The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1902-07-23


plants, is subject to the attack OF in
isects, but very few realize the I'M
mense variety of them that depend
more or less upon this staple for food
The cotton worm, cotton boil worm
Mexican cation boil weevil, cotton
louise. etc. are but a few examples Vi
the most common, but fortunately only
"a few are at all apt to appear in serious
numbers. and these are very variable
in their appearance. Sometimes they
occur in such abundance as to appear
more or less extended area, while
again their numbers are so insignii.
cant as to pass unnoticed.
This striking variability is due in
part to great many causes, some OF
them easy to understand, others more
obscure in their nature. Nothing is Of
greater Importance, though. than the
weather conditions at certain seasons OF
the year Most insects thrive on dry
and warm season, while the opposite
is true of fungous diseases. Last year
the excessive rains and long continued
periods of cloudy weather made the
conditions very favorable for the latter
mentioned, and the result was an out
;,,
of the fungous disease known as cotton
anthracnose. This season the dry and
hot weather which has continued
throughout May and June, will, unless
July and August are extremely wet,
render a recurrence of this disease
extremely improbable. but it has been
very favorable to the insects.
Luckily most of the insect pests ara
restricted to a few generations per
year, and it will on that account re-
quire more than one favorable season
for such varieties to increase to alarm
ing numbers A few are, however, diff
ferent in their nature, producing new
generation every ten days or two
weeks, and these sorts will, unless
some other natural cause intervenes,
increase many thousand fold in the
course of a favorable season.
The cotton louise belongs to the lat
ter class. This insect only requires
about ten days to develop from a new
1y born young to an adult capable OF
producing young on its own account,
and the rate of increase would be al.
most beyond computation did not nat
ural causes intervene and prevent
such a disaster. 1t is very safe to
say that without such intervention
this insect alone would practically
ruin the cotton crop the first season
that it was allowed free sweep.
But nature takes care of her own
both plants and insects, and such a
calamity as that just mentioned will
probably never take place. So sure as
an insect passes the bounds pre-
scribed for it. and threatens serious
destruction of the varieties of plants
which serve as it's food, some Oh.
stacle arises which prevents further
increase, usually in the form of some
predacious enemy or more commonly
yet, of some dread contagious disease
which sweeps through the Insect ar.
mics and leaves hardly survivors
enoughh to continue the race. 1t is
only by some action of mankind that
the balance of nature is destroyed as
when some pernicious insect is intro
duced into a new country, or large
areas of land are made to produce
crops not eminently fitted for just that
locality
A very good illustration of natu
raj check to the, too rapid increase Of
a noxious insect has been called to the
attention of the State chronological
Departmnt several times OF late. The
season has been especially favorable
for the cotton louise, and many COM
plants have been received concerning
it. Recently, nearly every mail has
brought in descriptions or specimens
of new insect which the planters are
finding in numbers on their cotton,
and which they fear is going to work
them further mischief Most of these
inquiries have been from the middle
tier of counties; Washington, Jeffer-
son, Twiggs, Houston, Schhley, Monroe
and Marion, but other sendings were
from further south. 1t is with a great
\Ae~ deal of pleasure that
~ We are enabled to as.
~ sure our correspou-
~ dents that for once
~ ~ there is no harm to
be apprehended from
the abundance of the insect
in question, but most decidedly the
contrary 1t proves to be one of the
true lady-bugs, known as the CONVEX
gent Lady-Bug on account of the two.
converging white lines on the black