80 W A L L ' S M A N U A L 



thus greatl} T diminished. Some successful experi- 

 ments in killing these rnoths with molasses and 

 vinegar, were made by Col. Sorsby, the details of 

 which follow in his own words : " We procured 

 eighteen common- size dinner plates, into which we 

 put a half a gill of vinegar and molasses, previously 

 prepared, in the proportion of four parts vinegar to 

 one of molasses. These plates were set on stakes 

 driven in the ground in different parts of the cotton 

 field, with a six-inch square board tacked on top to 

 receive the plate; each plate occupying an area of 

 about three acres, and in height a little above the 

 cotton plants. These arrangements were made in 

 the evening, soon after the flies made their appear- 

 ance. When examined the next morning, we found 

 from eighteen to thirty- five flies to each plate. 

 Yv r e continued the experiment for five or six days, 

 extending the plates over the entire field, each 

 day's success decreasing, until the number was 

 reduced to two or three only to the plate, when 

 it was abandoned as not being longer worthy of 

 the trouble. The crop was but little injured by 

 the boll-worm. The flies were caught, in their 

 eagerness to feed upon the mixture, by alighting in 

 it, when they were unable, from its adhesive nature, 

 to make their escape. The plates should be visited 

 every evening, the insects taken out, and the plates 

 replenished with the mixture, as the moths feed only 

 at night." AVc have since tried the experiment, 

 with results equally satisfactory. 



INSECTS BENEFICIAL TO COTTON. 



Spiders. Spiders in the cotton or grain fields are 

 decidedly beneficial, as they wage perpetual war 



