OP AGRICULTURE. 79 



corn, and placed upon thorn only when the corn has 

 become too old for their food. Col, B. A. Sorsby, of 

 Columbus, Ga., has bred both insects, and declares 

 them to be the same ; and moreover, when, according 

 to his advice, the corn was carefully wormed, on 

 three plantations, the boll- worms did not make their 

 appearance that season on the cotton ; although 

 on neighboring plantations they committed great 

 ravages. 



The worms vary much in coloring and marking, 

 some being brown, while others are almost green ; 

 all are more or less spotted with black, and slightly 

 covered with short hair. These variations in color, 

 perhaps, may be caused by the food of the cater- 

 pillar, which appears in every shade between the 

 two. The chrysalis is of a bright chesnut- brown, 

 and the moths of a tawny yellowish color; the upper 

 wings are yellowish in some specimens, with a shade 

 of green, but in others, red. There is an irregular 

 dark band running across the wing, about one-eighth 

 of an inch from the margin, and a crescent- shaped 

 mark near the center of the wing. Several dark 

 spots, enclosing a white spot, are also discerned on 

 the margin. The under wings are lighter colored, 

 with a broad black border on the margin, and also 

 veined distinctly with the same color. 



The destruction of these moths has been sought 

 by various expedients. Lighted fires in various 

 parts of the cotton field, at the season when the 

 insects first make their appearance, have been 

 attended with great benefit; millions, attracted by 

 the light, perish in the flames ; and if the first brood 

 of females be thus destroyed, their numbers must be 



