THi; 



VOL. 1. 



ST. LOUIS, MO., JULY, 1869. 



NO. n. 



Clje ^mcritait ^niontologbt. 



PUBLISHED JIONTIILY BY 

 Tl. r. STXJX3IiE-5r Se CO., 



104 OLIVE STBEET, ST, LOUIS. 



TERMS One dollar pci- annum in advance. 



EDITORS : 



BENJ. D. WALSH Rock Island, Ul. 



CIIAS. V. RILEY, 2i:iO Clark Ave St. Louis, Mo. 



. COTTON INSECTS. 



Vhe Cotton Arinj -worm. 



(j}fortiia [Anomis] xylina, Say.) 



Editors Aimricau Entomolorjiet : 



As the Southern cotton planters are deeply interested 

 in learning somethins almiit the insects tliaf prev upon 

 their crops wliicli tlicy iln not nlreadv knou , I w'ritc lo 

 request yon, in lirliMliof tlii»c wlici live in tliis pnilicii- 

 lar section, to enlijcldcn tJK'ni n])on tlic lollipwin^; (|iics- 

 tions, to-wit: In \vhat form and place, anil under wliat 

 circumstances, doe.s the Cotton Caterpillar exist ilurinj;: 

 the winter season? If you answer, in the chrysalis 

 state, at wiiat period in "the .springor sunnner does it 

 emerge in the form of a Hy? If in the sprinu' or early 

 summer, on what does it subsist tnitil it attai'ks the 

 cotton plant ? 



A\'e think if these i)oints were detinitelv settled, some 

 plan could be devised by which this insect could Ije 

 de.«troyed before it nudtiplies itself into an aimv to make 

 havoc with our cotton crops. 'J'liesc (niestiims |];ive 

 been discussed by an Ag'ricnltnral Club oi-jcanized in 

 this county, and, although a good ileal cd' infnrniation 

 has been elicited, still there remains inmdi to l)e learned 

 before we can attain to a practical knowledge ot the 

 subject, and we Inive no means at liand by wiiich this 

 knowledge can be a<'(piired. 



I have seen several numbers of the American Ento- 

 mologist, which h.ave been sent to the office of the 

 Lilierti] Adoocate, but have found nothing in elucidation 

 of the questions propounded. 



We desire also to know something about the Boll- 

 wonn, which 1 lu'lirvc is luiiversal in the cotton region, 

 and which attaiks the tVidt of the cotton plant from the 

 time it is first formed until It arrives nearly to the stage 

 of maturity. Please give its history and mode of i>ro- 

 pagation ; and tell us, if you can, how itmay b(^ destroyed 

 or Its ravages preventetl. 



Yours, &c., .T. II. GALLNEY. 



Bloomtield, Amite Co., Miss. 



Ill answer to the .above letter aiul to a pub- 

 lished request made in tlie Southern Ruralist, 

 we will at present briefly illustrate the natural 

 history of (wo of (he worst insect enemies of 

 the cotton plant, namely the Cotton Caterpillar, 

 "//r(.s Cotton Army-worm, and the Boll-worm. 

 As we have ourselves never spent sufRcient time 



in the cotton-growing' sections of the South to 

 make any personal observations on these insects, 

 we lean for much of our information on the 

 observations of the Entomologist to the Depart- 

 ment of Agiiculture, Mr. Townend Glover. 

 Says this gentleman* — speaking of the difficul- 

 ties under which these observations were frc- 

 •picntly pursued — "I have encountered many 

 liai'dships, diiRculties and dangers, in exposing 

 myself to unhealthy regions, in sickly seasons, 

 where I necessarily performed tedious journeys, 

 ill which I w'as steamed or scorched by the hot 

 sun during the day, and drenched by heavy 

 rains or chilled by clammy dews at night, ac- 

 companied more or less by hunger .and thirst, 

 lassitude and disease. In the course of my 

 wanderings I was annoyed by gnats and flies, 

 which regaled themselves on my blood ; irritated 

 by ants, chigas and ticks, that filled my skin or 

 flesh with eruptions and sores; assailed with 

 fury by bees and wasps that tortured me with 

 (heir stings; and I was warned of my danger 

 by (he hiss and rattle of serpents that lay con- 

 cealed along my path. These dangers and an- 

 noyances, troubles and trials, were alternated 

 by pleasures, joys and sudden delights, which 

 no one can realize except the lover of science." 

 Such is a sample of the trials which sometimes 

 attend (he proper study of a single insect, espe- 

 cially in the more southern States. 



Whether or not corn be king in the North, 

 cotton is undoubtedly king in the South, for it 

 there absorbs almost universal attention. No 

 policy which the General Government might 

 pursue could so increase the prosperity of the 

 Southern States as would two successive good 

 cotton crops. A thorough knowledge, then, of 

 these insects, which on the average of years 

 destroy fifty million dollars' worth of cotton in 

 the South, is of the utmost importance. Such a 

 knowledge becomes still more necessary, when 

 wc find such advice going the rounds of (he 

 papers as that which we commented upon on 

 page 15 of our first number. 



There arc four distinct caterpillars, producing 

 four perfectly distinct moths, which have been 

 designated iii various parts of the United Sta(es 



~'I)e|iartment Report for 1857, pp. Vl\-'i. 



