262 



EEPORT UPON COTTON INSECTS. 



sweets, it is a question for every planter to decide for himself from the 

 evidence laid down. 



There can be no doubt but that it would be an excellent plan to try it 

 in those regions where hibernation is suspected on the spots where the 

 worms first appear. The sweets should be put out in these places in early 

 spring and also in late fall. The importance of the latter is evinced 

 from the fact of Professor Smith's success in October. There can cer- 

 tainly be no doubt but that every moth killed saves the planter from 

 a great many worms, but the hibernating moths are, of course, of im- 

 mensely greater importance than those of any of the succeeding broods. 

 Concerning the later broods, the cost of poisoning must be set against 

 the numbers of moths killed, and each planter must decide for himself 

 whether it will pay him to continue. 



In I860 J. M. Heard patented a moth-trap, which has been quite ex- 

 tensively used 1 hroughout the 

 South. It consists simply of 

 a broad, shallow pan, which is 

 filled with the attracting mix- 

 ture, and a broader cover to 

 protect it from the sun and 

 rain. The figure represents a 

 vertical section. 

 FIG. 64.-Heaid' 8 moth-trap. As bait Mr . Heard recom- 



mends the use of molasses mixed with a little anise, fennel, or other 

 essential oil. " The oil," he says, " should be put in as much alcohol as 

 will dissolve it, and added to the molasses in the proportion of one-half 

 ounce of the oil to the gallon of molasses." They will need to be cleaned 

 out and replenished once a Aveek. 



FIRES, TRAP-LANTERNS, ETC. 



For many years the practice of building large fires at different points 

 through the cotton fields for the purpose of attracting the moths into 

 the flame was prevalent. The use of such fires was, however, discour- 

 aged by a class of planters, whose opinions were thus expressed by a 

 writer in De Bow's Review: 



I liavn tried this remedy, and have remained in my cotton field after dark to watch 

 the effects of the. fire on these flies. I did not see as many destroyed as I expected 

 when I took into consideration the quantity I knew to be in the field. The most of 

 those I saw approaching the fire seemed to be repelled or diverged oft' on Hearing it, 

 or they would rebound high above it and escape destruction. On seeing this I came 

 to the conclusion that the heat of the large fires extended too far around, and that 

 they felt it, and turned-off' before being near enough to be destroyed. 



As a result of this belief and of the evident fact that, unless gener- 

 ally practiced, a fire upon one plantation would serve only to attract 

 moths from neighboring plantations, concentrating them upon one crop, 

 the custom has fallen into disuse. 



