The Opelousas courier., 1896-04-11
FARMER AND PLANTER.
PESTS OF THE FARM.

PESTS OF THE FARM.
something About the Insects That Prev
Upon the Farmers Crops.
Cntl quite recently, the study Of the
haolts and instincts OF insects has been
considered by the average farmer as
eh'irely unworthy the attention OF
people OF sense. One of the most dis.
tlngulshed naturalists of England was
kno"n among his neighbors as that
olo 1901 who goes around catching bugs
in a net"
PEOPLE who have not investigated the
SUBJECT, are apt to speak sneeringlv of
the notion of spending a few hours in
watching the Transformation of insects
and the study of their ha bits and in
stincts. They think the time thus
wasted might be more pro6tablv
employed in chopping Que cotton
or IN hoeing cabbage. Yet these crops.
although tended with ever so much
care and industry, are liable to be en-
'irely destroyed in a few days by the
favages OF the cotton caterpillar, or Of
the habits of these insects would have
enabled them to save their crops.
Nhen the damage is done and the crop
destroyed the farmer then learns to
MS o that this bug business is a
matter OF considerable Importance.
ana be writes to the department of ae-
riculture. or the entomologist. and
why it is that he can not be
furnished with a remedy that will at
once destroy these pests.
Farmers regard flies as mere trifes
until their wheat crop is ruined by the
ravages of the IIessian hv or the
nudge, and they consider beetles as un-
worthy OF notice until their plums arc
rendered worthless by the attacks of
the curculios.
To be at all successful in e~xterminat.
ing thcSe noxious insects that ravage
the crops. one thing mus be remem-
bered, and that is to commence max
ing war while the enemy is weak. In
the early spring, when the insects first
make their appearance, they are few
in number and weak in power to do
harm.
This, then, is the proper time to
push the war. One insect destroyed in
the early spring may represent hun
dreds, even thousands, two or three
later. One single female cat
erpillar may, in the course of a season.
be the maternal ancestor of more than
a million caterpillars. for in this eli
mate there are four or five generations
OF these pests during the summer.
This is a very low estimate. A fe-
male moth will lay about eight
hundred eggs. We will suppose hat
half of these, which is far below
the mark, will produce female
caterpillars in the second generation.
These 400 female moths will each lay
800 eggs, making an aggregate Of $780,
900 eggs. Half Of these, representing
the females, would be 100, 600. Each of
these might lay 500 eggs, making s.
100000. The third generation then
might consist of 6 1000. 900 female
moths. The fourth generation of the
enormous number of $4,000. O0n, 900
moths. So that when we saw
that a single female cotto9smoth com
ing into Georgia in the early spring,
from the extreme south who're it has
hibernated, may become thA ancestor
of more than one million of c~aterpil-
larsto prey upon the cotton fklds af
of Georgia, we have spoken fai below
the mark. ~
Five minutes spent by tie farmer in
destroying a nest Of tent caterpillars
in his OWN hedge, or in fence row of
his neighbor, early in the year, may
save, not only his own orchard. but
the orchards of many of his neigh |
bors.
The killing of one cabbage butterfly |
in the early spring may save your cab |
bage and the cabbage of your neigh |
bors for a mile around. Killing the |
first cucumber bug that alights on |
vines may prevent the ravages of
of its descendants during |
the summer. In turning over the rub
Dish about the farm and garden, under
boards, around stumps and alongside |
Of fences, the few injurious insects
that have survived the frosts of win
ter may be ~dicovered, and then their
destruction is comparatively easy.
There is lot at the present moment
a single cotton caterpillar. moth, egg
or pupa alive anywhere north Of a /
line running from the latitude of Ma
con across the continent. This moth
in Florida, and perhaps in
southern Louisiana and Texas. The
first warm winds of spring will bring
few of these moths to the cotton
fields Of southern Georgia. where they
will lay their eggs on the under side
Of the lower leaves of the cotton weed.
They will first make their appearance
the month of May in the counties
the extreme southern border of
By the LIST of June they may
reach the latitude of Macon. and by
he last Of June may appear in the
1eighborhood of Atlanta. In the mid
lie of July they may be found near the
line, while in the extreme
northern portion of the cotton belt
hey may not put in an appearance UNI
IL the last of August or the LIST of Sep
Now, one of these moths de-
on its arrival in the southern
art of the state in May, may prevent.
a million caterpillars from
on the crops.
The distinguished entomologist, Mr..
Riley. estimates the damage to the cot
crop of the south from the cotton
vorm alone at S15, 600. 900 annually.
This is known to be much below the
cal amount of loss, and the statisti-
ian of the same department has de-
Jared that the loss will reach to 20
cent. of the entire crop.
The report of the department Of
Of France states that the
nroSf;natinns Of the entnm0lopistS in