330 EEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



Dieiisely ,iu,Tealcr im])0);tancc tliau those of any of tlio succeeding' broods. 

 Concei'uinj;- the later brootls, tlu; cost of ];oisoniny must be .set agaiusfc 

 the iiuuiiKii's of moths killed, and eacli p'antcr ma«t decide for himself 

 ■whether it will pay him to continue. 



FIKES, TRAP-LANTER^'S, ETC. 



For many years the practice of building large fires at different points 

 through the cotton fields for the purpose of attracting the liioths into 

 the flame v/as prevalent. The use of such fires v.as, however, discour- 

 aged by a class of planters, whose opinions were thus expressed l>y a 

 writer in De Bow's llevicw : 



I have tried this remedy, and have remained in my cotton fiekl after dark to -watch 

 the cifects of the fire on these fdes. I did not sec as many destroyed as I exjiected 

 when I took into consideration the quantity I knew to he in the field. The most of 

 those I saw apiiroacliiug the fire seemed to be reiielled or diver<jed off on nearing it, 

 or they wonld rebound high above it and escape destruction. On seeiug this I came 

 to the'conciusion that the heat of the large fires extended too far around, and that 

 they felt it, and tni-ned olf before being near cjiough to be destroyed. 



As a result of this belief and of the evident fact that, unless gene- 

 rally practiced, a fire upon one plautatioji would serve only to attract 

 moths from neighboring plantations, concentrating them upon one crop, 

 the custom has fallen into disuse. - 



The first of these objections cannot be urged, however, against the 

 use of trap-lanterns. As a good instance of the success of these last, 

 we quote the following from the monthly reports of this department for 

 18G7: 



Parisli of Jefferson, Louisiana. — Allow me to call your attention to the destruction of 

 the cotton crop by the worms, which appear to increase yearly. In 1864 I planted 

 about 100 acres in cotton. In July the worms made their appearance. Having no 

 experience in raising this crop, I searched in the agricultural reports for information. 

 Mr. Glover recommended the burning of trai)-lantcrns, and I made three of them with 

 a coal-oil lamp and tin basin, vrith soapsuds underneath, and burned them every 

 night. The first night I caught about 75 millers and innumerable other insects. The 

 iiumber increased to 300 millers, and then gradually diminished to none. For three 

 v.'eeks after the crops of my neighbors were destroyed ; I found only a few of my plants 

 attacked; about the last week of the thi'cs I caught no millers, but all at once the 

 catch was 75; next }iight 150, then iJOO, and even up to 500. The v.'orm, however, 

 gradually made its appearance more and more, until, in the middle of August, my 

 cotton was stripped of every leaf and bloom. The worm then turned into i)upa. In 

 ten days after this the miller again appeared. Meanwhile the cotton had sx^routed 

 again and was in full bloom, when the tiiird brood made its apr)earance in immense 

 mnnbers. In three days every leaf and young boll was eaten, and the wonn was 

 eating the bark of the ]>lant and the glazed i)rotection of the nearly matured bolls. 

 The heavy rains of September soaked into the bolls and rotted them. I made only 3 

 bales of cotton. In July the prospect was good for at least 75 bales. 



My opinion is that if everj^ planter would comynence burning a lantern in each 

 five acres, from the latter part of June to the middle of September, for a few years in 

 succession, both the boll-worm and the cotton-worm would be destroyed. The boll- 

 worm destroys about one-half the crop with us. This year none of my ueig'nbors raise 

 cotton. I have i)lanted about live acres, and shall burn one lamp, and inform the de- 

 liartment of the result. Cost of lantern and basin about §1.50, and the oil will not 

 cost over $1, so that if the increase is only 10 pounds to the acre it will more than 

 pay the expense. The first night I used the lantern on a barrel, but tlie insects were 

 alive in the morning, and it was considerable trouble to kill them. Afterv.ards I used 

 the soapsuds, as it killed all the insects at once. 



The following extract from a letter of IMr. E. A. Schwarz possesses 

 interest in this connection : 



Col. C. Lewis, of Hearue, Tex., after exjieriinenting for a long time with more or 

 less complicated contrivances to attract by liglit, and at. the same time to kill the cot- 

 ton-moth, concluded finally that the following simyile appar.Ttns is the most effeitive 

 and cheapest. As now iu use, this apparatus consists ot three ideces: 1st, a shallow 



