EXPERIMENTS WITH POISONED SWEETS. 261 



prevailed until the last day of our stay, and the moths had then almost 

 entirely disappeared. 



" My own opinion is that peaches, in some form, will be the best vehi- 

 cle for poison for the moths." 



A letter from Judge Bailey, of Marion, Ala., contains the following, 

 bearing on this point : 



One farmer informed me that the moths utterly destroyed a large fig crop in less than 

 a week. Another informed me that all his best apples were punctured and sucked 

 into a sort of honey-comb work by the cotton-miller. A physician in the northwest 

 part of the country assured me that the army-worm sucked his grapes dry in three 

 nights. I know the moths arc strongly attracted by cider pomace from the cider-mill. 

 They feed upon ripe persimmons with great avidity. I observed them arouud a tree 

 of this kind on my lot as late as the 21st of November last. While they were feeding 

 on the fruit of this tree I make some efforts to poison them, but with poor success. I 

 tried several poisons handed me by an apothecary ; only one had any effect. It was 

 cobalt, finely powdered, and mixed with the fruit mashed with a small quantity of 

 honey. The flies sought the bait in great numbers, but, like bees, they sucked their 

 fill and left ; only nine were found dead around the saucer containing the poison. 



With respect to observations the present year, the following from Mr. 

 Trelease's report will give the results at which he arrived : 



Since the perfect form, or moth, of Alelia is known to feed upon sugared substances 

 and fruits, and since it is known to be attracted by light to a certain extent, it has 

 been thought possible to destroy the moth by allowing it to feed on poisoned sweets, 

 or by employing this food or lights to attract it into traps of various sorts. 



As will be seen by referring to my report on the food of these moths, they are at- 

 tracted in large numbers by ripe apples, peaches, and grapes, beside one or two other less 

 common fruits ; but I signally failed to attract them in numbers to my mixtures of molas- 

 ses or sugar and various substances. Though no experiments on a large scale were con- 

 ducted, I feel confident that poisoned dishes of ripened and slightly fermenting fruits 

 which have been bruised may be advantageously employed for the destruction of these 

 moths, by placing them about the cotton fields when the moths are flying. I would 

 recommend that this be tried, especially on warm days in winter, when the moths 

 are allured from their hibernacula, in the early spring, and in the fall, after the brood 

 which destroys the cotton have emerged as moths. 



From all observations it seems probable that a preparation of over- 

 ripe fruit peaches, melons, mashed .apples, or persimmons will be 

 superior to any other sweet mixture for the purpose of attracting the 

 moths, although, as shown by Professor Smith, one-half each of rum 

 and molasses and water, when smeared upon the trunks of trees, has 

 proved attractive. 



Actual results with poisons have proved rather unsuccessful, but this 

 may be owing to the fact that the moths fly away to die. As regards 

 the best poison, Judge Jones seems to have had excellent success with 

 arsenite of soda, while Judge Bailey considers the so-called "cobalt"* 

 the best thing that he tried. It is also called " blue-stone" or " fly-stone," 

 arid is customarily used in fly-poisons. 



And now, as regards the advisability of an extensive use of poisoned 



*The ordinary cobalt of druggists is nothing more nor less than impure metallic 

 arsenic, costing from 6 to 15 cents per pound. Called cobalt on account of former laws 

 against the selling of arsenic in England. 



