The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1877-08-29
4 TIMELY ENQUIRY.
WHO SHALL SAVE Us FROM TIE BoDf
OF THIS CURSE?

EOE LuiCC hSttS VIC So"Ho" P''''
of our Parish have been spared the
VISITATION of their dread enemy, the
caterpillar. So great has been this
immunity, that a fanciea security
frou, any further disasters from this
source had begun to spring up. This
security has received a rude shock
by the very serious and extensive
damages which have been sustaine
By the rayages Of tie cotton worm
during the last week or ten days In
spite of singulariy dry and not sea
son, physical conditions, which have
heretofore generally been considered
fatal to their development, the worms
have appeared in such force aud
Numbers, as to strike terror to the
hearts Of our planters, already de-
pressed by the unexampled low price
of cotton. .:s
The culture of. this staple consti-
tutes SO large proportion of the in
dustry of our Agriculturists, in
whose success all the other classes
of our people are directly concerned,
that an injury to this crop, such as
the one just sustained, can only be
regarded in the light of serious
pubic calamity. Such being the
case, the discussion at this time,
when the sense of our losses is keen
and fresh, of any remedial measures,
which might, if properly applied, al
leviate or, abridge altogether these
losses, should be one of genera. pub
lie interest. However desponde2t
cotton raisers may now be, and how
ever strongly they may now resolve
to cut loose entirely, and grow no
more cotton, one thing is as certain
as the revolution of the seasons, that
cotton will continue to be largely
planted, and remain as it is now, the
principal resource of the greater por-
ton of our population. Any thing,
therefore, which concerns this indus
try, must be regarded as of the
greatest public Importance, and as a
provident people, it is certainly
proper that we should endeavor to
as certain definitely and at once,
whether there are not agencies
which, if properly and timely applied
can be relied on for the partial, if not
complete protection Of this impor-
tant crop During b e last few
years, our sympathies have been fire.
quently aroused by the accounts
which have come to US, Of the ex,
tensive depredations of the grass
hoppers over large portions of our
Western States. So great and wide
spread has been the destruction Of
these pests, that the interposition Of
Government aid has been invoked,
and through grants from the nation
al and state treasures, the light Of
scientific research has been freely
poured upon the subject, with the
view Of discovering some remedy,
some alienation of the dreaded
scourge. Serious and deplorable as
the losses from this source have
been, they are Insignificant as com
pared with those, which have been
sustained by the people of the South
from the destruction Of crops by the
cotton worm, since it's first appear
anee nearly forty years ago. Not
withstand'ng the Importance of the
subject, rendered so by the immensi
ty of the loss almost annually sus-
tanned, we are not aware that any
we'll organized effort, either Of a pub
lie or private character, has ever
been made to ascertain definitely the
existence of remedies, which could
be safely and practically applied in
the protection Of the cotton crop
Indeed, until four years ago, no rem.
edy has ever been suggested, that
possessed any practical virtue
About that time Professor Riley, the
distinguished Entomo!ogist Of Mis-
souri,, observing the beneficial effects
which resulted from the application
of Paris Green to the potato crop for
the destruction of the Colorado bee
tie, suggested that the same prepare
ton might, with equal efficacy, be
used in the protection of the cotton
plant from the caterpillars. In 1873
this remedy was first tried, and rath-
er extensively, in this Parish; but
owing to the novelty of the thing,
the inexperience of our planters and
the inferiority of the Poison sold, the
experiments, though encouraging in
many instances, were not of a decis-
ive chsrocter.t After an interval of