344 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONEE OF AGRICULTURE. 



As to actual observations upon birds, Mr. Glover says : 



Insectivorous birds also serve as very useful afjents in the diminution of the l)Oll. 

 vfornj. In proof of this fact I will state that I have seen a king-bird, or bee-martin 

 chase and cayitr.re a boll-worm moth not ten paces from where I stood, and which I 

 was in pursuit of at the same time ; also, that some young mocking l)ird8, kept in 

 their nest near an open window, were fed daily by their parents with insects, among 

 which were quantities of the boll- worm moth, as was proved by the ground under- 

 neath being strewn with their dissevered wings. 



As to pred}>ceous insect enemies, wehave already referred (see page 343) 

 to the most eifective — the ants — and further discussion will be unnec- 

 essary. Of the others, those doing most good wUl probably be the 

 wasps, the asilus flies, the devil's coach -horses, the lady-bird larvae, and 

 the golden-eyed lace-wing fly larvae. The ground -beetles will play a 

 more important part, in all i^robability, in destroying the boll-worms 

 than they do in destroying the cotton-worms, on account of the former 

 descending into the ground to pupate. 



Mr. Glover gives an account of a spider which is said to destroy the 

 boll-worn^., in the following words: 



Another description of a sraaU spider, about the tenth of an inch in length, of alight 

 drab color, with two or more dark spots on its back, was found very numerous inside 

 of The involucre or ruffle of the cotton-bloom, where it is said to be useful to the 

 planter in destroying very young boll- worms. In many cases, where the eggs of the 

 Doll- worm moth had been deposited and hatched out, and the young worms had eaten 

 through the outer calyx and already pierced a hole in the young bud or boll, it was 

 frequently observed that no worm cotild be discovered inside ; but, upon opening such a 

 ruffle, this small spider was almost invariably found snugly ensconced in its web; hence 

 it was sumiised tb.it the young worm had entered between the ruffle and the boll or 

 bud, and hj.d been destroyed by the spider, the nest of which was found in such situa- 

 tions. 



ARTIFICIAL REMEDIES. 



ToppiNCr. — Topping the cotton at a certain time of the year has been 

 urged as a means of destroying the eggs both of the cotton-worm and 

 boll-worm moths. It has already been shown that this would not prove 

 efficacious as a remedy for the cotton- worm, and the result would be the 

 same with the boll worm, it is true that some eggs would be destroyed 

 in this way, but actual count has shown that the destruction of those 

 eggs which are deposited upon the upi)er part of the plant would not 

 pay for the labor of topi)ing. 



Poisoning. — It lias always been said that the strong point of the boll- 

 worm lay in the fact that it worked within the boll, where no poison 

 could reach it, and that this method of destruction would jjrove of no 

 avail. Our study of the habits of the iusect has shown us, as before 

 sta.ted, that by far the greater number of the eggs are laid upon the 

 leaves, and that tbe newly-hatched larvae, before migrating to flower- 

 buds or bolls, almost ui variably feed to a greater or less extent upon the 

 leaf where they were born. This shows, then, that a well-distributed 

 poisonous mixture would, in all probability, destroy great numbers of the 

 young worms. Obser\'ation has also shown that well-grown boll- worms, 

 migrating from boll to boll, are also frequently killed by eating poisoned 

 leaves. There is, then, a double reason for poisoning worm-infested cot- 

 ton. The proper time for poisoning for the boll- worm, in regions where 

 there is reason to suspect an extensive migration from corn to cotton, 

 is a few days, say a week, after the fiill-grown worms are found in the 

 hardening ears of corn, or when the moths are observed to fly abun- 

 dantly after tbe ear has begun to harden. The poisoning for the third 

 brood proper of the cotton- worm and of the boll- worm can be done simul- 

 taneously. 



