COTTON INSECTS 



391 



"injury done to cotton, prevention or poisoning is seldom 

 attempted. Experiments have shown that dusting the 

 plants with a Ught appUcation of Paris green or other 

 preparation of arsenic destroys many of the tiny worms 

 on the day, on which they are hatched and before they are 

 large enough to enter the 

 boll. For poisoning to be 

 most effective, it should begin 

 about the time that adjacent 

 corn ears begin to harden, and 

 it niay need to be repeated 

 several times. The poison 

 adheres better if applied while 

 the dew is on the plants. 



The most generally practi- 

 cable method of reducing the 

 injury to cotton consists in 

 using corn as a trap crop. 

 Strips of corn should be planted about the first of June, 

 or at such times as to bring the corn into the roasting-ear 

 condition about the first of August. Then the moths 

 deposit their eggs on the corn rather than on the cotton 

 plants. The trap crop of corn is still more effective if two 

 plantings are made at intervals of a few weeks, so as to 

 furnish a continual supply of roasting ears during the 

 time when moths are most nmnerous. These strips of 

 corn may be planted on oat patches adjacent to the cotton 

 fields, or better, 2 to 4 rows of corn "may be planted in 

 alternation with 20 to 40 rows of cotton. In order for 

 the corn to serve as a trap crop, it must be planted late, 

 and not at the time when the cotton is planted. 



Fig. 169. — Pupal or Chbysalis 

 Stage of the Cotton Boli<- 



■BTORM OB COBN EaR-WOBM. 



