140 REPORT UPON COTTON INSECTS. 



Turkeys and chickens feed on the worms and chrysalis. Poultry near houses thin 

 them out greatly. [R. H. Powell, Union Springs, Bullock County, Ala. 



Chickens, turkeys, and almost all kinds of fowls are very eager after them in this 

 locality. [J. L. Hausberger, Tionus, Bibb County, Alabama. 



Cotton planted near farm-houses has been greatly protected by the fowls eating 

 them. [J. D. Johnston, Sumterville, Alabama. 



Immediately around the cabin where there is poultry and turkeys, the cotton will 

 not be destroyed. [H. A. Stollewerck, Uniontown, Perry County, Alabama. 



Turkeys eat them eagerly, and a cotton-field near a dwelling has been preserved by 

 the turkeys. Chickens also eat them, but their height prevents them from destroying 

 them as effectually as the turkeys. A. Jay, Jayville, Conecuh County, Alabama. 



Chickens, turkeys, and geese eat them. [F. M. Meekiu, Morrison's Mills, Alachua 

 County, Florida. 



Chickens are very destructive to them. The guinea-chicken is of more value, as it 

 travels farther. [S. P. Odom, Drayton, Dooly County, Georgia. 



When the worms are numerous the fowls and birds gather to the cotton-fields and 

 remain there, daily feeding on them. [D.M.Hamilton, Saint Francisville, West 

 Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. 



The common fowls will eat them. [Jno. A. Maryman, East Feliciana Parish, 

 Louisiana. 



Having occasion to move my fowls during the summer to a location near the cotton 

 fields my chickens took to the field and ate so many worms that they did not care for 

 other kind of food, and seemed to do well on them. Turkeys and guinea-fowls are 

 very fond of them. [C. F. Sheirod, Columbus, Lowndes County, Mississippi. 



Ducks, geese, and chickens, most small birds, and especially turkeys, wild and 

 tame. [C. Welch, Station Creek, Covington, Mississippi. 



Chickens and turkeys also feed on them. They both soon learn to find the chrysalis. 

 I have often seen chickens jumping up for them. A few years ago I called to see a 

 friend in an adjoining county who had a large plantation, and found his cotton 

 stripped of its leaves, except a ten acre field near his house. On inquiry, he told me 

 that his turkeys had kept the worms from injuring that field. It was then the third 

 crop of worms. [W. Spillman, Enterprise, Clark County, Mississippi. 



Our domestic turkeys are the greatest enemies of the worm. [Geo. F. Webb, Amite 

 County, Mississippi. 



I saved a small lot of cotton near the residence by feeding the turkeys in it. [C. B. 

 Richardson, Henderson, Rush County, Texas. 



From these multiplied evidences it seems clear, notwithstanding con- 

 trary reports, that much can be done toward the extermination of the 

 cotton- worm with the aid of domestic fowls where poisons are not used ; 

 this latter contingency, of course, rendering it necessary to carefully 

 isolate the fields from poultry. Concerning the general use of fowls as 

 insect-destroyers, Prof. Samuel Aughey has the following : * 



It is also probable that the value of chickens and turkeys for the general destruc- 

 tion of insects is underestimated. Those who have carefully examined the stomachs 

 of chickens and turkeys taken at random from a farm-yard have often been surprised 

 at the number of insects that they had confiscated. One turkey that I piirchased in 

 a butcher-shop in Lincoln, Nebr., in October, 1874, had 47 locusts and 23 other insects 

 in its stomach. One that I dissected in October, 1873, had in its stomach 53 of our 

 common insects. When domesticated they retain the eating habits of their wild state 

 and take every insect that crosses their path. I have rarely examined the stomachs 

 of chickens without finding some insects. The exceptions to this rule have been gen- 



* First Annual Report, U. S. E. C. on Rocky Mountain Locust, p. 339. 



