224 



REPORT UPON COTTON INSECTS. 



barrel of water, would injure the cotton, it killed remarkably few 

 caterpillars. 



A light but steady rain fell all of the night following August 13, con- 

 tinuing through the next day and night and a part of the 15th. An 

 examination of the cotton after this rain showed that little poison was 

 then adhering to the leaves. In all of my experiments I found that full 

 grown caterpillars never ate the poison, but webbed up immediately 

 after it was applied. These excepted, there were few living worms on 

 any of these sections excepting 14 where I could not see that the poison 

 had done any good. On the 21st of August most of the foliage had 

 been eaten from this section, while little was removed from the adjoin- 

 ing ^ection 13. When I compared section 12 with the impoisoned cotton 

 on a neighboring plantation from which it was separated only by a 

 ditch at this latter date, I could see that the arsenic had done good, 

 for the cotton was not nearly so badly eaten where the poison was used 

 as just across the ditch, and at the time of poisoning it was infested 

 worse than the other. 



Much of this cotton was as high as the top of the wagon-box, and 

 there was none that was not bent as the axle passed over it ; yet I found 

 that very little damage was done by driving down the rows, though oc- 

 casionally bolls were jolted off, and now and then the driver ran the 

 wheels on a row so as to injure it, but this was the result of careless- 

 ness. Unless cotton is very high and closely interlocked between the 

 rows I should not hesitate to drive a large-wheel wagon over it if 

 necessary in poisoning. 



August 29, five sections were poisoned as shown in the following table. 

 But one pump was used, the nozzle of which had been reamed so as to 

 discharge a larger quantity of water for a given expenditure of labor. 

 With this we were able to distribute 40 gallons of water per acre. As 

 before, one man drove and another hauled water to the side of the field. 



* Asz 0s., 384 grains. Ka COa, 384 grains. Hz O., 3 quarts. 



In preparing Fowler's solution on a large scale the potassium carbonate may bo replaced by the much 

 cheaper sal-soda. As recommended by Capt. N. D. Cross, of Selma, sal-soda and gray arsenic are taken 

 in equal proportions by weight; the soda is dissolved in a little boiling water, tho arsenic is then added, 

 and, when dissolved, water is added in such quantity as to make one gallon of the solution for each 

 ounce of arsenic used. He recommends the use of 1-1J gallons of this normal solution for each barrel 

 of water. 



