The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1880-04-14
COTTON INSECT.

ages about one month.
TIME OF YEAE WHEN FIRST WORMS AP-
PEAR.
There has been much difference Of opin-
ion on this subject. II has been frequently
stated the worm never appears earlier than
the latter part of June in the central por-
ton Of the cotton-belt. Facts recorded in
past wears and careful investigation in lo79
show this statement TO be erroneous The
date Of earliest appearance varies with loca-
ton and largely with curves Of Isochimal
lines"
This is well illustrated by fact commit
nicated by DR.. ID. l.. Pharts, Of Wo0dyille,
Miss, viz, that the worm usually begins It's
work Of destruction in Madison county from
three to six weeks earlier than in Wlikln-
son; the former on latitude 80 and the lat
ter resting on 81. At Madison Station, in
the southern part Of Madison county. the
thermometer marked the extreme low tenn
perature Of -49F. during The winter Of
1889, while at Woodville, only about two
degrees farther south, the lowest tempera-
ture noted was l4'F., or Il difference Of Is.
The date OF appearance also varies ac-
cording to the season and also in different
parts Of the same restricted locality, worms
having been found first Matched in one
place, when only few miles distant others
were found nearly grown.
A. a result of observations made by the
chronological Commission in 1879 ''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 mid
die of Nav in the southern portion Of the
cotton belt. Indeed, it was this gear OBJ
served so much earlier In Alabama than Was
formerly reputed that many journals an
nounced the fact as very exceptional or alb
normal in this regard. On the contrary,
the facts ali show That the season was Il late
one for April frosts retarded the starting Of
cotton in those very sections of Alabama
where the worms were first found while it
- the unanimous opinion Of planters in
south Texas where the worms were first
noticed, that cotton was from two 10 three
weeks later in 1879 than usual 1t will not
surprise me- fer these reasons TO learn III
future that the first worms may be found
even earlier than here stated
Ia most cases of the first appearance of
the worms, specimens We're received and
examined by me So as TO leave no donbt rs
to their identity. In the cases observed
by Mr. Schwartz the plants were from one
to two feet high, not yet blooming and with
all the leaves tender
The first worms are always comparative
iy few in number, and III isolated spots
They are therefore, easily overlooked by
all who do not take particular pains to
search for them. From such spots rs cen
ters the worms multiply and spread in sub
sequent generations, with greater or less
Fapidity, according the conditions are
favorable or otherwise. such increase and
spread may be confined to some part Of
given county until the cotton i nearly
ruined before the cotton in the rest of the
county is affected. The worms will then
first appear in the remainder much more
suddenly and numerously than they did in
the former, the parent moths migrating
thereto in beves. As "a rule, however. the
spread in the southern portlO. of the belC Is
gradual and the worm in destructive num-
bers is proceeded by one or more scattering
generations in the same field.
Other things Ueiug equal, the worm must
appear earliest in the sCuthernment lat-
tudes 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 il. in normal seasons Of little IN
jury to the crop, similar retardation
nOrthward in the appearance OF the cotton
worm within the southern portion OF the
belt, corresponding ia sOme measure with
the growth and development OF the plants
and it is a rotable fact that the worm - sci
dom noticed and never IN great number
before the plant begins 10 bloom. What is
generally under the circumstances called the
first brood or crop has been preceded by
at least one and often two generators
sparselv distributed over the fields. Yet in
years when the worm cbounds to d;sas-
trous extent in the southern portion of the
belt its appearance in the nOtnern c. tenn
pOrarv portion cannot be counted on with
any certainty as to time because 1t Is al
ways the result of migrations AZ the winged
state, and these migrations may be more or
less extended according to circumstances.
Between the first appearance of the worm
ba m her an of
belt there is, therefore, 2 marked difference
ordinarily observable it being IL the latter
much later and in far greater numbers"
CONDITION OF SOIL AND Plant CONNECT
Ed WITH THE APPEARANCE OF THE FIRST
WORMS.
The result Of observation is that the ear
lest worms of the season are confined to
fields on the Glow lands" where the plants
are naturally more thrifty and more adj
vanced than on any other soil. Low lands
where cotton is planted in Texas and Louis
lana comprise che so-called bottom lands of
the rivers, and on such lands the soil is al
ways a very rich alluvium aud never sandy.
Farther east, however, low lands are fire.
quently sandy and the bottom formation of
ailuvial soil Is less common than in Texas
and Louisiana. This holds especially true
OF Florida, where the soil is exclusively
sandy. more or less mixed with decayed
vegetable matter In the latter State fields
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 rot apply alone to the extensive
area of such land in the southern portion of
she belt, but also to similar low places in
particular parts of plantations in the whole
cotton growing country, the first worms on
any plantation always being noticeable in
such low spots
rute Isavt v-sfL
exception, for on the islands off the
coast of Georgia and South Carolina where
in former wears, 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 parts on these
islands are occupied by marshes, and are
unfit for cultivation, and the soil OF the cot-
ton fields is what is termed dry hummoek
land Again, Mr.. Schwartz found very
early appearance in Lavaca county, IN
Southern Texas, where the country is sey-
eral hundred feet above the river bottoms
in the same latitude and consists of open
and rolling prairies. The worms were OBJ
served there in field situated on top ofone
of the highest hills, and they have bean OBJ
served there at similarly early dates in past
years. The soil is, however, of that rich
black nature, peculiar TO oEe part of the
South Texan pFairies
A second circumstance which, according
to the unanimous reports of planters and
observers, appears to necessarily accompany
the early appearance of the worms is that
the cotton plants must be in a we'll
advanced and luxHriant condition The
earliest worms are never known to appear
in fields in which the growth of the plants
aas been retarded from one cause or another,
It, for instance, late planting, the attacks
# pIant-liee overflow. poor, exhausted, or
andy soil, &c.
A third fact is worthy of mention in con-
lection with this early appearance, viz: