HISTORY OF RAVAGES, 1867. 29 



In Alabama they were first observed in Lowndes County. They came 

 in force by -the middle of August, and, much of the crop being young 

 from replanting, the damage was very great. In Montgomery County 

 they were not found until September 1. In Greene County the crop was 

 nearly ruined, and adjoining counties suffered severely. Florida escaped 

 this year without severe injury, and Georgia was almost unscathed. 

 The caterpillars were reported as far north as Wayne, Edgecombe, and 

 Franklin Counties, in North Carolina, but their numbers were few, and 

 they came late in the season. The damage was consequently insignifi- 

 cant. 



As we have before stated, the fact that the years 1804, 1825, and 1846 

 had been remarkable caterpillar years had given rise to the theory, cred- 

 ited by nearly every one, that the greatest ravages of the chenilles were 

 to be expected at intervals of twenty-one years, and, as a result, many 

 had been dreading the coming of 1867 as the fourth of these terrible 

 years. It proved, however, to be but little worse than 1866 as a year of 

 general destruction, and it certainly was not as bad as the following 

 year, 1868. In Texas, it is true, it was, perhaps, as destructive a year 

 as has been experienced, but in Louisiana it was no worse, and in other 

 States not so bad as the previous year. The crops in Texas suffered 

 greatly. In Colorado and Fayette Counties the ravages were the worst 

 ever experienced. As far west as Comal County the worms appeared 

 in tremendous numbers. In Austin County they were even worse than 

 in 1866, and four- fifths of the crop was destroyed. Northeast, in Polk, 

 Walker, Trinity, and Cherokee, the same state of affairs was to be seen. 

 Polk reports total loss. Our correspondent from Walker County says : 

 " They swept the fields like a besom of destruction," and in Cherokee 

 great damage was done. Although it has been an unusual thing for the 

 northern tier of Texas counties to suffer, Eed River County this time 

 reported almost a complete failure. In Louisiana they were more or less 

 destructive over the whole State, East and West Feliciana and Jackson 

 Parishes suffering perhaps the most. The crops of counties along the 

 river in Arkansas and Mississippi were partially destroyed, the interior 

 counties of the latter State suffering comparatively little. Their first 

 appearance was in June in Pike County, and before the season was 

 over this county had suffered severely. In Wilkinson they were very 

 destructive, as also in Covington, and later in the season as far north as 

 De Soto. In Alabama the losses were comparatively slight. Greene 

 County lost one-fifth of the crop, andPickeus perhaps more, but in other 

 parts no great injury was reported. Florida was also comparatively 

 exempt. There were few reports of losses from Georgia, Charleston 

 County sending in the only heavy loss 5 per cent. In South and North 

 Carolina the caterpillars were abundant toward the end of the season, 

 but their injuries were slight in the latter State, and not great in the 

 former. 



The believers in the twenty-one-year theory breathed more freely at 



