REPORT OF JUDGE W. J. JONES. [57] 



crops would be in a great measure protected, and this will be tbe speediest and surest 

 method of destroying the mother of Aletia. It cannot now be doubted that without 

 some more potent means of destruction than those hitherto relied on, to be very gen- 

 erally if not universally resorted to, these enemies of the cotton plant will become 

 as numerous as the vast flights of locusts that descend only at long intervals to devour 

 every form of tender plant life. But if suitable lamps, of simple and easy construc- 

 tion, supplied with a cheap burning fluid of convenient access, were supplied, I be- 

 lieve they would be very generally used, if they could receive the indorsement of the 

 eminent scientist. It is needless for me to designate the man, as there is but one 

 name so prominent in all the beneficence of all his skilled labors that none can mis- 

 take his identity. If, then, the Government of the United States could be prompted 

 to assist in the movement, as they would or could in famine or pestilence, we should 

 soon know Aletia only through its simple but exact history, recorded in your Bulletin 

 No. 3. 



The method here so urgently recommended is simple, inexpensive, and in no wise 

 prejudicial to health nor endangering life. It is no longer a matter of theory, but a 

 practical test so largely indorsed by public sentiment that none will be found to gain- 

 say its full and faithful promise. 



All the planters say, '' Give us brilliant and elevated lights with resorbent reservoirs 

 and the earliest flight of the female moth will be attracted to these lights, where it 

 will be sure to meet destruction." 



My views, thus presented, are largely influenced by the certain hypothesis that 

 the moths remain in the extreme Southern cotton belt during the winter, and 

 that the chrysalids do not seek an underground hibernation, and hence the main 

 impediment to this mode of warfare is removed. But should a few of the breeders 

 escape the traps set to catch them there will be less difficulty in reaching them with 

 the poisons. If the aid suggested could only be made a free offering to the poor, the 

 more independent class of planters would supply themselves and would willingly aid in 

 the work of destruction. Cotton-planting can never be made a thorough success till 

 this natural enemy of the plant is entirely subdued or rendered less aggressive by 

 thinning out its numbers in some more effective and less expensive manner than is 

 effected by the poisonous compounds. 



Respectfully submitted, 



WILLIAM J. JONES. 



Prof. C. V. Riley. 



