131 



CONCLUSIONS. 



A map of these cotton-producing States, -with tlie area of eacli county actually 

 used in a given year in cotton culture, indicated by a separate color, would 

 astonish planters themselves, and others could scarcely believe that a few- 

 counties in each State produced the bulk of its cotton crop, and that a small 

 portion only of the surface of those counties is whitened by the snowy product. 

 The best cotton soils ai'e therefore easily found, and may be indicated as fol- 

 lows, with reference to their fertility and present actual prominence in pro- 

 duction : 



1. The Mississippi bottoms, in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. 



2. The alluvial soils of the Red river. 



3. The rotten limestone soils of Warren, Hinds, and Madison counties, in 

 Mississippi. 



4. The canebrake lands and river bottoms of central Alabama. 



5. The bottom lands of Texas. 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTOX PLMTS.- 



COTTON CATERPILLAR, OR COTTON ARMY-WORM. 



-w. ^ 



O. 



Noctua (anomisj xylina. — fSAY.J 



The leaves of the cotton plant are sometimes entirely devoured by what is 

 commonly known to the cotton planters as the " cotton caterpillar " or " cotton 

 army-worm." In Florida this insect does not appear every year in such im- 

 mense numbers as to destroy the crops, but only at uncertain intervals. In 

 1855 the caterpillars made their first appearance in the vicinity of Tallahassee, 

 about the month of August, on the plantation of Mr. Hunter, and then spread 

 gradually through the rest of the plantations in that region ; and in October had 

 already committed considerable damage in several cotton fields, not so severe, 

 however, as had been anticipated. 



The perfect insect, or fly, when 

 at rest, is of a triangular shape, the 

 head forming one, and the eoctremi- 

 ties of the wings the other two 

 angles. The color of the upper 

 wings is reddish- gray, a dark spot 

 with a whitish centre appearing in 

 the middle of each. The under 

 wings are of a dark reddish-gray. 

 The moth of this caterpillar loses 

 much of its grayish cast when it 

 becomes older, and the down has 

 been rubbed from the wings. It 

 then assumes more of a reddish 

 tinge. 



The perfect flies, or moths, arc 

 easily attracted by lights, and may 

 be found resting in the daytime on 

 the walls or ceilings of rooms, attracted there, no doubt, by the candles or lamps 

 on the evening before. If undisturbed they will remain motionless during the 

 day, but as night approaches they fly off with much vigor and strength. AVhen 

 in the open air they may be found among and under the leaves of the cotton 



