XXIV INTRODUCTION. 



Should you do bo, please observe carefully the following snggestiona : 

 Write only on one side of the paper blanks sent; and, if more room is desired to 

 answer fully, write on another sheet, numbering and lettering to correspond with 

 letter and number of question. 



If any special points arise before the termination of the season, please communi- 

 cate freely, marking your envelope ''cotton insects." 

 Respectfully, &.C., 



WM. G. LE DUG, Commissioner. 



THE COTTON WORM. 



This insect (Aletia argillacea,* Hiibn.) will naturally receive most attention, being, 

 as it is, by far the most injurious of the different enemies of the cotton plant. Data 

 are requested qn all the following topics : 



PAST HISTORY OF THE COTTON WORM. 



1. Give, so far as you cau from trustworthy records, the earliest year in which cot- 

 ton was grown in your State, county, or locality. 



la. During what year (exact or approximate) did the worm first make its appear- 

 ance in your locality, and, as far as you are aware, in the State ; in other words, how 

 many years elapsed after cotton first began to be grown before the worm began to 

 work upon it ? 



16. Specify the years when it has been unusually abundant and destructive. 



IXTLUEXCE OF THE WEATHER ON THE INSECT. 



2. State what you know from experience of the effects of weather on the insect, and 

 more particularly — 



2a. The character of seasons most favorable to its increase. 



2b. The character of the summer and winter — whether wet or dry, mild or severe — 

 that have preceded years in which the worm has been abundant and destructive. 

 2c. Do wet summers favor its multiplication ? 

 2d. Effects of different kinds of weather on the eggs. 

 2e. Effects of different kinds of weather on the moths. 

 2f. Month of year when greatest injury is done. 



STATISTICS OF LOSSES. 



3. Give, as correctly as you can, estimates of the loss to the crop in your county and 

 State during notable cotton-worm years. 



MIGRATION OF THE MOTHS. 



It is a well-established fact that the parent moth of the Cotton Worm is often found 

 in autumn many hundred miles away from the cotton belt, and there is no reason to 

 doubt that it is often carried by favorable winds to northward regions, where it 

 cannot perpetuate its species and must therefore perish. IVIr. A. R. Grote and others 

 even believe that the species perishes each year with the plant, and that the moth 

 always comes into the cotton States from more southern countries, where the cotton 

 plant is perennial ; in other words, that the moth is habitually migratory, and cannot 

 survive the winter in the great cotton regions of the States. While there are many 

 facts that lend weight to this theory, there is also much to be said against it ; and 

 we desire to collect all facts that in any way bear on the question. While we hope 

 to get much valuable information on this head from the Signal Bureau, we also ask 

 for the experience of correspondents. 



4. Please state, therefore, as nearly as you can from the records, the jjrevaiZm^r direc- 

 tion and force of the wind in your locality, first, 



4o. In the month of February ; second, 



4h. In the month of March ; third, 



4c. In the month of April ; fourth. 



Ad. In the month of May ; fifth, 



4e. In the month of June ; sixth, 



4/. Whether, in your opinion, there are winds from the south that are sufficiently 

 strong and constant to counteract the prevailing trade- winds, which are toward the 

 equator. 



* The Noctua xylina of Say. 



