26 



And it is well known that a very hot sun drives them to seek shade and 

 shelter. It is generally regarded as certain that the moth which lays the 

 egg survives the winter, especially if it is at all mild. 



THE DESTROYER. 



Many means have been used to destroy these worms before their increase 

 in safificient numbers to be seriously injurious. Almost every planter — 

 certainly every old planter — can call to mind the torches that were devised 

 to attract the moth, the flags that were used to scare him, and the plates 

 of molasses and vinegar that were devised to delude him. All these and 

 many more proved worthless. 



And it was found that any attack made on the insect, while in the form 

 of a moth, was utterly useless. There are usually three broods of the worm 

 in a single season. The first brood is small in numbers, the second larger 

 and the third innumerable. Of course the proper point of attack is on the 

 first brood, for if these die childlesa, neither their children nor their grand- 

 children will appear to carry devastation and dismay to the planter. 



The problem then presented is to prepare a poison which can be applied 

 so that the worm must eat it, a poison which can be applied with safety by 

 the ignorant and careless field-hand without danger to himself or injury to 

 the plant. The poison, whatever it is, must be certain —no mistake can be 

 remedied, for while the planter is inquiring for a good medicine with 

 which to replace the bad, the worms are devouring his crop and laying his 

 fields desolate. It must be such a poison as can be applied to all parts of 

 the plant on which the worm feeds, because if it is not so applied he may 

 dine to repletion on the harmless part, avoiding the less pleasant and fatal 

 portion. It must be an article that will not injure the plant, nor spoil the 

 staple in the open boll. The poison must be cheap, else it will cost a large 

 portion of the value of the cotton saved to preserve it. The first article of 

 poison applied to the destruction of the cotton worm was Paris-green. 

 It seems to have been used whimsically and without any previous scientific 

 study. Paris-green is a poison — if a man eats it he dies, and if a woman 

 eats it she dies also. This seems to have been the reflection that 

 prompted it use. The objections to its use are many — and they are fatal 

 objections. 



Paris-green is a pigment which is made in several different ways ; or 

 rather, to speak more precisely, there are several articles known to com- 

 merce as Paris.green, which cannot be distinguished from one another 

 except by practical chemists. One of these compounds is a rank poison ; 

 if the worm eats it he will surely die — the others are harmless. A case in 

 point occurred with Judge Jones of Virginia Point, Galveston County, 

 Texas. He purchased a quantity of Paris-green and applied it to a field of 

 sea-island cotton with good results. The following year he bought what 

 he supposed to be a similar article, and he certainly did buy a Paris-green, 



