15 
Mally also experimented in this direction and found that a modifica- 
tion of this remedy is more or less effective. He advises the planting 
of a few rows of cowpeas as a trap bordering the cotton fields. They 
should be planted so late as not to reach the height of blooming before 
the destructive August brood appears. A portion of the row should 
be sprayed over every night with a mixture of 4 ounces of beer to 2 
ounces of potassium cyanide solution. The moths will be attracted by 
this mixture and will be destroyed by it. The mixture dries readily; 
and hence if applied in the afternoon will not result in the destruction 
of any day-flying beneficial insects. 
Poisoning the worms.—The careful study which has been made of the 
natural history of the bollworm, particularly that by Dr. William Tre- 
lease, in Alabama, in 1880, shows that where arsenical poisons are 
applied for the so-called third brood of the cotton worm, about August 
1, many bollworms are destroyed. It is about this time that many 
young worms are hatching from the eggs and feeding for a longer or 
shorter space of time on the leaves before entering the bolls. It 
therefore thought at the time when Comstock’s report on cotton insects 
was written that the poisoning for the cotton worm, which was so 
strongly recommended and which was so necessary under the conditions 
governing at that period, would largely reduce bollworm injury. In 
fact, as we have shown in our opening paragraph, the bollworm itself 
at that time was by no means such a factor in cotton growing as it is at 
the present time. With the great reduction of damage done by the 
cotton worm and the great increase of that done by the bollworm, how- 
ever, poisoning for the cotton worm has become comparatively rare, and 
on account not only of the greater abundance of bollworms, but also of 
the consequent greater confusion of generations of this insect, and the 
fact that not more than half at the outside could be destroyed by poison- 
ing at any one given time, this method has largely lost its former value 
as a bollworm remedy. 
Trap crops.—In the intelligent handling of trap’ crops the cotton 
planter will find by far the most efficacious preventive of bollworm 
damage. This suggestion is an old one. I[t was proposed by Sorsby 
in 1855, by E. Sanderson in 1858, and by Peyton King in 1859. It was 
recommended by Comstock after careful preliminary observations by 
Trelease in 1879, and Riley in 1855 gives it at least equal rank as a 
remedy with poisoning. The complete development of the trap-crop 
system, however, rests upon the studies and recommendations made by 
Mally; and 8. B. Mullen, of Harrisville, Miss., has written in a most 
practical manner relative to corn. Mally’s recommendations are, in 
brief, when planting cotton leave vacant strips of 5 rows for every 25 of 
cotton. In these 5 rows, atthe earliest possible time, plant 1 row with 
an early maturing sweet corn. It should not be drilled in too thickly, 
as a minimum number of plants and ears is desired. During the silk- 
ing period frequent careful examinations must be made as to the 
