EEPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 331 



tin pail (If) hy 10 iucbcs); 2cl, u coujiuou kero8e.ue-la.mp, witli a li;ilf-incli wick, aud 

 large cuouglito biuu tbe whole uiglit. ; 3il, a comuiou lautcru, open IjoIow, which Is 

 l)ut over the lamp to protect it I'rom -vviud and raiu. The lam]) is juit in the middle of 



cue tablespoonfnl of keroseue is jiut on the water. 



To put this keroseue on the water is the most important part, and the colonel ex- 

 perimented ^Yith all sorts of chemicals — alcohol, camphor, iocline, &c. — without linding 

 anything which would kill the moths, Avhich, attracted by the light of the lamp, Hy 

 against the lantern and fall linally into the water. Kerosene alone proved most ettVc- 

 tive in killing these moths. The lamps are left burning in dark nights the whole 

 night over, but are, of course, of but little use at full moon. In the morning the pans 

 are emptied and the lamps extinguished. Colonel Lewis believes that one lamp for 

 each 5 acres is sufficient. One man can attend to 500 acres. The cost of a lamp (which 

 is manufactured by 11. K. Davis & Co., Ilearnc, Tex.) is ^)0 cents, but will last, of 

 course, for many yeai'.s. The cost of burning one lamp and labor amounts to 35 cents 

 per month. Colonel Lewis put his lamps out last year the 20th or 25th of .June, and 

 had them in use about six weeks, Avith interruptions caused by clear moonlight nights. 

 Almost all the large farmers used these lanterns last year, and it is estimated that in 

 the hottom-lands near Hcame more than 1,000 lanterns were out in 1878, which is 

 the j&rst year in which this method of killing the millers has been tried on a large 

 scale, and it is not possible to say anything that is definite regarding its value. There 

 has been last year no poLsoning of the worms carried on whatever in this section, not- 

 withstanding the crop was a fair one — about one bale iier acre. 



Myriads of the cotton-moths have been killed, of course, by this method, and it 

 appeai-s certain that it proved most eftectual against the ravage of the boll-worm, 

 which in 1877 did more harm here than Aleiia (the cotton crop in 1877 was here a 

 perfect failure, owing to the combined ravages of Aleti a aud Helioilm), and which was 

 killed in great numbers by this method. Before the introduction of the method just 

 described, the large i^lanters iu the bottom-la.nds tried to poison the worms, but with 

 little success. 



The method described above to destroy the cotton-moth is, in my opinion, superior 

 to all similar methods and to all applications of poisons ; but the lanterns ought to 

 ■be lighted up at the beginning of May, if not earlier, and not toward the end of June. 



Tlie following extract from Mr. Trelease's report give the results of liis 

 observations upon, tiiis point : 



From what has been said in the earlier agricultural reports, and from the testimony 

 of planters as to the attraction of light for tbese moths, I had supposed that the easiest 

 and most scientific method of destroying Aleiia was to emjjloy fires into which they 

 should be attracted, or lights in combination with some form of trap, either with or 

 without tlie added attraction of food ; these to be used whenever the moths were fly- 

 ing, and their use enforced, if necessary, by legislation. Considering, for the above 

 reasons, that the fondness of these moths for light was jiroved, I made no efi"oi-ts to 

 obtain iiersonal demonstration of the fact; and it was only on learning how manj^ 

 species of moths and even of other insects may pass for Aletia with the ordinary ob- 

 server, and on seeing from my notes how little attention was paid to the light of my 

 lantern, that I began to doubt the efficacy of this remedy; but this, unfortunately, 

 was after I had left the field. As it is, I can only say that the number attracted to 

 lights, as compared with the entire number, was very small, so far as my experience 

 goes. Though I saw a few dozen attracted into the house, thousands were within 

 sight of the light and removed but a few rods ; while for each of those thus attracted 

 a dozen individuals belonging to other species came to the light. My own observa- 

 tion, then, goes to show that these moths are not attracted to any great extent by 

 lights ; but if this attraction should be ijroveu to be considerable, this v.'oixld prove 

 one of the best ways of dea.ling with the pest. 



On the whole, the conclusion at which we anived in regard to the 

 use of the laiiterus is much the same as that which we have stated of 

 poisoned sweets. Early in the spring and late in the fall they should 

 t)e tried. Their use in the months between June and October will de- 

 pend upon how efficacious other remedies have been, and upon the 

 actual success of the trap used. In the seasons mentioned first, the 

 planter must not be discouraged at the small proportion of cotton- 

 moths to other moths, remembering the fact which we have so often 

 reiterated, of the immense economic importance of every hibernating 

 individual. It is v.'ell, also, to bear in mind that almost without excep- 



