HISTORY OF RAVAGES, 1876. 43- 



the season, and their coming in force later seemed all the more disas- 

 trous from being unexpected. The correspondent from Jackson County 

 said: "After the appearance of a fine top crop, the caterpillars made 

 their appearance in force and cut off all our hopes/' There were injuries 

 in many localities, notably in Columbia and Leon Counties. In Georgia 

 they were noticed in several localities, but their damage was very slight 

 In South and Xorth Carolina they appear not to have been noticed. 



In 1876 there was a general increase in the numbers of the caterpil- 

 lars and in the extent of their ravages. The following brief extracts 

 from, the monthly reports will serve to give a general idea of their preva- 

 lence and importance: 



The caterpillar is confined to the southerly portion of the Gulf States; its depreda- 

 tions are most severe in Alabama. In most of the infested districts its reproduction, 

 was too late to destroy the top crops. * * Caterpillars appeared about the mid- 



dle of July in Liberty County, Georgia, and stripped the plants of leaves, hut not so- 

 early as to materially injure the yield. Some damage by the caterpillars is reported 

 in Early County, and in Muscogee. * * * Caterpillars have reduced the yield in 

 Florida, notably in Columbia County. * f The caterpillar has been somewhat 



destructive to the top crop in portions of Alabama. The loss is estimated at 50 per 

 cent, in Conecuh ; at 40 per cent, in Hale (50 in the southern portion), where the 

 nelds were swept as early as the 1st of September. * ' The causes of injury in 



Mississippi are worms, drought, wet weather, and frosts. * f The causes for 



injury for 1876 may be summed up: drought on the Atlantic coast, the caterpillars in 

 the Gulf States, in Alabama especially, and the boll-worm in Arkansas. 



In Texas the caterpillars appeared in force much later than the pre- 

 vious year, but yet were sufficiently early to do considerable damage. 

 The localities of their earliest appearance in Texas have nearly always 

 been in the Colorado and Brazos bottoms, and these have also been 

 almost universally the worst affected localitias. This year, up the line 

 of those rivers, Matagorda, Waller, Austin, Fayette, Bastrop, and Bur- 

 net report the worst injuries that are reported from the State, while in 

 counties both south and north the worms were almost invariably too 

 late. In Victoria the worms appeared later than last year, but stripped 

 the leaves. In Lavaca only the late plantings were taken. In Mata- 

 gorda they were "bad," and in Austin made a "clean sweep." Burnet 

 lost 40 per cent, of the crop, but in Cherokee, Rusk, Upshur, and neigh- 

 boring counties, the damage was slight. In Louisiana and Arkansas 

 the damage this year was slight, and occurred principally in Rapides and 

 Caddo Parishes, Louisiana, and in Xevada County, Arkansas. In Mis- 

 sissippi, considerable injury was done, principally on the Alabama side 

 of the State, in the counties of Jasper, Clarke, Kemper, and Lowndes. 

 The Jasper County crop was greatly injured ; in Clarke the whole top 

 crop was taken ; in Kemper, the plants were stripped ; and in Lowndes, 

 a loss of from 35 to 50 per cent, was suffered. In other parts of the 

 State the worms appeared, doing the most harm in Covington, Wilkin- 

 son, Adams, Jefferson, and Rankin. Of these, Jefferson suffered the 

 most 25 per cent. In Alabama the worms were present in all parts of 

 the State, from Baldwin to Lauderdale. Few localities outside of the 



