APPENDIX II ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 485 



There is a small worm that generally comes in advance of the regular caterpillar, 

 that bores into the forms before the bloom comes out, and it has been my opinion that 

 the damage caused by these is as heavy as auy caused by the caterpillar. The said 

 worms are called by some farmers the pierce- worm or boll-worm, as they seem to attack 

 the bolls while young, causing them to fall off. I have observed as many as one-half 

 dozen squares or forms on one stalk that had fallen off from attacks of these worms. 

 [H. C. Brown, Wilcox. 



I will here remark that there are several kinds of moths which wrap up in the cot- 

 ton-leaf, and the chrysalis looks not unlike the chrysalis of the genuine cotton eater, or 

 Aletla arglllacea, but ha is ''another fellow" entirely, and of different habits and ap- 

 pearance; some of them white and black spotted and various colors. But one kind of 

 raoth produced the genuine cotton dragon, and the cotton caterpillar (Aletia argillacea) 

 and boll-worm are the only insects (lice excepted) which are destructive to the cotton- 

 plant in this vicinity or the Southern States. [I. D. Driesbach, Baldwin. 



Wet weather seems favorable to the boll-worm, which bores into the boll, generally 

 does most damage on damp, rich land, and bores the boll while young and tender. 

 Bnd-worms injure cotton while very young, in cool, wet weather, generally last of 

 April and through May. Lice come on cotton in June and first of July ; grasshoppers 

 generally in April and May. [George W. Thagard, Crenshaw. 



I believe the boll-worm has done a great deal more damage in the aggregate than 

 the cotton-worm. The latter stripped my cotton of foliage about the 1st of October 

 this year, and I think without any damage. If the cotton was very rank, the leaves 

 eaten off' at that time would increase the maturing and opening. [C. C. Howard, 

 Autauga. 



ARKANSAS. 



Cotton has been remarkably healthy, and I have not seen or heard of a " boll- 

 worm" at any time in the county, nor any other worm or insect injuring the crop, ex- 

 cept a few crops occasionally injured in the spring by " cotton-lice." It is not common 

 for boll-worms to be found this far north. South of 34 is the section where they are 

 found, and 32 and 33 is their home ; consequently I have no report to make in regard 

 to them, as the last I saw was over twenty years ago in Middle Georgia. [T. W. 

 Cochran, Fulton. 



We sometimes have foliage of the plant and the shuck from around the boll eaten 

 off by a kind of caterpillar or grass-worm. When it preys upon the smaller growth (on 

 poor land) it may injure it to some extent ; but it is an advantage to the larger or more 

 luxuriant plants, giving better air and sun to the boll, thus insuring better maturity 

 and earlier opening. [Alfred A. Turner, Bradley. 



The other insect most destructive to cotton is the boll- worm, and I have as yet not 

 been able to make any observations upon it that are satisfactory or learn from 

 others anything reliable. The boll-worms appear every year. The moth or fly de- 

 posits an egg inside the young boll by means of an ovipositor. The larva destroys the 

 boll which falls off. Parties tell me of different kinds of insects ; some speak of a moth 

 and some of a fly. I am inclined to think there are two insects, a fly besides the reg- 

 ular boll-worm moth. [E. T. Dale, Miller. 



The boll worm is the only insect that has injured the cotton in this county. I am, 

 therefore, not prepared to give any information about any other insect. And but for 

 the serious damage this year to crops, no one could have noticed the boll-worm ; but if 

 we should have a very severe winter and a late cold spring, with no south winds, it may 

 be several years before we are troubled with, them again. [T. S. Edwards, Pope. 



FLORIDA. 



The cotton-plant has other enemies in Florida. Among them is the red bug. Some- 

 times this bug is very injurious. It multiplies very rapidly, will live through the win- 

 ter, unless the cold is very severe, and endure until the cotton is ready for it, that is, 

 when the bolls are matured and commence to open. It subsists by sucking the seed. 

 This action stains and otherwise damages the lint. This bug is more destructive in 

 new land, and has not troubled this section seriously within ten or twelve years. Then 

 there is what is called the green bug. This insect does its mischief by Mucking the limbs 

 and branches of the plant, which causes them to die or wither. There is also the black 

 buy, which sucks the bolls before they are opened, and damages the cotton somewhat 

 like the red bug. The red bug and black bug will also suck oranges and ruin them. 

 Last season I noticed them covered with this black bug. The oranges would fall and 

 on examination were found without juice and worthless. I have seen neither of the 

 above-mentioned insects this season. [F. M. Meekin, Alachua. 



The ordinary cut-worm in. the spring, and of late years a large hairy worm, injure 

 our stands of cotton. Grasshoppers, too, are quite a pest sometimes. [John Bradford, 

 Leon. 



GEORGIA. 



There is nothing that is so destructive as the cotton- worm. There are other insects 

 that attack cotton in early spring. 1st, a worm called the cut-worm, that cuts it off 



