COTTON 189 
insects, since it does a good deal of its feeding under 
cover of corn shucks, or within the shell of the cot- 
ton boll, while the cotton worm is usually exposed 
to bird enemies during the whole of its larva life. 
GETTING RID OF THE INSECTS 
Many kinds of traps have been devised for catch- 
ing the moths. As you know, moths of all kind 
are attracted by lights when darkness comes on, 
but the expense of operation, the comparatively 
small number that are caught, and the large per- 
centage of beneficial insects killed, seem to mark 
the moth trap as worthless. 
Poison has also been tried, but with unfavorable 
results. It is quite impossible to destroy the cotton 
boll worm as we may destroy the cotton caterpillar, 
as the latter feeds within bolls or is hidden within 
the tassels or ears of corn. Nor have we been suc- 
cessful in attempts at enticing moths to especially 
prepared sweets flavored with poison and put with- 
in their range, for only a very few accept the 
invitation. 
The most successful effort is in growing trap 
crops planted especially for nesting places 
for the moths. As soon as eggs are deposited 
these crops are destroyed, and the number of 
broods of each generation is kept at a minimum. 
A few rows of early but not thickly-planted sweet 
corn are used to surround a certain area of cotton. 
As the eggs are deposited on the silk the ears bear- 
ing this can be plucked and fed to live stock. A 
few rows of later corn may be coming on to catch 
later broods, thus to a certain degree, keeping the 
pest in check. 
