St. Landry democrat., 1889-07-27
The Boil Worm.

The Paris, Tex, NeUs says: The farm
ers have made good fight and have al
most exterminated the careless or webb
worm moth. / fear many of them are
about to grow careless and will lose sight
of the boil worm moth, their most dread
enemy. Let the good work 60 on ; keep
sharp lookout for the boil worm. The
first worm that leaves the corn are those
that are found on the blades and in the
tassel. AS soon as you notice that they
are leaving, put out your lamp again. Of
course the crop of moths comes from the
worms in the ears of corn, but they are
about tyo or three weeks later than those
on the blades and tassel. The corn worm
and boil worm are the same. They l. we
the corn, 60 down in the ground from five
to eight inches and form chrysalis. In a
few days it bursts it's shell and comes out
moth commonly known as boil worm
miller). Now of all moths this is the one
most to be dreaded. These moths are
never very plentiful. Now do not con-
found the boil worm moth with the cotton
worm moth. Their appearance and habits
are very much the same, but while there
are but few of the former, there are
thousands of the latter. 1t would have
been best to have had lamps in the corn to
have exterminated them in their in
| cipiency. Being few in number, there is
great danger that they will be overlooked
| until it is too late. Great care should be
| taken to have your lamps out in time, for
| an average of one or two worms to each
cotton plant will destroy all the squares
and young hollis. Lamps should be placed
near the corn at first. If you will notice
carefully when the moths first make their
appearance, you will find them in the edge
| of your cotton where it comes up to the
corn. Of course they will soon scatter
about over the country. And after the
| corn, the cotton furnishes the next best
place to deposit their eggs. Wet weather
| appears to be the best adapted to their
propagation, although in 1879, an extra
ordinary dry year, the cotton was damaged
by them in many neighborhoods in the
| country. The destruction of the cotton
crop this year will bankrupt the entire
farming population of the country. The
merchants have staked their all on this
crop They have kindly assisted the
farmers, and to the best of their ability are
helping them to pull through should the
cotton crop prove failure, they, too
would have to go under. | think this dire
calamity can be averted in the fact, il
must be. The war must be kept up as
long as there are any moths, and should
there be any sign of worms, commence a
once with Paris green and destroy them
Don't says if it IS not good crop yea
make it one by destroying the boil worm
/ can say, with an experience of twenty.
two years, that there has been no year il
that time but would have made fair cotto1
crops had it not been for the boil worm.
The facts stated and views expressed b,
our correspondent tally very closely will
those given by the Department of Agricul
ture in its reports on the boil worm, ant
the remedies proposed should be followe,
out. The boil worm and the leaf worn
are both produced by miller, but ar
different and damage the cotton in differ
emit ways. The same means will fgh
both, and doubtless already many Dol
worm millers have been killed by tn
| 1ampS