APPENDIX II ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR. 489 



cnlio," that punctures the boll and causes it to commence rotting from a very small 

 black speck. This rot continues throughout the whole boll, sometimes leaving one 

 lobe. It is a small black beetle about one-sixteenth of an inch long. I once had a 

 fine crop destroyed by this insect when my near neighbor suffered very little. My 

 cotton being older, was suited better for its work. There was a great quantity of cot- 

 ton destroyed in Texas this year, when rot had credit of doing it. I know of no 

 remedy against this insect. [W. T. Hill. Walker. 



There is what we call the boll- worm, that bores a small hole in the little pod while 

 in a state of formation ; it does its work in the night ; it will be hard to destroy. 

 Thirty-five years ago there was a web-worm came on the cotton iu May, and J^terally 

 killed it, except the stem ; however it would sprout out again and make a crop. That 

 was in certain localities. This worm has entirely disappeared. I have lived in Texas 

 forty years next month ; have made thirty-nine crops. My experience is the worm 

 will be hard to overcome ; he is a fixture upon us, and the surest remedy against him 

 is to plant early and cultivate well ; in so doing a reasonable crop can be frequently 

 realized. If all the farmers would combine and place lamps on posts iu flat tin pans 

 with kerosene in them the moth could be more effectually destroyed than any other 

 way I see. [O. H. P. Garrett, Washington. 



The boll-worm, (Heliotkis) has done more injury to the cotton-plant than any other 

 insect this year. Unlike the army worm, they hibernate in the country, and commence 

 their depredations as soon as the young bloom buds make their appearance. Some 

 years they do a great deal of damage ; it is said by scrtne farmers that fifty per cent, of 

 the crop is lost on account of the boll-worm. It seems the moth deposits the egg in 

 the last bloom bud; When hatched it eats out the pistil of the unexpanded flower, 

 (it is now called sharp-shooter,) then descends the branch, eating up all on his way, 

 and by the time it gets to the last one perhaps it is grown and ready to go into the 

 chrysalis state. There are birds and poultry that feed on the larva when it can be 

 got at. The plant-louse is somewhat injurious to the young cotton-plant ; hot weather 

 soon drives it away. [ J. M. Glasco, Upshur. 



The cut-worm, boll- worm, grasshopper, and lice are all more or less injurious to the 

 cotton-plant. [S. B. Tackaberry, Polk. 



In 1877 the boll-worm appeared in Clay County, and some fields were about half 

 eaten up, while others were not touched. [William Tanner, Clay. 



The boll- worm is some years quite destructive, though I hear of none this year. 

 [Scimuel Davis, Hunt. 



When the young plant first makes its appearance above the ground the cut-worm, 

 which attacks all young plants, will destroy a few plants here and there. Later in the 

 spring, when the plant has taken on some five or six or more leaves, the web-worm 

 almost every year will eat and web upon some of the most vigorous stalks. The injury 

 inflicted by these insects is not much dreaded, as their evil tendencies may be corrected, 

 and they soon disappear as spring advances. The next and last enemy of the cotton- 

 plant is the boll- worm, which only penetrates the young boll when in its most delicate 

 and tender state, and is sometimes more destructive than the army worm. There are 

 some points of resemblance between the two, but their tastes and habits, although both 

 only prey on cotton, are totally different. They are represented as having appeared 

 in several counties of the interior. They are rarely seen on or near the coast, evidently 

 preferring a higher latitude. [W. J. Jones, Galveston. 



This insect, though not so numerous nor so regular in its visitations, is far more for- 

 midable in its ravages than the leaf-worm, since there is no way of saturating the cot- 

 ton-boll with poison to destroy them. A very intelligent planter in Falls County, on the 

 Brazos River, in this State, is well satisfied that he has found the miller or mother moth 

 of this worm, and has discovered a sure, simple, and inexpensive method for its de- 

 struction, and at the same time increasing the yield of the staple. He says the egg is 

 deposited by a moth of a lighter color, of larger size, and much heavier body than that 

 of the army worm ; that it invariably deposits its eggs on the very top bud of the cot- 

 ton-plant; that as the worm increases in size he travels down the stalk, taking every 

 boll as he goes, rapidly penetrating the same in its young and succulent state, very 

 few worms completing the destruction of the entire fruit of the plant. The worm 

 attaining its full growth is larger than the army worm, and is more destructive to tho 

 product of the plant. This gentleman, with some of his neighbors, watched closely 

 the progress of this insect, and very satisfactory results were obtained. Experiments 

 were made upon three different plantations with the same results. They all checked 

 the march by topping the cotton (removing the bud) when the moth first made its 

 appearance, and whether the egg was only in deposit or the young worm at work, tho 

 result was the same, as both perished upon the ground, and the worm never made an 

 effort to reascend the stalk. The topping of cotton has been practiced many years by 

 some of our most intelligent planters, but with a different purpose, the stripping of 

 the top being supposed to increase the fruiting and to hasten the opening of the pods 

 of cotton. [William J. Jones, Galveston. 



The boll-worm is very injurious to cotton in August and September by boring in tho 



