360 REPORT UPON-COTTON INSECTS. 



2, 2a, Z>, c, d, e, f, 



Most correspondents agree that warm, wet summers favor the multiplication of the 

 worm ; some specify that in hot, dry weather the young larvae die soon after hatching. 

 As to the effect of winters, several correspondents think that mild winters favor the 

 worms. Major Gamble, of Tallahassee, Fla., who has planted cotton in Middle and 

 Southern Florida from 1827 to the present time, says, " showery weather in June and 

 July after a mild winter " is favorable to the insect, and that " cold weather is injuri- 

 ous in proportion to its rigor." Per contra, Mr. Jones, who planted in Liberty County, 

 Georgia, from 1825 to 1865, writes : " The years preceding the most destructive appear- 

 ance of the worm were characterized by warm summers and severe winters." On 2a 

 he says : " I have seen the worm in both wet and dry seasons, and the only difference 

 noted was that in wet seasons the growth of the cotton was more luxuriant, and the 

 worms had more to feed on." 



3. 



Losses are stated very differently, as seen from the table. They are doubtless differ- 

 ent in different sections, being greater where the worms come oftener and in greater 

 force. Twenty-five per cent, for destructive years is probably a fair mean. 



4. 



Capt. L. S. McSwain commenced careful meteorological observations in Thomasville, 

 Ga., in April last, and gave me a record of winds, as follows : April, S. E. ; May, S. E. ; 

 June, S. W., and July, S. The United States Signal Office has regular stations at Sa- 

 vannah and Augusta, Ga., and Prof. F. J. M. Daly, of Pio Nono College, Macon, Ga., 

 reports also to the same office. These reports will give the department full informa- 

 tion on the winds. 



Correspondents agree almost unanimously that the worms do not eat on any partic- 

 ular side of the field ; if at the sides, always with reference to the condition of the crop. 

 Most commonly they appear in the body of the field, in low, rich places, or in luxuriant 

 cotton at any point. My own observation this year corresponds with this statement. 



The general testimony of correspondents is that the worm feeds only on cotton. 

 One says he has known them to eat corn-blades and crab-grass ; another told me they 

 attacked his sugar-cane. Per contra, I confined them twenty-four hours on the leaves 

 of sugar-cane and of okra, but they disturbed neither. Mr. Jones has likewise confined 

 them on various species of hibiscus, allied to cotton, but they ate none of them. 



5, a, &, c, d, e,f,g. 



Several report seeing moths in February, but there is no certainty that they were 

 the cotton-moth. Major Gamble, Leon County, Florida, reports seeing moths in the 

 cotton-field the latter part of May. Mr. William Jones reports from his notes, first 

 worms in Liberty County, Georgia, as follows : " The worms first made their appear- 

 ance in September, 1804, then not again until late in September, 1825; then September 

 5, 1840 ; September 19, 1843 ; August 18, 1846 ; August 26, increasing largely ; Septem- 

 ber 14, fields almost stripped ; by the 19th the fields were completely stripped. Au- 

 gust 20, 1847 ; August 18, 1852, these two years no harm done. I stopped planting in 

 1805 ; I have kept no notes since." Major Gamble gives from his notes, first worms in 

 Leon County, Florida, 1869, May, 12; 1872, June 29; 1873, May 24 ; 1874, July 2; 1875, 

 June 24 ; 1877, June 19; 1878, June 15. He also says: "Previous to the introduction of 

 new improved seeds they were observed about the middle of August. Referring to 

 IMI old journal which I have by mo, and kept by me, I discovered a few August 11, 

 1841. The winter of 1841 was cold, and in 1842 there was no damage to the crop by 

 the caterpillar. The winter of 1842, 1 find, was mild and drier, the first frost, November 

 10, killing the cotton, which was then green. July 15, 1843, 1 find a caterpillar chrys- 

 alis the crop of this year was destroyed." Mr. Jones planted before this early ma- 

 turing of cotton, and his dates would now be earlier. 



Correspondents usually report three broods. The larvae draw together the flexible 

 green leaves of any plant in the cotton-fields to form a resting place for pupae. 



Most correspondents make no mention of the chrysalis in winter. Hon. J. B. Jones, 

 Burke County, says: "They are to be seen in the chrysalis state after frost, I think, 

 but do not believe they survive the winter." Mr. William Jones, Liberty County, 

 says : " I have collected a number of chrysalides and hung them in a northern exposure, 

 where they survived a temperature of 12 Fahr. After this I left home and watched 

 them no longer." Mr. William Denham, Putnam County, reports finding chrysalides 

 alive under the bark of trees after frost, and Mr. Spencer, Mitchell County, finding 

 some in an old stump. There is no certainty that they were the pupae of Aletia. 

 Some farmers believe, from seeing brown pupae plowed up in winter and spring, 

 that the larvae of Aletia may accidently fall into cracks or holes in the earth and there 

 pupate and spend the winter. 



6. 



Correspondents report the natural enemies as birds (specifying bluebirds, rice-birds, 

 and quails), chickens, turkeys, wild and tame ; dogs, hogs, ants, and wasps. The two 



