[64] 



KEFORT 4j UNITED STATES ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 



5. Cotton has been grown in this part of Brazil for as long a time as any other pro- 

 duction, and it is also found growing wild. 



6. The prevailing direction of the wind during the months of March, April, June, 

 and July is easterly, varying from northeast to southeast. 



7. I transmit herewith separately in a box the following specimens : ^^ 



(1) Cotton leaves with chrysalis of XyZina (^^octua). 



(2) Larvae, or caterpillar of the same insect, which changes from a green to a light- 

 red color, formed by different colored lines running crossways, when it attains its full 

 stale of maturity. The larger of these worms feeds upon the leaves; the small upon 

 the buds of the cotton plant. 



(3) The butterfly of the same larv£e. 



(4) Cotton buds destroyed by the moths containing the larva) and chrysalis, some 

 of which have already been transformed into moths. 



(5) Several larvae of the same and one cotton bug. 



(6) Cocoons formed from cotton by the larvae in the interior of the buds. 



(7) Another species which preys upon the cotton seed inside the pod. 



(8) A drawing of the worm before its color changes. 



I have the honor to be, Sir, with high respect, your obedient servant, 



EICH'D A. EDES, 



Consul. 

 Hon. William Hukter, 



Second Assistant Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. 



No. 40. ] United States Commercial Agency, 



Maracaido, February 18, 1880. 

 Sir : In answer to your dispatch of October 13, 1879, requesting particulars about 

 the cultivation of cotton in this country and the prevalence here of worms and other 

 insects which attack the cotton plant, for the information of the Entomological Com- 

 mission, I beg to state that having given the matter my careful attention, I am now 

 enabled to answer the questions put in the document referred to, in their turn. 



1. Cotton has been grown in the State of Zulia, one of the sovereign States of the 

 Republic of Venezuela, and more so in the neighborhood of Maracaibo, some ten or 

 fifteen years ago. It was raised to a large extent in small as well as in large quanti- 

 ties and everybody took to ife. Some foreign houses advanced large sums to native 

 growers in order to establish cotton for export. The quality produced was very good 

 and sold well in America (the United States) and in Europe, but the revolutions which 

 broke out caused whole crops to be lost, as they could not get hands enough to gather 

 the cotton in time, and the parties who had invested large sums in its cultivation got 

 discouraged in consequence of the losses incurred and gave it up entirely, and no 

 one has ever made another attempt to raise it again. The general opinion was, and 

 is still now, that it does not pay to raise cotton on a large scale, on account of the 

 scarcity of labor available to gather in the crop in the proper time. This, however, 

 is not the result of a paucity of population, but rather the consequence of a state of 

 things which enables the laborers to live on so little, that the necessity to work con- 

 tinuously, such as it is required for the profitable carrying on of a cotton property, 

 ceases entirely under ordinary circumstances. They would only do so when driven 

 by extreme necessity or induced by such disproportionately high wages as would raise 

 the cost of growing the cotton beyond the possibility of making any profit. The 

 wages referred to in those times were, in addition to the daily rations, which cannot 

 be furnished for less than thirty cents per day for one man, $6.40 per month, making 

 a total disbursement of $15.40 per month for the labor of one man, or about $20 of the 

 money of the country. 



As the people of this country are naturally very slow to work, and cannot be in- 

 duced to take task work, the maximum quantity of cotton picked by one man has 

 been calculated never to exceed 100 pounds per day, which, at the prices for labor 

 before mentioned, is out of all proportion to the price obtained for the cotton, and 

 causes such an undertaking to prove a losing concern. The soil of this district is as 

 favorable to the growth of cotton as the climate, which is rather dry, and there are 

 two crops in the year, one in July and the other in December, the plants producing 

 at both times in abundance. The land itself is of little value and the expenses are 

 only those of cultivation. There were several large haciendas raising cotton in the 

 neighborhood, but they are now lying waste and the machinery is rusting and spoil- 

 ing. 



2. That the worst enemy of the cotton-plant is the caterpillar. There are two dis- 

 tinct kinds. One is green and rather small and the other kind has a green belly and 

 a yellowish back with brown stripes. There is also a kind of ant, which injures the 

 cotton-plant by making its nest under the roots, causing the stem to dry up entirely. 



