The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-08-25
The Cotton Leaf Worm.

The Mississippi experiment station, dur
ing the seasons of 1888 and 1889. says Home
and Farm, made a number of tests In
order to determine the cheapest and most
effective method Of destroying the cotton
leaf worm. Paris green proved to be a per
feet protector, when even busted over the
leaves very lightly.
The following plan is recommended as
being al expeditions and eff active one:
make two sacks of heavy cloth, each
about ten inches long aud four in diameter.
open the whole length of one side and firmly
sewed at the ends We have found eight
ounce osnaberg the best cloth for the pur-
pose Take strip of oak or other strong
wood about one and hall by two inches
and five feet long, and bore oae-inch hole
five inches from each end. Take one of
the sacks to each end of the pole, fastening
one of the edges Of the opening to each of
the narrow SIDES of the pole.
1.-The sacks can be filled by pouring the
poison through funnel inserted in the
holes through the pole and distributed by
riding on horseback through the colt IN
rows, busting two rows at time A little
practice will enable one to do this work
very evenly, and care must be taken not TO
allow the sacks to touch the leaves when
wet, or the poison will not pass through.
When the sacks are freshly filed a very
slight Earring will shake out a sufficient
amount of the poison. but when nearly
empty the pole should be frequently and
sharply struck with a short stick, or spaces
in the rows will be missed. When used in
this way we have found it best to use the
poision without any admixture of -four, and
If -four is to be added lighter cloth is to be
Ii. d. L.
a mau and mule can poison from fiftee to
twenty acres per day. As soon as the W orm
makes its appearance it spreads very rap
idly, and it is important that the whole field
should be busted at once. There are ma
chimes made for distributing the poison, and
when they are used the station recomme .ds
the poison be mixed with flour at the rate of
three pounds to one of the poison.
1T is also considered best to distribute
the poison in the evening or early morning,
when the dew Is on, as it adhereS better and
is cons oquently more effective and lasting
AS -four under these conditions has a ten
dency to make it stick to the leaves, perhaps
it would be economy to use flour always
rather than Paris green alone.
when the pole and sacks are used, the
workman should be careful to keep the
poison from blowing over himself more
: than can be avoided; and when the work is
done he should shake his clothes oroughly
and axe a BATH A few buckets of water
should also be poured over the mule With
these precautions, we have never known
either sickness or Injury to follow the use of
the poison.
Whatever plan may be adopted for de-
stroying the worms, it should be determined
upon aud prepared in advance.
"a liberal supply of the poison should be
purchased, and the apparatus for distribut-
ing it all ready for work, as time is money
in dealing with cotton worms, and a delay
of day in applying the poison may make a
difference of hundreds of dollars in the
crop. The fields should be closely watched
and work commenced on the very day when
the worms make their first appearance. A
single application of the pois IN, if t fol-
lowed too soon by rain, is usually all that
is necessary to fully protect the crop, and
the expense of this need not be more than
so cents per acre. In dealing with the
worms, more than in almost any other farm
work, promptness and care are essential to
success, and with these there need be but
little fear of loss from what has been the
most troublesome enemy of the cotton
CROP"