Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1902-03-20
PLANTER.
TIE COTTON BOIL WORM.
Summary of a Lecture Delivered by
Prof. Naity before Texas Far
mers at Paris-

Mally's lecture "a the boil wormdciiv-
cred az Paris, Tex. 70 a meeting Of
representative farmers. is condensed
from the Paris Morning News:
Prof. Mally D~gaa his remarks b.
stating that he did not care 20 make
a speech. He gave his personal ex-
perieuce with farm work. ami more
especially II his work for the gov
eminent in experimenting with boil
worms He did this. he said. 70 get
the idea out of the minds Of those
who possibly had the opinion hal he
IS only = book farmer.
The first proposition was. the boil
worm Of cotton Is the corn worm.
While this worm feeds on cotton it
prefers corn. second 10 eorn il pre-
fers cowpeas. The alternating hab-
its Of this worm and the miller were
explained.
Il j. now in the ground in the
chrysalis form. about two inches
deep When il comes out early in the
spring IL comes As the miller. lie
recommended pulverizing the grouni
with 4 disc harrow set to 20 three
or four inches deep. This should be-
done both ways. thus separating the
worm from its silken bed. Some Of
them Will Perist through this process.
This Is only a preliminary move.
The next thing 20 be done is 70 plant
trap rows Of corn. four rows for every
five acres Of cotton.
There i a new generation Of these
worms every eighteen to twenty-five
day.. dependent upon the condition
of the weather. from the time they
begin Matching in the spring until the
worm goes into the chrysaIis form
for the winter.
The first two rows Of the corn are
planted at regular corn planting
time. one row the regular corn crop,
and the other row an early corn The
miller begins work on the corn quite
early, and il IS usually the second
generation that works on the silk.
and finally the ear. The different
times Of the coming in of the corn
gives the worms something TO do. La
ter on. about the first Of MAY. plant
another row of early corn. and then
about the first of June plant a row
of Mexican June corn. Each of
corn will catch an average Of two
generations of worms. He explained
why the worms prefer cotton. II is
because there is no corn at the time
they begin their depredations. They
appear in August and September.
sometimes in July. but very rarely.
Keeping up a continuous growth Of
corn keeps the pests away from the
cotton. This holds them within a min
imum of space. and as the different
generations come TO life on the diff
fersnt corn rows they can be killed
out by removing the corn. The eggs
are about the size Of a pin head. and
white just before they hatch a
black streak crosses them. Some
times they are black all over. when il
is lot advisable to remove the rows
OF corn. for the blackness is caused
by a small parasite that oores into
the egg and deposits its eggs therein.
This parasite Is the friend Of the
farmer. and more destructive 10 the
worms than any human agency
BE had found from experience that
20 make lights effective they must be
placed above the plants. that the fe-
male miller when depositing her eggs
strays down among the stalks, and
rarely flies above the tops. Those who
have used the lights catch thousands
of millers. ninety per cent. Of which
: males They never catch a fe-
male until it has passed the laying
stage Friendly insects are attract
ed oy light and are destroyed. Thus
instead of being beneficial the light
system Is worse than useless. Il does
not catch the particular miller you
are after. but kills the friendly mil
Ter.
II the farmer wishes he can plant
potatoes in the rows he has waiting
for the later planting Of corn. when
the conditions are such that the first
matured corn roy can be removed
that :. if the parasite Is not at work
among the eggs. 4 row Of cow-pears
can be planted This crop coming on
places before the worms another
plant that they would rather have
than cotton The worms are carniv-
erous and eanibalistic. When they
drst come out of the egg they eat it
up, then they eat everything within
their reach They shed their skins a
couple of times. and the first thing
they do is 10 turn and eat that. II
they are thick and mix together thev
eat each other. You Will rarely see
more than one full grown worm on
an a Of corn Sometimes there are
two. and in exceptional cases as
many as three They are so eannIbal-
isfic that when we go out TO catch
them for experimental purposes it IS
necessary TO take as many pill boxes
as we expect TO bring back worms. If
We were TO place two in the same
box We would have only one when We
reached home
IL the destruction is desired TO be
made more effective make a sweet
poisonous solution and spray the
corn and eow-peas with It. One ounce
Of arsenic in a gallon of water. two
gallons Of nolasses, and then adj
twenty-three gallons of water. This
should De sprayed from 5 20 s o'clock
in the evening. The friendly insects
have stopped feeding then and the