Baton Rouge tri-weekly gazette & comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1865-18??, 1866-10-11
An Old Familiar Voice from a New
Quarter,

| IhohIiy aTecied w hHSh suoj'S'n III
| the vast arcana Of nature and art, az
could DO turned to tho use and ben
Gift Of society. From tho commnni-
cation below, which no sends us, it
will DO seen that no has not forgot
ten the experience he acquired rs n
cotton planter in Louisiana, and ca
pecially in regard TO that annually
recurring post, tho cotton worm.
His knowledge and tho views and
suggestions no has embraced in his
communication, with reference to
that insect, are interesting and wor-
thy tho attentive perusal Of our
readers
GREnrvrLLr, 4. G., Sept 18th, 1866.
Dear Sir ! hear from my old homo on
Rod River, that tho cotton worm IL rapidly
destroying tho light crop Of cotton which
wo had hoped to make after tho overflow,
and | nlro notice several atticlop in tho
newspapers in regard to thra enemy Of tho
cotton plant. | am induced to rolnto my
experience and experiments with this
worm, believing that moanN may bo found
to save the plant from its rnvnRoa, md
that 10 accom- lirh this end every ono who
hss any knowledge upon the subject
ahould mako it public. About twenty
yoars ago, while | was frat engaged IN
planting at Natchitoohos, In, the cotton
worm WAS very dentructiVe for sovorul
yoarn, and = learned 9rronch physician,
hen praeticing nj hat place, ofFerod re-
ward Of hvo dollars intended Tor tho no
Rrossl, To any ono who wonld show him
the ogg which produced tho cotton worm.
! was ut tho timO in tho habit Of whiting a
frlond q tow milos below tho town, and
upon a certain visit, heard him romark
that the worm had been at work in that
part OF h;r fold whero they had always
mudo their first appearance, but for day
or two, they seomed to hnvo ceased eating
aud no hoped that his crop would not be
destroyed. set out Immediately for the
place in tho fold designnted by ham, and
found but few worms actually at work,
although saw hanging to tho leaves and
stocks OF cotton u quantity of what ] soon
ascortained to ba tho worm in II chrysgid
q
rolling themaolves up IN tho loavos. !
thon carefully examined tho cotton leaves
which had not been touched by tho worms
and found upon tho under sido Of near.y
all Of Lhom from two to ten eggs zach.
The eggs were about one half Of tho siIo
Of q grain OF mustard seed, or as largo "A n
pm cut transverBely. They were Of a
grconiFh blue color, and gluod fnrt 10 tho
lof. ] marked around many Of tho eggs,
and watched daily until tho Inst ono
hatchod ont, which wnS on the fourth day.
At tho ond Of ono week thero VIVA not II
single loaf OF cotton in the circuit Of ono
hundred miles.
From this time forward, for several
years, ] ondoavored to discover all Of tho
fncts in regard TO the worm. | saved
some of the last eggs laid in tho season,
with PORTIONS Of the leaves TO W hich they
were attached, expecting to havo the first
wormsin the succeeding yenr, but although
they were carefully attended to, they failed
to hatch, and am still in doubt how the
seeds Of the worms are preserved through
the winter season. found tho crysalds
late in tho season, in cracks of tho fence
rails, aud almost everywhcro about tho
felds and buildings. Doubtless many Of
them, and millions Of them fell upon the
ground, and might have been preserved
thoro through the winter, especially in
certain spots peculiarly adapted for their
preservation, and then AZ tho land was
turned over by tho plough in the warm
season, tho heat might give Thorn life
The place where frat found them, WINS
rather lower than the rest Of tho fold and
generally damp, IN the early part Of the |
season. The fact that they usually ap-
pearod frat in this place in tho field cat |
ing only in the circumference of an acre or |
two, would seem to indicate that tho egg |
wac preserved in tho earth and Matched by |
the warmth Of tho season, the young worm |
attaching itself to tho leaf wherever II
might chance to touch tho ground. If |
the crysalids were preserved, and tho eggs |
deponted by tho moth, it docs not seem
probable that the moth would continc |
itself to q small portion Of the fold, bat !
that it would distribute itR eggs more gen
orally over 1t, and that tho winds would |
force it out of any small locality. The |
second year, surrounded Btalk Of cot |
ton with mosquito noting and placed |
upon it, two Of tho first worms Of the sea
son, and noted carefully thor operations,
keeping n daily record OF my obser vations,
found that the egg would hatch in four
days, that the worm would acquire its
full dimensions in the course Of eight or
ten days and that it would como out as
moth on tho eighth day, and that in seven
or eight days, it wonld deposit it's eggs.
then estimated that the time for one
generation, was about twenty seven or
twenty eight dayF. could not ascertain
how many eggs one moth would lay, but
a neighbor informed me, that ono had
deposited either 2S5 or 1856, in cup upon
his mantle piece, the exact number do not
remember. ] concluded, however, that
each moth, would lay from 400 to 500 eggs,
but what portion Of them were females,
could not be ascertained. think that the
worm has always appeared after wet
season. or an overflow IN destructive guam
titles, and think that it may fonnd every
year, butin some years they are not de-
structive, either because the beason is I'M
propitious, or that in certain seasons, some
natural enemy of the worm, which has
not been killed by tho water, destroys the
fret that make their appearance. Iplscod
come leaves with eggs and small worms
upon them, by the side Of an ant hill, and
the ants quickly carried them away.
4 thu ,,o,L /,