• 32 BULLETIN NO. 3, DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



with liiui and examined his poisons and machines, in both of which he 

 is doing- an extensive business. He has a large supply of pure arsenic 

 on hand, as well as a compound poison, manufactured by himself, of 

 which he sells large quantities. He presented me with a large box, 

 which I left in the hands of Dr. Ridley, near Hempstead, to be tried 

 and reported upon, which report will be duly forwarded. Judge John- 

 son's machine for spraying has been described both in your Bulletin 

 STo. 3 and Agricultural Report, 1879. He claims, however, an improve- 

 ment in the branch-pipes, and has arranged the machine to be worked 

 automatically by the pitman or by the driver. His machine is certainly 

 an admirable one, and at the reduced price of $40 is now being rap- 

 idly sold. As the season was too early for its practical application I 

 can say nothing of its operation in the field. I had an interesting in- 

 terview here with Gen. T. B. Howard. He seems to take a great in- 

 terest in the discovery of Mr. L. C. White, of Jasper, Jasper County, 

 Texas, who professes to have originated a worm-proof cotton by pro- 

 ducing a hybrid from Jamestown weed (Datura stramonium). He 

 thinks his experiments with the seed have verified Mr. White- s theory. 

 I suggested that as they belonged to two different families of plants I 

 could not understand it, but he still thinks Mr. White has accomplished 

 it, as the seed he gave him produced a plant like cotton, except that it 

 had the odor of Jamestown weed and the worms would not eat it, 

 though they eat other cotton planted side by side with it. Mr. White, 

 I learned, had offered his seed to the Department. 



I also interviewed at Houston Dr. R. T. Flewellen, to whom I had 

 been referred as better posted on the subject of Aletia than any one 

 there, or perhaps in Texas, as he had made the insect his study for a 

 number of years, and had published his observations and some inter- 

 esting facts. He soon convinced me that his method of investigation 

 was careful and thorough, and that he had by experiment arrived at 

 certain facts not stated by others, and which alone could be accounted 

 for upon local and climatic causes. I held several interviews with him, 

 in order to elicit all of his views and methods, and invited him to visit 

 Fort Bend with me, which he did, and we thus had the opportunity of a 

 free exchange of opinions and discussion of the opinions of others. As 

 to hibernation of the chrysalis in Southern Texas, his experiments, he 

 says, leaves no doubt. The life term of the moth he believes to be lim- 

 ited to twelve days, twelve in summer and six in winter, as he could 

 never carry one beyond this. This would be due to climatic influence, 

 admitting it to be so. 



While in De Witt County I addressed him a letter requesting an an- 

 swer to certain interrogatories. His reply reached me at Houston, and 

 from it I copied his remarks on hibernation in a letter to you. He in- 

 advertently made his experiments commence in 18GS and end in 1879, 

 when they were made in less than one year ; that is, his chrysalides were 

 put up in the fall and were carried through the following winter and 

 summer. I have sent this to him for revision. 



