The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1881-05-12
rh. cotton worm Inre.tIgatisn.

As the season for the new cotton crop
auDroaches. all who cultivate this crop
are more or less interested in the follow
inc summary of the labors Of the Cotton
Worm Commission, by Prof j. L.
GtcIle. agricultural editor Of the Mobile
Register:
As few among the many things that
we have established beyond question
may be mentioned
l. That the moth producing the cot
ton worm hiberuates in this country,
and therefore does not come to us every
wear from the tropics, a. has been main
tanned bv ma investigators Of the past.
That the first cotton worms appear
i1 mall numbers, much earlier nan has
ni.ler % or is usually supposed, and
generally ia the same particular spots
wear after wear, in alternating centres
or regions where the parent moth sur
wives tae winter.
3 That these first worms appear
much earlier than the so-called first
crop which attracts the attention ofthe
planter. aud which NAV be looked for
early in May, Or even by the middle Of
April. While young their presence i /
most readily detected by the pale, trans /
lucent spots they make on the leaves, /
which spots are a sure indica ion either /
that the worm j. present, or that it has 4
been, for these early worms are fire.
quently swept entirely off by their enc
mics
f. That the eggs in early summer are
laid on the underside Of the leaves, and .
very uniformly on the older leaves
about the middle or the lower third Of
the main stem, and the young worms
i, 4
the spots above described, before as
cending to the more tender leaves.
3. That the parent moths, while fond
Of all sorts Of sweet exudation and ripe
fruit, obtain their chief nourishment in
early summer from the glands on the
under side Of these leaves and on the
involucre. They suck up particles, and .
may be killed by poisoning the sweets
they feed on. /.
&. That the eggs Of the boil worm are
also mostly laid in similar situations
and rarely on the squares or the bolls,
and the young boil worms likewise feed
upon the leaves for some days before =
entering the squares or bolls, and there ,
fore may be destroyed by Poisons as
Is the cotton worm. j
Z. That the cot on crop may be effect 4,
ually protected by n seasonable applica- ;
ton Of poIsOus.
3. That the cost Of these poisions
need not exceed one cent and half per !
acre of cotton, exclusive of the cost of q
application, OF course, which need not .
be heavy. :
8. That the rot of the boil, so com I.
mon in many seasons, Is produced by Il
the boil worm, and Il I
10. That it may be prevented by an d
application Of polsons to the bolls, by
simply sprinklng; or, in other words, Il
that he poison which destroys the cot 81
ton worm also prevents the rot. ?
For most Of our workers the season "
has been an extremely untavorable one Il
on account Of wet weather, nevertheless, st
the public viii doubtless be- well salts Al
with what they have done; better sat al
SIZED th IN are the investigators, owing W
.o the fact that in many localities they ii
rot upon the track of something wi h
ain, promise Of success, that, on account "
If bad weather, and for want of more ST
imc. they were unable to reach. That m
omarIiur was Il means Of entirely eX- cl
the insect for this country, lot
nh Of keeping ii out bya careful guard go
mr. 0ftbe importations. Up 70 last year or
We bad uo hopes whatever in that di- us
eetsyu but our late experience has nj
mite fully convinced us that such a sh
hiu- is entirely possible, and that, with br
season more favorable for investlga- in
ions. or even with few months more sp
8 was. SIC should have worked out u
leaua ot entire determination for this bu
ouu,ry and emit re protection to the cot of
on crop for the future. fir.
Unfortunately for the people the com an
Mission was put upon its finishing work an
Ist one year 10 soon, rs everything IN an
ica.es that the present year viii be one sh
, which the cotton worm Will appear pr
] immense numbers throughout the M
,ttou balt 1t will be what is termed wi
ne ..climax" in the wave OF appear pa
nee similar to that Of 1873. These
seem to come in waves, as six
we're, as we have learned by a careful 1T
xamiua ION Of the his DRY of the insect of
nee its first appearance 1898. The or
,est of the latest Of these waves (and or,
ey have all been alike was in 1878 be
this case the appearance of the worm eff
1871 correspondent almost exactly on
it'll the appearance in 1879, and the br
1pearance in 1872 corresponded equal
close with that of lSS0-an increase ioI
yer the year preceding. This, Of ca
purse, leads to the conclusion that Ian
Ssh. like 1873. will be the climax or foI
,rst year OF the visitation, and there Sol
re should have been the year in which an
+ the United Safes chronological flo
commission TO have finished its work. ed
at as it is the country will receive I'll
ch re urn for the appropriation made or,
: Congress last year-the writer alone tn.
ade one discovery in Texas, outside ed
the commission work, that will be
orth more to that STATE than many
mes the amount of the appropriation,
,-wit: an easy means of destroying the ap
1torious screw worm in live stock. i'm.