‘ 
210 ° REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
INSECTS AFFECTING THE COTTON PLANT. 
Pursuant to an appropriation by the last Congress for the purpose 
and in accordance with your instructions, I have carried on a specia 
investigation of the insects injurious to the cotton plant. The commis- 
sion of inquiry was organized by the appointment of the following gen- 
tlemen: As special agents, Prof. J. H. Comstock, of Ithaca, N. Y., whose 
position as professor of entomology in Cornell University and whose 
experience with insects injurious to vegetation had well fitted him for 
such labor; and Prof. A. R. Grote, of Buffalo, N. Y., whom a residence 
of several years at Demopolis, Ala., and a special study of the cotton 
worm, had also well prepared for the inquiry. As local agents and ob- 
servers: Dr. EH. H. Anderson, of Kirkwood, Miss.; William J. Jones, of 
Virginia Point, Tex.; Prof. J. E. Willett, of Macon, Ga.; and Prof. 
Eugene A. Smith, of Tuscaloosa, Ala. Mr. H. A. Schwarz, of Detroit, 
Mich., has also been engaged during the winter to visit all the Southern 
States and the West India islands, with a special view of getting at the 
facts of hibernation. To Prof. Comstock was assigned the cotton region 
of Arkansas and Tennessee, and of Mississippi and Alabama north of 
Vicksburg and Meridian and the Alabama Central Railroad; to Mr. 
Grote, that of Florida and Georgia, and of Alabama south of the rail- 
road mentioned; while, with the assistance of the local observers, I have 
myself given more especial attention to the extremities of the belt, viz., 
Texas, Louisiana, Southern Mississippi, and the Carolinas. 
The following circular-letter was prepared for the use of agents, and 
distributed, with corresponding blanks, to correspondents in the cotton 
belt. It will explain the scope of the inquiry: 
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
Washington, D. C., July 22, 1878. 
Str: The entomologist of the department having prepared a series of inquiries for 
the special scientific observers to whom has been assigned the duty of studying the 
history and depredation of the worm known as Aletia argillacea,as well as other in- 
sects which injure the cotton plant, I have caused copies of these circulars to be printed 
ae sent you, in hope that you may feel interest enough in the subject to make report 
thereon. 
Should you do so, please observe carefully the following suggestions: 
Write only on one side of the paper blanks sent; and, if more room is desired to an- 
swer fully, write on another sheet, numbering and lettering to correspond with letter 
and number of question. 
. If any special points arise before the termination of the season, please communicate 
freely, marking your envelope “ cotton insects.” 
Respecttully, &c. . 
: WM. G. Le DUC, Commissioner. 
THE COTTON-WORM. 
This insect (Aletia argillacea,* Hiibu.) will naturally receive most attention, being, 
as itis, by far the most injurious of the different enemies of the cotten plant. \ Data 
are requested on all the following topics: 
PAST HISTORY OF THE COTTON-WORM. 
1. Give, so far as you can from trustworthy records, the earliest year in which cot- 
ton was grown in your State, county, or locality. ; 
la. During what year (exact or approximate) did the worm first make its appear- 
ance in your locality, and as far as you are aware, in the State; in other words, how 
many years elapsed after cotton first began to be grown before the worm began to 
work upon it? : 
1b. Specify the years when it has been unusually abundant and destructive. 
——— 
*The Noctua xylina of Say. 
