APPENDIX II ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 399 



The -winter just past was an exceptional one for coldness, and still the worms have 

 annually appeared. But in all years when they have done most damage the summers 

 and fall were unusually wet. [Douglas M. Hamilton, West Feliciana. 



From my best recollection the summer was pleasant and dry, the winter mild and 

 wet. [Dr. I. U. Ball, West Feliciana. 



The summers preceding are generally dry, and winter variable. [John A. Mary- 

 man, East Feliciana. 



MISSISSIPPI. 



Having kept no memorandum of weather, cannot say as to character of preceding 

 summers or winters when the worm has been destructive ; but nothing in the history 

 of the worm has induced me think that its invasion depended upon the character of the 

 preceding seasons. Yet. my opinion would be that it would be more npt to appear after 

 a mild winter. [Dr. E. H. Anderson, Madison. 



Late springs, when cotton gets a late start, the stalk being succulent and sappy 

 when they attack its leaves, and with but little matured fruit on it, the worms prove 

 most disastrous. [C. F. Sherriod, Lowndes. 



Some kinds of cotton are more attractive to worms than others. Cotton with short 

 branches and rich foliage, such as the Dickson and Sugar-loaf, which forms a thick 

 shade near the main stalk, is in greater danger than cotton with long or scattering 

 branches. During a dry year the Dickson beats all other cotton, but during a wormy 

 year it amounts to nothing in this locality. [Kenneth Clarke, Chickasaw. 



Winters that have been mild are followed by the worm more abundant and destruc- 

 tive. Last winter with us very mild, the spring very wet, the summer very hot or 

 wet, and a big crop of worms from July as the result. [John C. Russell, Madison. 



Hot and moist. [J. W. Burch, Jefferson. 



Summers wet and mild, winters severe ; I have never seen them so numerous in sum- 

 mers following warm, open winters. This I regard as one indication that they byber- 

 nate here to a limited extent. When not benumbed by cold, vitality and activity are 

 aroused in the moth, and during " warm spells" it must sally forth to seek food. In 

 these flights it may be captured by birds, benumbed by cold air, or otherwise pre- 

 vented reaching its safe retreat, or, as often occurs to bees, the " warm spells " would 

 tend to mature the chrysalis also, and hatch eggs prematurely, thus causing their de- 

 struction by cold, want of food. S?e. We frequently see moths of various species ven- 

 ture out during winter and perish by these means. [D. L. Phares, Wilkinson. 



The winter'of 1876-77, as well as the summer of 1877, was unusually dry, the rains 

 nearly all being quite light. The winter of 1877-78 was perhaps as to moisture an 

 average winter, but the summer of 1878 was remarkable for the number of extraordi- 

 nary heavy rains that fell up to the 1st of July, when they were succeeded by drought 

 for from three to five weeks, ordinary weather following. The winter of 187G-77 was 

 very cold; that of 1877-78 was the most regular that has come in thirty years; the 

 spring and summer until July 1 were unusually cool; but after July 1 the weather 

 was the hottest remembered. The injury in 1877 was much greater than in 1378. 

 [C. Welch, Covington. 



The year 1873 was a most destructive one ; the winter preceding that, 1S72-73, waa 

 as cold a winter as any I have known for years. [Daniel Cohen, Wilkinson. 



The summers of 1837 and 1878 were the two wettest since the worm first made its 

 appearance. [Samuel Scott, Madison. 



The character of the preceding winter or summer does not seem to have had any in- 

 fluence on the worm. [J. Culbertson, Rankin. 



They are thought to be most abundant after a mild winter. [W. Spillman, Clarke. 



As a rule a dry summer has preceded the year the worm put in his appearance, but 

 I do not believe that has any influence on the worm ; but continuous rains will bring 

 the worms to the cotton-fields. [George V. Webb, Amite. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



The worm always appears after a long wet spell in August and September. [J. 

 Evans, Cumberland. 

 Cold o'r mild winter has no effect. [F. I. Smith, Halifax. 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



The summers have generally been warm and rather dry ; the springs opening early, 

 so that the cotton would be well grown and advanced toward maturity at an early 

 date; as to the winters nothing uniform has been noticed, and we believe that this in 

 no way affects the worm. [James W. Grace, Colleton. 



Warm and wet summers and a mild and dry winter are apt to be favorable to a good 

 "crop" of the caterpillar. [James C. Brown, Barnwell. 



TENNESSEE. 



A mild winter, accompanied by a good deal of snow, with a summer succeeding as 

 described in 2 a. have preceded years in which the worms have been most abundant 

 and destructive. [A. W. Hunt, Perry. 



