Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1911-10-11
NOT ARMY WORMS.
Experts State That Worm That
is Damaging Cotton is Cat
erpillar, Not Army
Worm.

The following from The Columbia
Record, giving the opinion of A.
G. Smith, of the federal department
of agriculture and of James Henry
Rice, secretary of the state Audu-
bon society, upon the worm that
has damaged late cotton throughout
the county,, will be of interest to
many of The Advertisers readers:
"The 1911 cotton crop in South
Carolina will be damaged just about
Q per cent on account of the sudden
and unexpected visit of the so-called
army worm," or cotton caterpillar,
in the opinion of Mr.. A. G. Smith,
of the federal farm agricultural de-
partment, stationed in Columbia.
Mr.. Smith has looked into the sur
prising aspect of the cotton crop
with some cafe and estimates that
the cotton in this state will be affect
ed lust about as if light frost
had fallen upon it.''
Cotton is so far to its maturity
at this time that although the
worms go through the field with an
astonishing rapidity and with a
most voracious appetite for leaves
and small bolls there can be littl e
real damage to the crop from this
cause, in Mr.. Smiths opinion.
Not The Army Worm.
Although the W orm is called the
6 army worm," Mr.. Smith does not
appear to believe that it is the spe-
cies familiarly known by this name.
The worm which has suddenly ap-
peared in the South Carolina fields
appears to feed upon nothing except
cotton, which is somewhat different
from the diet of the true army worm.
''The sudden invasion of South
Carolina fields by the pest, stimuli
taneously in various parts of the
state, is one of the things that is
not explained by those who bave
watched their movements. 1t is pre-
sumed that the worms were hatched
from eggs laid by some moth, and
willsooner or later go into the CO.
coon state. VI hen this moth appear
ed in the cotton fields, is not known.
The eggs were laid on the under
side of the leaves it is stated.
A Passing Affliction.
"It appears improbable, however,
that the plague is more than a tenn
poraryione. Because the worms are
in South Carolina this year, is no
indication whatever, tits stated that
they will be here next year, and it
is thought probable that they will
not.
s'The sudden appearance of the
ca terpillars throughout this state
is a phenomenon which is being
given considerable attention by
those interested in such appearance.
'The pests may be gotten rid of,
it is stated, by the use of paris green,
or some similar poison spray, but at
the same time this information is
oiven. it is also stated that it is
doubtful if the benefit derived would
be equal to the trouble and expense
of getting rid of the worms. A.
though apparently working havoc
in the cotton fields, the worms will
have only a very slight influence
upon the size of South Carolina's
cotton crop.
Mr. Rice's Opinion.
Mr.. James Henry Rice, secre tary
of the South Carolina Audubon So
ciety, says of the pest:
''The caterpillar now damaging
cotton in the state is not heliophila
unipuncta (the army worm), but the
cotton leaf caterpillar fargilacea
Alabama), a pest :hat has taken toll
of cotton ever since it was planted
in America, the damage running
from $15,o 100000 to S5o,ooo,OoO a
year, and even higher in exception
al years.
although moths are the parents of
both.
TN the first place the army worm
belongs to the same family as the
boil worm (hsliothis obsoleta) and
the common cutworm epsilon agro-
tis). They live in low, wet places
and certain years when they become
too numerous they are forced to mi
CRATE in search of food; it is then
they become a menace. A line of
army worms crossed South Carolina
in 1852, causing widespread dam
age; a mammoth host swung across
Alabama in 1881, which was "A
miles in length. This latter was
stopped by being parasitized by the
tiny Chalcis fly, the flies shooting
eggs into the bodies of the cater
pillar and the eggs Matching in two
days a maggot that destroyed the
caterpillar. Something similar hap
pened on the sea islands two years
ago.
The Leaf Caterpillar.
"The cotton leaf caterpillar is