106 



THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OP 



of the in vol ucel or outer calyx of the flower or young boll, and each 



female moth is capable of 

 thus consigning to their 

 proper places, upwards of live 

 hundred eggs. Mr. (J lover, in 

 his account of the Boll-worm, 

 published in the Monthly Re- 

 port of the Department of 

 Agriculture for July, 1866, 

 says: "Some eggs of the 

 Boll-worm moth hatched in 

 three or four days after being 

 brought in from the field, the 

 enclosed worms gnawing a 

 | hole through the shell of 

 the egg and then escaping. 

 They soon commenced feed- 

 ing upon the tender fleshy 

 substance of the calyx, near 

 the place where the egg had been deposited. When they had 

 gained strength, some of the worms pierced through the calyx, 

 and others through the petals of the closed flower-bud, or even pene- 

 trated into the young and tender boll itself. The pistils and stamens 

 of the open flower, are frequently found to be distorted and injured 

 without any apparent cause. This has been done by the young Boll- 

 worm ; when hidden in the unopened bud, it has eaten one side only of 

 the pistils and stamens, so that when the flower is open the parts in- 

 jured are distorted and maimed, and very frequently the flower falls 

 without forming any boll whatever. In many cases, however, the 

 young worm bores through the bottom of the flower into the imma- 

 ture boll before the old flower falls, thus leaving the boll and involu- 

 cel or envelope still adhering to the foot-stalk, with the worm safely 

 lodged in the growing boll. The number of buds destroyed by this 

 worm is very great, as they fall off when quite small, and are scarcely 

 observed as they lie brown and withering on the ground beneath the 

 plant. The instinct of the Boll-worm, however, teaches it to forsake 

 a bud or boll about to fall, and either to seek another healthy boll, or 

 to fasten itself to a leaf, on which it remains until at length it ac- 

 quires size and strength sufficient to enable it to bore into the nearly 

 matured bolls, the interior of which is nearly destroyed by its at- 

 tacks, as, should it not be completely devoured, rain penetrates 

 through the hole made by the worm, and the cotton soon becomes 

 rotten and will not ripen. ****** * * 



One thing is worthy of observation, and that is, whenever a young 

 boll or bud is seen with the involucre spread open, and of a sickly 

 yellow color, it may be safely concluded that it has been attacked by 

 the Boll- worm, and will soon perish and fall to the ground. * * * 



