founded on experience and close observation of the Cotton Worm for years. Trusting that it may be of some use in your department, I am, very respectfullv, yours, &c., JAMES W. GRACE. C. V. Riley, Chief U. S. E. C. APPENDIX: ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. . 129 1. Cannot state from any reliable authority, but cotton was grown soon after the settlement of the county for domestic purposes. 2. As early as 1791? the worm swept over the State, but it is first recorded in this district in 1800 as prevailing generally. 3. The worm is most to be dreaded after a mild, warm winter. He will make ^is appearance sooner in the following season. 4 Wet summers Ijy all means favor its multiplication. 5. First of June. C. In wet, low sjiots where the plant grows luxuriant, the plant being succulent, soft, and pulpy. 7. Ibelievethatitisa peculiar parasite of the cotton-ijlant, and as such that the cryptic germ of the insect is to be found with the germ of the plant itself, and, like all parasites, only requires favorable circumstances to develop it ; a soft, pulpy, and luxuriant state of the plant, with cool and cloudy weather at the time of its natural advent — that is to say, from early in June to middle of July — will cause it to develop vigorously and bud rapidly, so as to produce seasons ; whereas dry June and hot weather, causing a hard, dry state of the leaves and mature condition of plants, furnishing but little and poor food, will result in a iioor and a feeble brood, too inactive to do harm. This theory is borne out by the following facts: The Cotton Worm is found everywhere on the globe where cotton is ])lanted, and only found on the cotton-plant. The worm will starve if the cotton-plant fails, tliongh other vegetation abounds. When the plant is pushed on so as to grow and matai-e rapidly, the leaves being hard and dry in June, as was ixsual before the war, we hear nothing of the worm ; but when cultivation is bad, the plant backward, and when June, the time of its natural development, comes, the worm finds the cotton (as since the war) green, sappy, soft, then does it rejoice in wholesome food, increase rapidly, multiply, and make itself a scourge. I do not believe that the worm is migratory and returns to us from a warmer climate every year, for it can be found every year in small numbers if sought. I cannot admit this view, as I have seen it 300 miles from the coast at an elevation of 1,500 feet, in tha northwestern corner of this State, in the month of June, and oliserved it there till the fields in August were toally destroyed. How could I believe tliat it got there by migra- tion or was carried by currents of air ? Nor can I believe that it hibernates around, as under old fences, on the south side of stumps, &c., as, first, our winters are too severe to render such a supposition plausible; and, again, since the late war, no fences exist to give such shelter on the islands of our coast, where the worm most ])re vails, and the universal fires that. pass everj^ fall over woodland and clearings would effectually destroy any moths or chrysolids. Therefore it is clear to my mind that it is a jieculiar parasite of the cotton-plant, and the cryptic germ of the insect is to be found with the germ of the pla;it itself. Last year I nuxde a very full report of this matter, a ul am sorry to learn that it was made no use of, and ])r()l)ably consignid to tli^; pai)er-:jiill without being read. 8. Most all binls, sueli as tlie mockingbiid and others, seem to be fond of the worm. 9. Paris green is tlu; only thing that I have seen used, except fire-stands about the field. The latter is useless. Paris greeu is good, and the only thing I know of that will destroy them. 10. I should say near fire-stands. i 11. I don't know of any. 12. Nothing. 13. There has nothing been found better than the Paris-green to destroy the worm. 14. I have not. With care there is no danger to man or beast. 15. Good cultivation. Push the plant early in the season. 16. The cost of keeping a good man and paying and feeding good hoe-hand, and this is the best means, and the cost is not very much. 9 RI 130 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. jAMESTOwis, Alachua County, Florida, September IC, 1879. In answer to your circular questions, tlie following is respectfully submitted: 3. The worm is most dreaded after mild winters. 4. Mucli rain in June and July seems to favor tlieir development; but the character of the raius in those months in this section are short but frequent showers, with bright sunshine between showers. The writer has come to the conclusion from some observation that continued cloudy days are iiufavorable to the development of the worm, and these reasons are given : Continued cloudy days are unfavorable to the hatching of the eggs; the sunshine seems to be needed with its greater heat. In cloudy weather the flies or moths will be on the wing throughout all hours of the day, thereby giving the birds and mosquito-hawks better opportunities to catch them. In such weather the worms stay on the top side of the leaves throughput the day, and consequently are more readily seen and caught by their enemies ; while in hot, fair weather the moth is concealed during the day, and does its worls; in the twilight and at night, when the birds and other enemies are at rest. The worms, too, of the first crops seem to work or eat only in early and late parts of the day, and probably at night ; generally from 8 or 9 o'clock a. m. till 4 or 5 o'clock p. m. they will b'e found quiet on the under side of the leaves. It is the belief of the wiiter that continued rains, with cloudy days, are unfavorable to the increase of the worm; cloudy days, even without rain, are unfavorable. 5. Have never seen the worm earlier than June. 6. Generally is seen first in moist, rich spots, where the cotton grows rapidly. 7. Have seen the moths at various times during the winter as "candle-flies." Sup- pose that those worms that come to maturity when winter is approaching, by instinct seek some place protected from cold, and, if not disturbed, might remain in chrysalis till the proper amount of heat would develop them into the moths. Those that are badly or slightly protected from cold may either be frozen by cold weather or warmed into life by a few warm days, while those that are properly protected, which probably are but few, will pass through the vmiter, and be revived only by the hot siin of May or June. 8. Almost all domestic fowls will eat the worm. Geese will eat them to some extent, while chickens, turkeys, guinea-fowls will grow fat on them. Almost all wild birds ■will eat them, and a large wasp, both black and red varieties, seem to be fond of the worm. In this section there are great numbers of a lace-winged fly, commonly called mosquito-hawks. These are of various sizes and colors, and are very expert in catch- ing the moth on the wing. I believe this mosquito-hawk is very influential in pre- venting the progress of the worm. While on this question I would like to state that it is my opinion that much good could be accomplished, and probably many fields might be saved, if birds that are insectiverous could be domiciled in the field. From what I have heard of the Eng- lish sparrow it occurs to me that this would 'he the bird for the purpose. If bird- houses are located in various parts of the field, the birds would naturally hunt for insects near their homes, and the consequence, I think, would be that in all cotton- fields well supplied with these birds, the caterpillar would be kept down. If the English sparrow can be domiciled, that is, ■jvill stick to its house and feed around, it • could be made of great benefit to the cotton region. The suggestion is offered for your consideration. Very respectfully, F. M. McMEEKIN. , C. V. EiLEY, Chief U. S. E. C. APPENDIX: ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 131 Sax Antoxio, Tex., Sfpiemhcr 11, 1879. I shall not answer your questions as I flud them in the Herald of this city, for I pre- sume there will be plenty of answers for you. My object is to state a fact bearing on the Cottoa Worm. I planted cotton in the State of Nueva Leon, Mexico, five leagues below the city of Monterey, in 1867. Cotton had never been planted at the place, nor nearer than 200 miles to it iu this world's history. I brought the seed from San Antonio, Tex., the ordinary Petit Gulf seed. The genuine Cotton Caterpillar ap- peared in the last days of May, and by the end of June ate up the crop. In the city of Monterey, at the same time, I planted in my garden (a large one) two patches of cotton — ouc the Texas si^ed, the other the black seed of the Sea Island genus, that is generally planted in Mexico. The distance between the two patches was, say, 200 yards. I received a note from my partner at the hacienda below Monterey, about ten o'clock in the morning, telling me that ho had discovered the worm in the cotton ■field. I at the moment passed into my garden aud found the vform in hoih patches. Now, the question is, where did they came from? The egg or germ could not have been in the seed, as the butterfly cannot reach the seed to lay her eggs, aud the giu would have destroyed them. I assert that they could not have been blown there, or have remained deposited in the earth from the creation thereof ; yet they came. The weather was showery, hot, sultry, aud between showers a hot sun. I liave planted cot- ton all my life ; have noticed the worm, and have always found them to come after such weather as I describe. When you walk between the rows after a sliow(!r, and a sort of hot steam vapor comes up, then look out for the butterlly. I also planted cotton in the Lagiiua, or Rio Nazas country, in the; State of Duraugo, Mexico, in 187;?-'74- 75-76, where we plant the black seed but once in five or seven years; as a general thing the same Cotton Worm to which I have been accustomed in Texas, came every year; but, as there is but little rain there, they seldom come before September, and too late to do much harm. Scientists say there is no original creation possible now; that all things of this world had their beginning when it was made; but I believe that the atmosphere created the germ right there. When I was a boy there were no cotton worms; now they never fail. These are points to which you are devoting your time, and so fraught are they with the interests of our people, that all will wish to aid you as they can; and I write this to state a fact, but which I know will add to your difficulty. Respectfully, H. P. BEE, Prof. C. V. Riley, Chief U. S. E. C. San Antonio, Tex., September 29, 1879. You do not agree with my theory, but it will bother you to find out where the Cot- ton Worm came from, under the circumstances, as stated in my previous letter. There is no cotton growing wild in the part of Mexico wliere I resided, as there are heavy frosts there every winter; in the tropical region of the State of Vera Cruz, and to the south, large crops of cotton are raised, but I never saw a wild cotton plant. The consul at Vera Cruz could, I have no doubt, give you an interesting account of the cotton plant iu his section. I know that in the neighborhood of Paso del Macho, on the Vera Cruz Railroad, the cotton is bent down so as to stand the storms, and consequently the jilant grows horizontally instead of perpendicular, and presents a curious appearance when ready to pick. Some years ago there were large fields of cotton in the State of Coahuila, in the district of Monclova, but although admirably adapted to the production, the Cotton ' Worm from successive visitations entirely broke up the business, and now no cotton is planted in that State. I planted cotton for four years on the Rio Nazas, or Laguna Country, in the State of 132 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES Diirango. This is the JNT7e of America. The Nazas rises periodically (always once a year, sometimes ofteuer), and overtlows a vast extent of country, a bold, clear, mount- ain stream, 200 miles long, finally emerges from the mountains into an immense plain. The banks become lower as the river descends, until by many mouths it winds its way into the lake or laguna, a body of water 90 miles long and 35 wide, with no out- let— a great body of fresh water on an elevation of, say, :{,000 feet, in the midst of a great dry desert. The water of the lake is not utilized, as the soil on its banks is poor, no alluvial deposit or growth denoting original formation, but rather that the lake had been produced there by some convulsion of nature, as, if it were the original deposit of the waters of this great river, there vrould be swamps and sluices and timber denoting that fact, as the mouths of the Red River and other streams in Texas and Louisiana. The haciendas of the laguna begin where the River Nazas emerges from the mountains, and is utilized bydauis and canals and ditches, by which the overflow is restrained and the lands irrigated. This irrigation is seldom used more than once* a year, as the extraordiuarj' character of the alluvion deposit of centuries retains moist- ure sufficient to produce crops for two years if necessary. (It seldom rains, and rain is not depended on at all for crops. ) Cotton is planted once in seven years ; is planted with a hoe. A hole is dug from 12 to 18 inches deep, to the moisture, the seed deposited, and that is the start, which is expensive, but there is no other way, as the moisture is too low down to be reached by a plow. The cultivation is as with us : Frosts kill the plants, the stalks are cleared off and burned, and in the early spring with the budding of the peach tree the cotton sprouts, and gives you a start of three or four weeks over seed just planted. The "Planta" gives the best yield the third year; gives less, but a good crop, the fourth and tifth ; and then produces as in the tirst and second years. The seed planted is the hiack seed, like the Sea Island and Egyptian; staple long and fine. The green seed, or American cotton seed, yields the first year better than the black seed will on the third year, but as that seed will not ratoou or grow again from the roots, and the expense of planting is so great, it is not generally used. Cotton produces a bale to the acre ; corn and wheat, most extraordinary crops in these rich alluvials. Cotton is planted at Santa Rosalie, in the State of Chihuahua, but not to a great extent ; the climate is most too cold. This gives you all the information I have about the cotton region. With the exception of the Nazas and the Santa Rosalie, no cotton is grown in Mexico, except in the tropical regions of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as the rest of Mexico is generally table-land, with an altitude of from 3,000 to 7,000 feet, and a temperature too low for delicate vegetation There is a mountain in the center of this vast alluvial plain of the Laguna. In caves in this mountain are to-day the bodies of an extinct race of Indians, of whose existence in this plain there is no history extant. The bodies or mummies I have seen; they are wrapped in a species of cloth or matting made from the maguez, painted, and all in good preservation; the skin has dried, the hair is perfect ; all in wonderful preservation. No iron, gold, silver, or other metal has been found in the cave. Pottery ware, of the same shape as the pictures we see of the old Egyptians, arrow-heads, and spear-heads of flint. It really is remarkable, and induces the belief that some sudden overflow of the river submerged the plain and drowned all the people ; they were evidently used to high water, as they buried their dead in the caves of the high mountains. There are thousands of mummies in these caves. Excuse this long letter. Yours, respectfully, H. P. BEE. Prof. C. V. RiiEY, Chief U. S. E. C. APPENDIX: ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 133 KiRKWOOD, Miss., Sepiemher 5, 1879. 1. The cultivation of cotton, I am informed, was coeval with the settlement of the country. I settled here in 1845 and found cotton cultivated all over the county. 2. The boll worm has been an annual visitor since the first cotton was planted, destroying more or less, according to the character of the season. Though I had heard of the visitation of Alctia previously, I first observed it in 1858, though it did but little damage to crops that year. 3. It is more dreaded after a mild winter, but its visitations do not seem to be influenced more by one than the other; that is, they are as often seen after one as the other. 4. Cannot say that a wet season favors its multiplication. They are never developed during hard rains or continued wot spells. Their propagation seems to depend upon showery weather creating atmospheric dampness, and a high mean temperature. Dry weather is unfavorable to their production or increase. 5. The last week in July is the earliest period. Have often found, what is here called the grass worm, as early as May, eating both grass and cotton. 6. Its first appearance, in my observation, is along hillsides, where moisture is retained, and hollow spots on upland, just where in plowing after a season the plow encounters the wettest soil ; such spots as generally produce the most luxuriant cotton. 7. About the middle of last November, and after several severe frosts, I found many chrysalides, of the last brood, on bare cotton stalks, living and lively. I placed these with otbers, previously brought in, in glass jars and boxes with earth and rubbish, exposed to outer air. Between the 15th and 20th of January, after a severe freeze of several days' continuance in December and January, a number of living moths came forth, in a warm spell then jirevailing, but soon died. On the 6th of February the whole lot of chrysalids were then examined, when many were found to be dead and dried up, others again looking plump, which were inadvertently thrown away, and from the cases of others several varieties of living ichneumon flies were taken alive. One of them filling the case, and of normal size, was sent to Professor Riley and pronounced by him to be "Pimpla conquisitor," a parasite of AleUa. My impression now is that had they been left undisturbed the living moths would have issued forth this spring from a few. I do not think the moth can survive the winter, as in its natural state and in con- finement it is so short-lived in the summer, and my conclusion is that though it may be retarded in its transformations in our climate by cool weather, it was not designed by nature to hibernate in any of its phases, but is the creatui'e of a semi-tropical cli- mate, where it is perennial and com])]etes the cycle of its existence uninterruptedly. It has followed cotton, its favorite food, into our temperate climate, has become in- digenous, but has been subjected to abnormal changes, and only appears in large num- bers during those periods when our climate assumes for a time a semi-tropical aspect. Many of the moths leave their cases hate in the fall, and many eggs as well as chrys- alides are caught by the frost upon the cotton stalks and must necessarily f:ill to the ground with the detritus of the planr, and where there is much vegetable matter, as is the case in our fresh lands, and from the decomposition going on, would be well ^ protected against frost. What goes with the moth, unless it dies, is a mystery, as I have riinnnaged everywhere without success, and iu spite of rewards offered can hear of none from one season to the next. The general opinion is that they die out. As the egg of the Aphis, a much more insignificant insect, but one greatly afiecting cotton, is known to survive the winter, by analogy I do not see why the egg of Aletia may not likewise survive. The one. Aphis, is deposited on the stalk, and the other, Aletia, on the leaf; both go to the ground. Aphis appears almost coetaueously with cotton under its appropriate law, and why may not AleUa appear later from its ovum under its appropriate law? 8. Starling and a species of gregarious blackbird ; ichneumon flies, and also a small, velvety-looking caterpillar, black, with two lateral yellow stripes. 9. Poisoned sweets near lights for the destruction of the moths were tried here many 134 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. years ago, and with some success. It was soon abandoned on account of the time and trouble, as well as expense, and has never been repeated. A moth-lamp attracted attention a few years since about Canton, but that, too, has flickered out. 10. Light would prove far more attractive than the sweet. 11. I know of no flower which attracts them. 12. Nothing. 15. As we usually, in fact invariably, see the worm before we see or hear of the moth, the aim would be to destroy the second brood, and this could be best done by putting out lights and sweetened poisons to attract the moths. I will here reiterate what has been submitted in previous correspondence, that the propagation of the worms in destructive numbers is the result of imprudent tillage, and that by i^lowing wet laud we hasten their production by an artificial process which good husbandry would teach us to avoid. He who will run his plows only when his lands are in good tilth, and the work will prove advantageous to the plant cultivated, wiU never have his cotton injured by the invasion of the Cotton Worm. I deem it unneces- sary to go into detail, as my theory and jjlans have been elaborated in previous corres- pondence. I have the honor to be, yours, respectfully, E. H. ANDERSON. Prof. C. V. Riley, Cliief U. S. E. C. [Dr. Anderson's theory, referred to in the above report, and asset forth in an exten- sive correspondence, may be thus stated : In 1858, in the month of July, on visiting his cotton field early in the morning, he found his overseer running a number of plows on a hill side adjoining bottom land, where the soil was wet. He ordered the plows to be 8top])ed, believing that the work would fire the cotton and cause it to shed, and perhaps injure the land by baking the wet sod in the hot sun. In ten days the worm was discovered in the cotton, and in twenty days there was not a leaf or young boll to be found upon it, and what especially surprised him was that the worms did not touch adjoining cotton or cross the plowed furrows. Since that time he has often witnessed a similar occurreuce, and others have had a like experience, so that he gradually came to consider that there was cause and efffect. He made experiments which seemed to confirm that belief, and finally reached the conclusion that, either the moth, unobserved, had deposited her eggs upon the stocks, or the eggs of the pre- vious season had fallen to the ground with the leaf of the plant and, being protected by the detritus, had survived the winter. To nse his own language: "Under ordinary circumstances, from the albuminous nature of the egg, it would be affected by heat and moisture naturally ; that is', by solar action on rain and dew, creating vapor, which quickens it into life, by inducing fermentation and putrefaction, without which no egg could be hatched and no germ vivified. Under the influence of cold these chemical forces would be dormant, and the embryo or germ would re- main quiescent. The necessary atmospheric conditions do not recur annuallj^ for the speedy propagation of the Anomis, and hence we do not have theni in destructive numbers excei^t in propitious seasons. * * * It is a fact, patent to all practical farmers, that, if their land is plowed while wet or too wet for good tilth, the corn or the cotton, as the case may be, is injured thereby — fired, as it is termed; the corn turning yellow and being arrested in its growth, while the cotton sheds its leaves and droops. Why is this? I should say because the clod is exposed to rapid solar evapo- ration, and the hot steam damages the jilauts, through its respiratory, and impedes the normal functions of all of its organs by disturbing the healthy equilibrium of the air. That an abnormal degree of heat is j)roduced by this ju'ocess is proved by the applica- tion of the thermometer, as I know by experiment; and every farmer knows that the hottest and most oppressive work is plowing wet land under a hot sun." It cannot need proof to show that when by plowing you disturb the capillarity of the earth while damp, abnormal heat is produced by the more rapid evaijoration of the upheaved soil. This is as certainly true as that a shower, by restoring or re-establishing capil- larity, will cool down the earth. APPENDIX: ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 135 "Now, my theory is that the damp artificial heat produced by the process of jjlov/in^ ■wet land is the most favorable of all conditions for hatching speedily the eggs of the insects, and especially when yon add to this the extrication of ammoniacal gases, which under such circumstances must be more abundantly evolved. This I hold to be thesolution of themysteryof speedy generation in the wetter portion of cotton fields." Tile ])lan of prevention Dr. Anderson pi-oposes on this theory is, never run the plow in May and June south of his latitude, or in July and August farther north, when the land is wet and not in good condition for plowing. If there are frequent rains, he l)pl)ev('S it matters little wlien or how the plowing is done ; "for so long as the rain continues, the necessary physical conditions cannot be produced — shower succeeding shower in rapid succession keeps the temperature of both air Jind earth cooled down and is inimical to the worm. When, however, showers at longer intervals occur, and the temperature is high, and the plowing produces rapid evaporation, and the plow- man, reeking with sweat, pants for a breath of pure, dry, fresh air, then the Anomis, nurtured into life by its genial surroundings, commences its revels, and in a short while the luxuriant cotton is converted into bare and blackened stocks." "You must uiake cotton as you mak() hay; that is, while the sun shines. The dili- gent farmer who keejjs even with his work can always afford, without detriment to his crop, to let his plows rest until he can do good work; but if plow you must, to kill grass and the rain wont stop, throw your furrows into the middle of your rows and not to your cotton, as by this process the danger of developing the worm is less, and no injury is done to your plant." Dr. Anderson, nevertheless, admits that " a few of the insects are annually hatched by a natural x>rocess; enough to perpetuate the species." A similar theory to this one of Dr. Anderson's is held by a number of planters, founded, of course, on the observed influence of soil and weather on the development of the worm ; but in so far as any such theory implies the hibernation of the egg, or the spontaneous generation of the insect, or in so far as it departs from the reasoning on pages 18-19 of this Bulletin, I be- lieve it to be fallacious.] [The following condensed summary of the habits of the worm is from that excellent observer Dr. D. L. Phares, of Woodville, Miss. :] "The caterpillar generally makes its first appearance at or about the same spot in a field year after year, partially or wholly denuding a few square rods or an acre or two. That is the first appearance generally noticed by planters. Close observers find a few earlier, and only a few leaves nibbled on only a stalk or two of cotton. In due time the moths from this first, or rather second, brood deposit their eggs in all parts of the field when the foliage is in right condition for feeding the young. In a few days more all parts of the field are stripped simultaneously, that is, so far as eaten at all. This when the destruction is early. When broods are smaller, the successive generations appear for three, five, and even seven months. "They are not Army "Worms. They usually hatch and pass through all transforma- tions on the same plant on which the egg is deposited. If accidentally thrown off, they return to the plant when practicable. Sometimes violent storms of wind and rain sweep nearly all off and wash them up in vast heaps against fences, &c., where they putrefy. Dry, hot sunshine seems to destroy them in all stages ; and sometimes, under such conditions, they abandon the partially denuded plants and move in im- mense masses from the field ; not so often, it seems to me, for other food, as to escape the intense heat. Under such conditions one rarely ever ascends another cotton plant. Their march is to death. If a road be in the way and dusty, and still worse sandy or gravelly, few succeed in passing the barrier. The exposed hot ground kills them, and sometimes we have seen them in the road-side ditches several inches deep, in- fecting the air with putrefactive stench. 136 THE COTTON WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. "Another point : If the moth deposits no eggs in any part of a field, no caterpillars will attack that part. She knows evidently where the j'oung can subsist and where not, and she deposits her eggs accordingly. If the plant is in condition to feed the moth, I suppose it is in condition to hatch and feed the young. Little or no diifer- ence is perceptible by the common planter in the condition of the plant on two sides of a line that may divide an injured and uninjured field. A little distance from the line the diflference is not perceptible. The plant is not so tender. Its chemical and mechanical condition both unfit it for the food of the caterpillar ; therefore the moth deposits no eggs on it, nor will the caterpillars if placed on it eat it. This is specially and annually noticed on rolling or undulating lands, and sometimes on lands to the eye aijparently level. This is my fortieth crop on the lands where I reside, and in no year has my whole crop been eaten off. The crops are often destroyed in Madison County and other points north as well as south of me before any damage is done here by the caterpillar. This dei^ends on condition of plant." IISTDEX. Abutilon, 12 Aceratodes comutxis, 36 acrea, Spilosoma, 11 Action of ruotli, 29 Activity displayed in inventing macMnea for pois- oning worms, 54 adonidum, Dactylopius, 10 Advantages in using poison in powder form, 35 Aegialitis vodfera, 32 AfQeok, Thomas, early writings of, on cotton in- sects, 2 AgelcBus phoeniceus, 32 Agonoderus, 35 Alcoholic extract of Pyrethrum powder, 64 Aletia, 7, 9, 10, 11, 25, 26, 27 Aletia argillacea, 7, 9, 10, 25 Aletia affected by dryness, 21 destroyed by storms, 21 chrysalis of, 12 Dipterous enemies of, 36 egg of, 9 fed upon by birds, 32 fed upon by insects, 33 first description of, 8 Heteropterous enemies of^ 36 hibei nation of, 24 Hymenopterous enemies of^ 34 imago of, 13 infested by Ichneumon-flies, 44 infested by parasites, 38 infested by Tachina-fly, 40 invertebrate enemies of, 33 larva of, 10 natural enemies of, 31 parasites of, 38 sexual differences of, 14 vei tebrates enemies of, 32 aletice, Tacldna, 40 Aleurodes, 10 Aleurodid, egg of, infested by li-ichogramtna, 39 Allen Duster, the, 81 Ambrosia trifida, 67 americana, Olisiocampa, 45 americanus, Coccygus, 32 Anasa armigera, 36 Anderson, E. H., answers to circular, 133 experiments on hibernation, 24 theory of origin of worma, 24, 134 Anisodaetylus, 35 annulicornis, Pimpla, 44 annulipes, Pimpla, 40 Anomis, 9, 134, 135 exacta, 10 Anthocoridce, 36 Antidote for Paris green poison, 56 Ant-lions, 37 Ants, connection of, with Aletia, 23 important as enemies of Aletia, 34 little attracted by the glands, 34 protection of, 34 Apatura herse, 43 lycaon, 43 Aphelogenia /areata, 35 Aphides, 10, 34 connection of, with Aletia, 23 Apple blossoms, 15 pomace, fed on by moth, 15 Apples, fed on by moth, 15 Apple "Worm, 46 Appropriation made to Department of Agricul- ture, 1 Apiomerus crassipes, 36. Arachnidce, 33 archippus, Danais, 29, 69 argillacea, Aletia, 7, 9, 10, 25 armigera, Anasa, 36 Heliothis, 12, 20, 101 Army Worm, 8 Arseniate of soda, 59, 60 Arsenic, 57, 58 Arsenical compounds, 55, 58 importance of, 55 substitutes for, 56 poisons, writers against use of, 55 Arsenic, applied in liquid form, 59 applied in powder form, 59 commert^ial, 58, 59 disadvantages of, 58 patent on, 59 price of, 59 Arsenious acid, 59 Asilidce, 36 Asilus, 37 Aspila virescens, 25 habits of, 25 larva of, 25 asterias, Papilio, 69 Atlanta Constitution, 15 atomaris. Phoberia, 27 atripes, Galerita, 35 atropivora. Senometopia, 41 Attacus eecropia, 47 polyphemus, 47 promethea, 46 aubletia. Verbena, 15 azedarach, Melia, 67 B. Bag Worm, 45 Bailey, Judge J. F., 15 Banalys, 44 137 138 INDEX. Bats devouring moths, 32 Bee, H. P., answers to circular. 131 Beer-mash, 68 experiments ■with, 69 iellicosa, Polistes, 35 Belvoigia bifasciata, 41, 42 larva of, 42 puparium of, 42 bifaseiata, Belvoisia, 41. 42 Binliley Atomizer, the, 90, 91 Lamp, the, 102 Birds feeding upon Aletia, 32 Blackthorn, blossoms of, 15 Bluebird, 32 Blue-jay, 32 BoU Worm, 12, 13, 14, 26, 101 Bombyx, 45 Brachinus, 35 Brushing-machines, substitute for, 54 Brushing off the worms, 49, 50 Buhach, 63 Burnett, "W. I., theory of immigration of moth, 28. C. Oallida decora, 35 Canker-worms, 38, 61 Oaloptenus differentialis, 39 infested by Sareophaga, 39 Capers, C. W., letter to, by Say, 8 capitatmn, Croton, 67 capsidaris, Corchorus,iQ Garabidoe, 35 Carbolic acid, 67 effects of, on Aletia, 67 Cardinal Grosbeak, 32 Cardinalis virginianus, 32 carnaria, Sareophaga, 40 carneum, Pyrethrum, 62 Carolina Mantis, 37 Carolina, Mantis, 37 Tetracha, 35 carolinense, Solanum, 67 carolinensis. Cerams, 15 Oarpocapsa pomonella, 4C Case-bearing Bombycid moth, 45 Cassia occidentalis, 67 Caterpillar, 8 Caustic soda, 59 cecropia, Attacus, 47 Oerasus carolinensis, 15 cerevisice, Saccharonyces, 69 Ohaleidid(e,42,'li Ohalcis ovata, 43 larva of, 43 pupa of, 43 Characters of the insect, 9 moth, 14 Ohauliognathus pensylvanicus, 35 Chenille, 8 Chickasaw plum, blossoms of, 15 China tree, 67 Chinese quince, blossoms of, 15 Chisbolm, Robert, 28 Ohordeiles, 33 Chrysalis, cremaster of, 13 distinguishing traits of, 13 Chrysalis, the, 12 Ohrysopa, 10, 37 eggs of, 37 larva of, 37 Oicindela, 35 circumpicta, 35 Oicindela, 35 eineraricefolium, Pyrethrum, 62, 63 cinerea, Stennpoda, 36 Circular relating to Cotton "Worm, 1 circumpicta, Oicindela, 35 Oirrospilus, 42 esurus, 43 Oitheronia regalis, 41 Clarke, P. S., answers to circular, 115 Classification of cotton belt, 3 Olisiocampa americana, 45 Olivina, 35 Cobalt, 57 OocdnellidcB, 10, 35 Ooccygus americanus, 32 Cocklebur, 67 Coffee Weed, 67 Coleopterous enemies of Aletia^36 OoUops quadrimaculatus, 35 Commercial arsenic, 58, 59 eommutata, Jpomea, 12 Compounds of arsenic, 58 . Comstock, J. H., completes work done in Depaxt- ment of Agriculture, 2 Concerted action in destroying the moth, 100 poisoning worms, 54 concinnata, Tachina, 42 Condition of plant connected with first appear- ance of worms, 18 conquisitor, Oryptus, 44 Pimpla, 25, 44, 45, 46 Contrivances for mixing poison, 74 dusting poison, 74 spraying, 81 sprinkling, 81 Convergent Ladybird, 35 Copper, sulphate of, 59 Oorchorus capsularis, 49 cornutum, Solanum, 67 comutus, Aceratodes, 36 Cotton belt, classification of, 3 southern portion of, defined, 4 Caterpillar, 8 cultivation in Me.xico, 131, 132 insects, early writings on, 2 Moth, 8, 9, 14 plant eaten to the ground, 23 seed meal, 57 oil, 66, 97 effects of, on worms, 66 experiments with, 66 Worm, 7 circular relating to the, 1 full-grown, 11 losses occasioned by, 7 newly hatched, 10 Cow-pea, 15 crassipes, Apiomerus, 36 Cremaster of Aletia clirysalis, 13 crenatus, Loxandrus, 35 139 erUtatm, Cyanurus, 32 Prionotus, 36 Oroton capitatum, 67 glandnloi-um, 67 lindheimerii, 67 monanthoginum, 67 texanum, 67 Oryptus conquisitor, 44 extrematis, 47 iiuncius, 46, 47 pJeuriwiftctMS, 44 samice, 47 Cuckoo, 32 eiistalor, Thyanta, 36 Cyanide of potassium, 59 Cyanurus cristatus, 32 CydnidcE, 36 cynicus, Podisus, 36 D. Dactylopius adonidum, 10 Dalmatian Insect Powder, 62 2)anais archippus, 29, 69 Datura stramonium, 67 Daughtrey Atomizer, the, 94 Davis Duster, the, 78 Dead Shot, Johnson's, 59 Johnson's improved, 59 decandra, Phytolacca, 67 Decoctions of Pyrethrum powder, 63, 64 various plants, 67 decora, Callida, 35 Department of Agriculture, appropriation made to, 1 investigation com- menced under, 1 investigation trans- ferred to the Commission, 1 Desmia maculalis, 43 Destruction of the moth, 100 Destructiveness of woiin, 7 Development of worms, wet weather fevor, 20 Devouring CirrospUus, 42 Dextrine, 59, 60 diadema, Sinea, 36 Didictyum, 44 zigzag, 44 Digger Wasps, 35 differentialis, Caloptenus, 39 Diluents, mixed with Paris green, 57 Dipterous enemies of Aletia, 36 parasites of Aletia, 39 distinctus, Merocoris, 36 Distinguishing traits of chrysalis, 13 moth, 14 Diversified agriculture, 49 Dixon, H. O., answers to circular, 126 Dodge, C. R., statistics from, 7 Dodge, J. R., statistics from, 7 Dolichonijx oryzivoriis, 32 Dolichos, 15 Dorylidce, 34 Dorymyrmex insanus, var. flavus, 34 Dragon-flies, 37, 38 habits of, 37 Drj'ness, effect of, on Aletia, 21 Dryocampa, 41 Dusting the plants by hand, 74 sifting, 74 dyaus, Plusia, 11 E. Egg of Aletia, 9 eleagnifolium, Solarium, 67 Empusa muscoe, 68 English Sparrow, 33 Epeira, 33 ephemerceformis, Thyridopteryx, 45 Erax, 37 erosa, Phymatn, 36 esurus, CirrospUus, 43 Euphorbia marginata, 67 Euschistus punctipes, 36 tristigmus, 36 fissUis, 36 evanesceng, Trichogramma, 39 Evangorus viridis, 36 Ewing Brushing- Machine, the, 50 exacta, Anomis, 10 Experiments with decoctions of various plants, 67 Extract of Pyrethrum powder, 64 Extracts from various plants, 67 extrematis, Cryptus, 47 F. Pacts for and against hiberation, 28, 29 False opinions dispelled, 4 Fecundity of moth, 15 femoratus, Metapodius, 36 Figs fed on by moth, 15 fimbriatus, Stiretrus, 36 Fireflie8,^35 Fires for destroying the moths, 100 First description of Aletia, 8 brood of worms, 17 worms, condition of plant connected with first appearance of, 18 few in number, 16 time wheu they appear, 16 reappeai- in same locality, 19 condition of soil connected with ap- pearance of, 18 theoi y of appearance of, 19 First generation of worms confined to spots, 22 fissilis, Exischistus, 36 flavicauda, Tachina, 40 Jlavidus, Sericoderus, 36 Flesh-fly, the common, 39 FUght of Moth, 14, 23 Flour, 57 Fountain Pump, 85 Fordtran Cotton-Moth Destroyer, 105 frugiperda, Laphrygma, 26 Fruits fed on t)y moth, 15 Full-grown Cotton Worm, 11 Fungus infection, 68 experiments on, 69 fureata, Aphelogenia, 35 G. Oalerita atripes, 35 140 INDEX. Garret Lamp, the, 102 geminata, Solenopsis, 34 Generations, number of, 21, 22 Genitalia of male moth, 14 germanica, Vespa, 70 Gillespie, G. E., answers to circular, 122 Glands upon cotton plant, 15 glandulosum, Croton, 67 ■ Glover, Townend, earlj' -writings of, on cotton in- sects, 2 Glover, remarks of, on parasites of Aletia, 46 glycerium, Paphia, 29 Goat Weed, 67 • Goodheart Duster and Sprinkler, the, 81 Goodin Sprinkler, the, 85 Gorham, Dr., 28 describes parasite of Aletia, 45 Gossypium, 12 Grace, J". W., answers to circular, 128 Grape leaf-folder, 43 Gray Sprinkler, the, 82 Grass-worm, 26 Grote, A. E., views of, as to first appearance of worms, 16 views of, on hibernation, 28, 29 Ground-beetles, 35, 101 Gum arabic, 57 tragacanth, 57 H. Habits of Platyhypena acabra, 27 of Aspila virescens, 25 of Cotton Moth, 14 Hackberry-feeding worms, 43 Hagen, H. A., paper of, on fungus infection, 08 Hamilton, D. M., answers to circular, 109 Harpalus, 35 Sarporhynchus rufus, 32 Harris, Kobert, letter of, 25 Sarrisii, Labidus, 34 Hatching of locusts, 17 Seliophytum indicum, 67 Heliothis armigera, 12, 26, 101 JSelluomorpha texana, 35 laticomis, 35 Helm Brushing-Machine, 51 SemerobiidcE, 37 herse. Apatura, 43 Heteropterous enemies of Aletia, 36 Hibernation of Aletia, 24, 115, 116, 117 of moth, facts for and against, 29 full discussion of, 24 summary facts on, 30 Hibernating localities, 31 portion of cotton belt, 29 Hickory leaves, 67 hilaris, Ithaphigaster, 36 Hilgard, E. W., letter from, 63 House-fly, fungus of, 68 Hoyt, L. D., answers to circular, 117 Humphreys, John T., on hibernation, 26 Hurd Blower, the, 76, 84, 99 Syla, 33 Hymenopierous enemies of Aletia, 34 Hypena scabralis, 27 I. Ichneumon, 47 Ichneumon-flies infesting Aletia, 44. Ichneumonidce, 44 Imago, 13 indicum, Seliophytum, 67 Ingenuity displayed in the South, 48 Influences of wet weather indirectly ou worm, 21 insanus, Dorymyrmex, 34 Insect Powder, Dalmatian, 62 Persian, 62 insidiosus, Triphleps, 36 Introductory, 1 Introduction of English Sparrow, 83 Inventions, most numerous in Texas, 48 they post-date the late civil war, 48 to destroy Aletia, 48 Invertebrate enemies, 33 Investigation, transferred to the Commission, 1 commenced under Department of Agriculture, 1 need and importance of the, 2 Ipomea commutata, 12 Iske Brushing-Machine, 53 J. Jamestown Weed, 67 Jeager Sprinkler, the, 88 Johnson's Dead Shot, 59 Improved Dead Shot, 59 Spray Machine, 88 Jote, recommended as protection, 49 K. Kearney Chemical Works, 60 Kerosene, 65, 97, 102 use of in connection with brushing- machines, 54. used in pans, 66 vapor of, 97 Kerosene oU, effects of, on plants, 65 effects of, on worms, 65 mixed with ashes, 66 mixed with ashes, patent on, 68 soap made from, 66 Elildeer plover, 32 L. Labidus Sarrisii, 34 Melsheimeri, 34 Lace-wings, 10, 37 eggs of, 37 Lachnosterna, 101 Lady-birds, 10, 35 Icesus, Selenophorus, 35 IcEve, Paspalum, 15 Lamp made by Charles Lewis, 103 Lamp, simple form of, 104 Lamps, experiments with, 101 in motion, 105 for attracting the moth, 100 stationary, 102 used on large scale, 101 LampyridoB, 35 Laphria, 37 Laphrygma frugiperda, 26 INDEX. 141 Lard, 97 ^ Larva of Aspila vireecens, 25 of Platyhypena scabra, 27 the, 10 Late planting suggested liy Dr. Phares, 49 laticornis, Relluomorpha, 35 Leaf-cutting ant, 34 Lebia, 35 Le Blank Cotton-Moth Destroyer, 105 Lee, K. A., answers to circular, 112 Leucania unipuncta, 27 Levy Duster, the, 79 lAbellulidce, 37 lAbellula trimaculata, 38 Licorice root, 57 Lime, 57 lindheimerii, Croton, 67 Little's contrivance for mixing poison, 74 Localities where first worms appear, 19 Locusts, hatching of, 17 Lodi Chemical Works, 59 London Purple, 60 advantages of, 61, 62 analysis of, 60 experiments with, 60 manufacture of, 60 price of, 62 superior to Paris green, 62 nsed in liquid suspension, 61 used in powder form, 61 Losses occasioned by Cotton Worm, 7 Xioxandrus lucens, 35 crenatus, 35 Loxopeza, 35 lucens, Loxandrus, 35 Lupton, J. L., experiments in attracting moth, 108 Vycaon, Apatura, 43 Lyon's Magnetic Insect Powder, 63 M. Machines for applying vapors, 97 brushing off worms, 50 powdering poisons, 74 sprinkling and spraying, 81 maculalis, Desmia, 43 Male genitalia of Cotton Moth, 14 Mantis Carolina, 37 marginata, Euphorbia, 67 May-beetles, 101 MoMeekin, P. M., answers to circnlar, 130 McQueen Lamp, the, 103 Mealy bug, 10 Means of coping with the insect, 47 Mechanical means of killing worms, 49 Melanolestes picipes, 36 Melcher Sprinkler, the, 88 Melia azedarach, 67 Melons injured by moth, 15, 106 MeUheimeri, Labidus, 34 Merocoris distinctus, 36 Metapodius femoratus, 36 maxicana, Oecodoma, 34 Middlings, 57 Migration of moth, 33 Migrating habit of moth, development of, 23 Milberti, Proctacanthus, 36, 37 Mimus polyglottus, 32 Mineral paint, 57 minwta. Trichogramma, 39 Mixing the poison, 74 Mocking-bird, 32 Mock orange, blossoms of, 15 Molasses, 102 Mold, 68 Molts of worm, 11 monanthoginum, Croton, 67 Morning-glory, 12 Moth, attracted to sweets, 15, 106 attracted by lights, 100 attracted to white rags, 108 characters of, 13 distinguishing traits of, 14 fecundity of, 15 feeding on apple pomace, 15 on peaches, 15, 106 on persimmons, 15 on apples, 15 on figs, 15, 106 on fruits, 15 flight of, 14, 23 habits of, 14 injuring melons, 15 migration of, 23 natural food of, 15 or Imago, 13 sexual diiferences of, 14 theory of annual immigration of, 28 tongue of, 15 Moths, few hibernate, 31 muscce, Empusa, 68 Mnsquito-hawks, 37, 38 N. Nattire of bulletin, 3 Natural enemies of Aletia, 31 of Cotton Worm, 101 protection of, 49 food of moth, 15 Need and importance of the investigation, 2 Neuropterous enemies of Aletia, 37 Newly -hatched Cotton Worm, 10 Nezara pensylvanica, 36 Night-hawk, 33 Noctua xylina, 8 Northern Army Worm, 17, 27 Number of annual generations of worm, 21 first worms, 17 nundus, Cryptus, 46, 47 0. occidentalis. Cassia, 67 Oebalv^ pugnax, 36 . Oecodoma mexicana, 34 Ophiusa, 8 Opossum, 32 Orthopteroua enemies of Aletia, 37 ovata, Chalcis, 43 Ovate Chalcis, the, 43 oryzivorus, Dolychonyx,S2 I Oxyopesviridans,33 142 INDEX. P. Paint, 102 Paper-wasp3, 35 Faphia glycerium, 29 Papilio asterias, 69 Parasite of Aletia, 38 described byDr. Grorham, 45 remarks on, by Glover, 46 summary of, 47 infesting the egg, 38 and issuing from the worm, 39 issuing from chrysalis, 42 Parent of BoU Worm, 14 Paris Green, 56, 59 advantages of, 56 antidote against, 56 cost of dry application of, 57 cost of liquid application ot, 57 disadvantages of, 56 effect of, upon plant and soil, 56 first introduction of, 56 nature of, 56 patent mixtures of, 58 patents for, 57 price of, in 1879, 57 test of purity of, 56 used in liquid suspension, 58 used in powder form, 57 Va^paXum Iceve, 15 Patents for machines for dusting, 75 Paris-green mixtures, 57 Patent for Texas Cotton-"Worm Destroyer, 60 Peach, blossoms of, 15 Peaches fed on by moth, 15 Peck's Spray Machine, 84 pensylvanica, Nezara, 36 pensylvanicus, Ghaidiognathus, 35 Pentarthron, 39 Pentarthrum, 39 Perl Vapor-Generator, the, 99 Perry, O. H., answers to circular, 128 Persian Insect Powder, 62 Persimmons fed on by moth, 15 Pest poison, 60 Phalangium, 33 Phares, D. L., on variation in date of first appear- ance, 16 on the habits of the worm, 135 appearance of worm at remote points from where cotton was pre- viously grown, 23 Phares, D. L., early writings of, on cotton msects, 2 phoeniceus, Ageloem, 32 Phoberia atomaris, 27 Phymata erosa, 36 ■ Phytolacca, 12 picipes, Melanolestes, 36 Pieris rapce, 69 Pimpla, 45 annulipes, 46 conquisitor, 25, 44, 45, 46 larva of, 43, 45 pupa of, 45 Pimplarice, 44 Plaster, 57 Platyhypena scabra, 27 Platyhypena scahra, habits ot, 27 larva of^ 27 Platynm, 35 pleurivinctus, Cryptus, 44 Plusia dyaus, 11 Podisus cynicus, 36 ipinosus, 36 Poisoned sweets and fluids for destroying the moth, 106 Poisoning the worms, 54 Poisons in powder form, their advantage, 55 reasons for increase of price of, 55 Poke "Weed, 12, 67 Polistes, 35 bellieosa, 35 rubiginosa, 34, 35 polyglottus, Mimus, 32 polyphemus, Attacus,47 pomonella, Garpocapsa, 46 Poplar leaves, 67 Popular names, 8 Potassium, cyanide of, 59 Potato-pest poison, 59 Prairie chickens, 32 Predaceous insects as enemies of Aletia, 33 pretiosa, Trichogramma, 39 Prevention of injury, 48 Principles governing use of poisons, 55 Prionotus cristatus, 36 Proctacanthus Milberti, 36, 37 ProctotrupidcB, 44 Promachus, 37 promethea, Attaciu, 46 Protection of natural enemies, 49 Proxys punctulatus, 36 Pterostichus Sayi, 35 Pugh Lamp, the, 104 pugnax, Oebalus, 36 punctipes, Euschistus, 36 punctulatus, Proxys, 36 Phytolacca decandra, 67 Pyrethrum, 62 carneum, 62 dneraricefolvam, 62, 63 roseum, 62 Pyrethrum cultivated in California^ 63 essence of, 64 powder, 62 alcoholic extract of, 64 cost of using of, 65 decoction of, 63, 64 effect of, on insects, 63 experiments with, 62, 64 mixed with flour, 64 nature of, 63 substitute for arsenical poi- sons, 65 tea of, 63 Q. qtiadrimaculatus, OoUops,S6 Quails, 32 Questions to be answered, 1, 2 E. Raccoon, 32 Kain Crow, 32 INDEX. 143 Bamsey Sprinkler, the, 82 rapoB, Pieris, 69 Keappearance of worms in same locality, 19 Bed-wing blackbird, 32 Eeduviidce, 36 regalis, Citheronia, 41 Bemedies, 47 Repipla taurus, 36 Bhaphigaster hilaris, 36 Bice bird, 32 Eigel Lamp, the, 103 Bing-legged Pimpla, the, 46 Boblnson Dusting and Sprinkling Machine, 77, 83 Eocky Mountain Locust infested by Sarcophaga, 39 roseum, Pyrethrum, 62 Bosin, mixed with poisons, 57 Eotation of crops, 49 rubiginosa, Pulistes, 34, 35 rufus, Haporhynchus, 32 Buggies Sprinkler, the, 82 Buhmann Sprinkler, the, 87 Improved Sprinkler, the, 191 S. Saccharonyces cerevisice, 68 Salts of tartar, 59 samice, Cryptus, 47 Saprolegnia, 68 Sarcophaga, 40, 41, 42 carnaria, 40 infesting locusts, 39 lai-va of, 41 sarracenice, 39, 41 sarracenice, larva ot, 41 sarracenice, pnparinm 41 Sarracenia variolaris, 39 Sarracenice, Sarcophaga, 39, 41 Sayi, Pterostichus, 35 scdbralis, Sypena, 27 icabra,, Platyhypena, 27 • Schanck Sprinkler, the, 84 Schier Atomizer, the, 93 Schwarz, E. A., 17, 18,27 Scientific American, 8, 15 Screw Worm, 67 Scutelleridce, 36 Scymnus, 35 Selenophorus Icesus, 35 Senometopia atropivora, 41 Sericoderus flavidus, 36 Sesbania vesicaria, 67 Severe rains destructive to Cotton 'Worms, 20 Sexual differences of Cotton Moth, 14 Shields, F. S., answers to circolar, 119 Sialia sialis, 32 sialic, Sialia, 32 sicglinge, Solanum, 25 Sieves for dusting the plants, 74 Sinea diadema, 36 Skunk, 32 Slippery Elm, 57 Small fields often exempt, 48 Smell of worm, 12 Smith, E. A., experiments of, on fangns infec- tion, 69 Soap-suds, 102 Soda, arseniate of, 59 Soda, caustic, 59 Soil, condition of, connected with first appearance of worms, 18 Solanum, 67 carolinense, 67 cornutum, 67 eleagnifolium, 67 sieglinge, 25 Soldier-beetles, 35 Solenopsis geminata, 34 Southern Agriculturist, first description of Cotton Moth in, 8 portion of cotton belt, 29 Southem.portion of cotton belt defined, 4 Spilosoma acrea, 11 spinosus, Podisus, 36 Stages of the insect, 9 Starch, 59 Statistics of losses, 7 Steinmanu vaporizer, the, 97 Stenopoda einerea, 36 Stiretrus fimbriatua, var. dia/na, 36 Storms, destructive to Aletia, 21 stramonium. Datura, 67 strumarium, Xanthium, 67 Sulphate of copper, 59 Sulphur used for killing worms, 67 vapor of, 99 Sweet exudation, 15 Sweets from grass, 15 moth attracted to, 16 T. Tachina, 40, 41 aletice, 40 concinnata, 42 fiavicauda, 40 villica, 41 Ta«hina-jly Infesting Aletia, 40 Tachinid larva, 41 puparium, 41, 42 Tar, 102 Tartar, salts of, 59 taurus, Repipta,36 Tayler Dusting and Sprinkling Mikobine, 80, 82 TelephoridcB, 35 Tetracha Carolina, 35 virginica, 35 Tetrastichus, 43 texana, HelluoTMyrpha, 35 texanum, Croton, 67 Texas Cotton-Worm Destroyer, 60 patent for, 60 Theory of annual immigration of moth, 28 appearance of first worms, 19 Thrush, 32 Thyanta custator, 36 Thyridopteryx ephemerceformis, 45 Tiger-beetles, 35, 101 Time elapsing from one generation to another, 10 of year when first worms appear, 16 Tobacco, 67 Tongue of moth, 15 Topping cotton, 48 Torches, 100 144 INDEX. Torrh-light8, 103 Townsend Sprinkler, 83 Trichbgramma Egg-parasite, the, 38 Trichogramma, 38 evanescens, 39 infesting egg of Alenrodid, 39 minuta, 39 prctiosa, description of, 39 trifida, Ambrosia, C7 Tree-frog, 33 trimaculata, Libelhda, 38 Triphleps msidiosus, 36 tristigmus, Etischistus, 30 Turkeys feeding upon the worms, 32 Two- winged flies infesting and issuing from the worm, 39 "tJ. unipuncta, Leucania, 27 " V. Vapors for destroying worms, 87 variolaris, Sarracenice, 39 Verbena aubletia, 15 vesicaria, Sesbania, 67 Vertebrate enemies, 32 Vespa germanica, 70 villica, Tachina, 41 virginianus, Cardinalis, 32 virginica, Tetracha, 35 vireecens, Aspila, 25 viridis, Evangorus, 36 viridans, Oxyopes, 33 vocifera, Aegialitis, 32 W. Walker Lamp, the, 103 Warner Saddle Sprinkler, the, 90 Watchful Pimpla, the 44 Wet weather, indirect influences of, 21 favors development of worms, 20, 110 Wheat flour, 57 Wild hemp, 67 Willie Duster, the, 75 Sprinkler, the, 84 Willet, J. E., experiment of, on fungus iclVi tioii, 69 Winfree, Phillip, 12 Wolkom, J. M., answers to circular, 113 Worm, destructiveness of, 7 or larva, the, 10 molts of. 11 must hatch from egg, 9 wet weather favors development of, 20 smell of, 12 pale and dark specimens of, 11 infested by parasites, 39 Worms, severe lains destructive to, 20 first breed of, 17 first " crop " of, 17 feed only on cotton, 12 picked oflF by hand, 100 Wood-Smith Brnshing-Machine, 52 Writers against use of arsenical poisons, 55 X. Xamthium strumarium, 67 xylina, Noctua, 8. Y. Teager Sprinkler, the, 86 Teast, experiments with, by Willet, 7u ferment, paper on, by Dr. H. A. Hagen, 68 Yellow-tailed Tachina-flys, 40 Yoakum, F. L., answers to circular, 127 Young Duster, the, 81 Z. zigzag, Didictywm, 44 o EXPLANATION OF PLATE 1. A healthy stalk of wheat on the left, the one on the right dwarfed and the lower leaves beginning to withei and tum yellow : the stem swollen at three places, near the ground where the flaxseed (h) are situated, between the stem and sheathing base of the leaf. a, egg of the Hessian Fly (greatly enlarged, as are all the flguics cxeept e and 7i). b, the larva, fularficd, the Hue by the side, in this and otbi i- liiuivs. showing the natural length. c, the flaxseed, imparium or pupa case. d, the pupa or chrysalis. e, the Hessian Tly, natural size, laying its eggs in the cieases of the leaf. /. femali' Hessian Fly. mucli enlai ged. g, male Hessian Fly. iiiuel] enlarged. h, flaxseed between the leaves and stalk. i, Chalcid orichueumou ])arasite of the Hessian Fly, male, enlarged. Figs. b. drawn by Mr. Itiley; d and/, by Mr. Burgess; a, g. and c, i, by the author; drawn on wood by L. Trouvelot. U. S. EiitoriHpl(i;;i( ;il ' 'oiiiiiii.sHioii. liiilUstin 4. Plate I. The Hessian Fly and its Transformatioks. EXPLANATION OF PLATE II. Fig. A. Sido riew of the fomale Hessiau Fly, greatly enlarged. a, three joints taken from the middle of the antennie of the female ; a', the three termi- nal female anten'nal joints; a", the four j basal, and a'", the two terminal male an- ' tennal joints; b, a maxillary palpus; c, j scales from the body and wings ; d, c, side j and vertical view of the last joint of the | foot, showing the claws and foot-pad or ' pulvillus between them, and the scales on the joint. Drawn by Mr. E. Burgess. Fig. B. Larva magnified, with the breast-bone in the 2d ring next to the head. Bra, the breast-bone highly maguitied ; E6, head from beneath, enlarged ; Be, larval spiracle and its tubercle and trachea leading from the spiracle. B, dravni by Mr. Kiley ; Ba, !), c, by Mi-. Burgess. Fig. C. Side and front view of the pui)a or chrys- alis. Drawn by Mr. Burgess. The ab- domen of the side view of pupa is rather long, as the insect, when drawn, was jiisl emerging from tlii' semi-iiupa stage, wlilch it assumed December 1st. Fig. D. The flaxseed, pupariimi. or pupa case. The line by the side of the comjjlete figures denotes the natural length of the insect. V. S. Entomological Commission. Bulletin 4. Plate II.