State journal & flag., 1846-10-02
VOLUME B.
From Me ". o. Commercial Times, .Sept. 8. The Cotton Moth. OF CatterpilIar-
 itS Effects upon the Crop.

me ravageS committed Dy tne army worm etc, will be read with interest. We pub lished communication from the same gen. tleman in yesterday S paper, but he present enters more into detail, and is we'll deserv- ing lhe consideration both of the planter and merchant.
 lseLEspE, (aear Natchez,) Sept. 4, ls46.
 Editors Times :-ln my last gave mere : ly hurried outline of the nature, habits and appearance of these insects; express ing my fears that they would devastate and destroy the crop of the present season. At tbat time, only week ago, though many plantations had been entirely laid waste, a great majority had not been materially in Jured, though th, caterpillar was then on the increase. This was the condition of ihe large and beautiful field, around Vldaa. overlooked from the bluff at Nalchez. The worms were numerous, but had increased SO slowly, and had eaten so little of the leaf that ihe hope was entertained, and express cd, that the crop might yet escapc-some even saying that needless alarm had been got up. had no such hope and belief. Al this moment itese immense fields are one great iodste. Not leaf to be seen. Everything upon which the mandbe of the worm could operate being consumed, they are now tray. elling in search of more food. And thus it will be with every crop in the country, so far as can learn.
 In lS44 they made their first general ap pearance, about the 10 h or l2th Septem ber; and when they had consumed the leaf, calya, and so on. the fields looked as white ns when, after severe frost, the leaf had all dropped-lhe cotton having, most of il, matured so far that the worm did not great Iy lessen the quantity, though injuring the quality, and rendering the picking more te- dious; and in addition, we had had over two months of picking before the worms had done any damage. But this year the case is very different. Many have not yet begun 10 pick. The fields look dark and hlighted, after the worms have stripped them, no open cotton being visible. Indeed, more heart-breaking sight 10 ihe planter, could hardly be csnecved-afer a seasons incessani toil, and that greater than usual, all the expense of making crop being incur. red, just when he is ready to gather in his harvest, he finds all bIighted. Still his debts must be provided for, and his negroes sup ported the Fall and Winler-unllke the far. mer, employing free labor, which he can dismiss in such a case.
 How wide the ruin may ultimately spread, IS impossible yet to say; though the accounts now received show II 10 be already but oo general.
 This sceurge to the cotton planter is by no means new thing; Dor is if confined 10 this country alone. In all the West India Islands, in Guiana, and elsewhere in South> America, it has been lhe frequent means of greatly lessening the crops. In Georgia, the caterpillar made it's appearance us ear ly as l793. In that year the destruction was complete, (rom Major Bu'ler's field of four hundred acres. only eighteen bags were made.) Seven years afterwards they commenced the work of destruction in South Carolina. In ls04 tAe crops, which would have been devoured by them. were, with the enemy, efitctually dos royed by the hurricane "f that year. Between leOi and 1895 their depredaions were only occasion. al, and then confined 10 particular fields In 1925 the visit of the worm was renew. ed, and its ravages were universal and com. plete. In 1927, '20, 33, '3i. 40, Al and '43, the lower parishes generally, or parcu. lar locations, suffered greatly by its depre daions. (The caterpillar is seldom seen in the upper parishes.*)
 In Guiana the worm is called chenille. An interesting account is given of il in he Ed- inburgh Encyclopedia; article Cotton, by Dr. Chisholm, of Clifton. The same ac. count is repeated almost perbatim, by Mir. Porter, in his "Tropical Agrculturist." They appear there every year; doing mate. rial injury, however, only every second or third year. They show themselves in that wild climate even during the winter, and ap- pear and disappear many times during the year. Some elaborate estimates are made by Dr. C., of the amount of labor which might be proitably expended in destroying the chenille, to which would refer the curi- ous. though they do not apply well 10 the present value of cotton. file gives one hint, however, which think good one. The tobacco growers of Maryland and Virginia have acted upon it by many years, and with much success. "A prudent and economi- cal planter will increase ihe brood of every species of domectic poultry, particularly tur. keys; for this has tendency 10 dmipsh the brood of chenille in very great degree, while profit arises from tte augmentation of useful stock. Turkeys are observed to have remarkable appetite for the larve of the cotton moth. and devour prodigious quanti- ties of ihem." In the Bahamas between March and September, l7s6, no less than two hundred and eighty tons ol cotton, on a moderate scale, were devoured by this worm. The same cause produced the aban. donmcnt ofthe gossypum culture ia several of the West India islands.t I saw it recent. ly stated, that the destruction of the plant by the catterpI r, put an entire stop to the cul. iivalion of cotton, for many years, in Egypt. t The prospect of like result in this country, seems by no means improbabIy. The ap. pearance of the worm has hitherto been par. tial. large districts and even entire States es. caping but this yearit seems to be gener- al over the entire cotton growing region.
 would gladly introduce here, Lays des. cription of this insect, together with an ac- count of its habits. by pr. Capers, 10 be found at page 203, of volume l, ofthe South. ern Agriculturist !; but find that must re- fer my readers to that work.