376 



Second lettkr — Yotirs of the 5th iustant received to-day. I now forward by 

 mail four boxes of specimens : No. 1 , gathered from Texas Blue-grass ; No. 2, from Rad- 

 ish; No. 3, from green Peas ; No. 4, from O.'its. I have placed tlieir respective foods in 

 the lioxes with each. * * * — [J. V. Dausby,Peusacola, Fla., March 9, 1887. 



Second reply. — Yours of the 9th iustant, with four boxes of Army Woi-nis, came 

 duly to baud. They are the genuine Army Worm {Levcauia iinq)iiucta). and therefore 

 you were right iu your surmise. This is, as stated before, an interesting fact, as the 

 insect has never been recorded as occurring iu injurious numbers so far south as 

 Pensacola. The proba bilities are that as soon as this brood of worms disajipcars you 

 will not be troubled with it again for some years to come. This same insect occurred 

 in great numbers at Hunts ville, Ala., in the spriug of 1882, but in this southern loca- 

 tion its natural enemies were so abundant that the large brood was almost entirely 

 killed off, and has not been destructive iu that locality since. You will probably 

 have a similar experience at Pensacola. — [March 14, 1887.] 



Third Letter. — * * * In your communications you expressed a wish that I 

 would give the details of this worm invasion in this section. They were first ob- 

 served in a field of Oats on the 21st of February, though doubtlessly they were there 

 some time before. Adjoining the Oats is an orchard which was in grass the past 

 season. Last summer and fall were remarkably dry. For two weeks before the 

 worms were noticed the weather was warm and iV'ggy, ^^'ith very little sunshiue. 

 The worms first appeared on the side next the orchard. The Oats were about 2 feet 

 high, very luxuriaut and growing rapidly. The worms seemed to go under the thick 

 leaves of the bunches of Oats at night, fed most freely from early morning until noon 

 and from that time until late in the afternoon thej' were in motion, crawling iu every 

 directiou see king new pastures. By the 15th of March, ■which was about twenty-five 

 days after first being observed, the most of them had gone into the pupa state. Their 

 favorite place for transformation seemed to be just barely below the surface of the 

 ground, around the Oat stubbles, where they can now be found iu large numbers. 



On the evening of the 28th of February a heavy rain fell, followed by a norther, 

 and on the morning of the 29th it was quite cool, with considerable frost, to which 

 the worms appeared to be perfectly indifterent. A heavy rain also fell on March 8 

 without any effect. Besides the Oats, the worms manifested a liking for Wheat, Blue- 

 grass, Corn, green Peas, Cabbages, and Radishes; also did some damage to Tomatoes 

 and Egg-plauts. They seemed to be inditferent as to Lettuce, Onions, Strawberries, 

 Dewberries, Melons, and Cucumbers, neither did they feed on Butler Weed (Gna- 

 phaJium pnriyureum) or Mexican Clover (Richardsonia scahra), to which they had abun- 

 dant access. In couclusiou, I will state that my Oats are entirely destroyed, and that 

 I saved my other crops by the free use of London purple. Although not a great many 

 were killed by the poison, yet they would refuse to feed upon any plant to which it 

 was applied. I am of the opinion that had I used it freely upon my Oats at the be- 

 ginning they could have been saved from destruction. I have heard of no worms 

 anywhere in the country except on my place. * * * — [J. V. Dansby, "NewFarm," 

 near Pensacola, Fla., March 18, 1887. 



The Camellia Scale. 



Can you suggest any remedy for this insect on my Camellias ? The trees are about 

 12 feet high and all the leaves on the under side are covered with the insect; some 

 look as if there were cotton growing ou the leaves. It appeared here about five or 

 six years ago. I have washed every leaf with whale-oil soap at one time, at another 

 with resin soap, and at another with castor-oil, noue of which has done any good. 

 About the middle of March, when the trees make new leaves, all the old ones fall ; 

 the insect then appears about May or June on the new leaves. I send some of the 

 leaves by this mail. — [Robert Halliday, Liberty Road, Baltimore, Md., January 14, 

 1887. 



