376 



Second letter — Yours of the oth instant received to-day. I now forward "by- 

 mail four boxes of specimens : No. 1, gathered from Texas Blue-grass ; No. 2, from Rad- 

 ish ; No, 3, from greeu Peas ; No. 4, from Oats. I have placed their respective foods in 

 the 'loxes with each. * * *— [J. V. Danshy, Pensacola, Fla., March 9, 1887. 



Second reply. — Your s of the 9th instant, with four boxes of Army Worms, came 

 duly to hand. They are the genuine Army Worm {Levcania unipuncta), and therefore 

 you were right in your surmise. This is, as stated before, an interestiug fact, as tlie 

 insect has never been recorded as occurring in injurious numbers so far south as 

 Pensacola. The proba bilities are that as soon as this brood of worms disappears you 

 will not be troubled with it again for some years to come. This same insect occurred 

 in great numbers at Hunts ville, Ala., in the spring of 1882, but in this southern loca- 

 tion its natural enemies were so abundant that the large brood was almost entirely 

 killed off, and has not been destructive in that locality since. You will probably 

 have a similar experience at Pensacola. — [March 14, 1887.] 



Third Letter. — * * * In your communications you expressed a wish that I 

 would give the details of this worm invasion in this section. They were first ob- 

 served in a field of Oats on the 21st of February, though doubtlessly they were there 

 some time before. Adjoining the Oats is an orchard which was in grass the past 

 season. Last summer and fall were remarkably dry. For two weeks before the 

 worms were noticed the weather was warm and foggy, with very little sunshine. 

 The worms first appeared on the side next the orchard. The Oats were about 2 feet 

 high, very luxuriant and growing rapidly. The worms seemed to go under the thick 

 leaves of the bunches of Oats at night, fed most freely from early morning until noon 

 and from that time until late in the afternoon they were in motion, crawling in every 

 direction see king new pastures. By the 15th of March, which was about twenty-five 

 days after first being observed, the most of them had gone into the pupa state. Their 

 favorite place for transformation seemed to be just barely below the surface of the 

 ground, around the Oat stubbles, where they can now be found in large numbers. 



On the evening of the 28th of February a heavy rain fell, followed by a norther, 

 and on the morning of the 29th it was quite cool, with considerable frost, to which 

 the worms appeared to be perfectly indifferent. A heavy rain also fell on March 8 

 without any effect. Besides the Oats, the worms manifested a liking for Wheat, Blue- 

 grass, Corn, green Peas, Cabbages, and Radishes; also did some damage to Tomatoes 

 and Egg-plants. They seemed to be indifferent as to Lettuce, Onions, Strawberries, 

 Dewberries, Melons, and Cucumbers, neither did they feed on Butler Weed ((^/ja- 

 phalium purpureum) or Mexican Clover {Ricliardsonia scahra), to which they had abun- 

 dant access. In conclusion, I will state that my Oats are entirely destroyed, and that 

 I saved my other crops by the free use of London XJurple. Although not a great many 

 were killed by the poison, yet they would refuse to feed upon any plant to which it 

 was applied. I am of the opinion that had I used it freely upon my Oats at the be- 

 ginning they could have been saved from destruction. I have heard of no worms 

 anywhere in the country except on my place. * * * — [J. V. Dansby, ''New Farm," 

 near Pensacola, Fla., March 18, 1887. 



The Camellia Scale. 



Can you suggest any remedy for this insect on my Camellias ? The trees are about 

 12 feet high and all the leaves on the under side are covered with the insect; some 

 look as if there were cottoo growing on the leaves. It appeared here about five or 

 six years ago. I have washed every leaf with whale-oil soap at one time, at another 

 with resin soap, and at another with castor-oil, none of which has done any good. 

 About the middle of March, when the trees make new leaves, all the old ones fall ; 

 the insect then appears about May or June on the new leaves. I send some of the 

 leaves by this mail. — [Robert Halliday, Liberty Road, Baltimore, Md., January 14, 

 1887. 



