17 
sioned, so far as the ultimate yi<*]<l La concerned, by the depredations 
mentioned. The ravages in the carat a later period do, however, occa- 
sion some loss. From a money standpoint this loss La perhaps felt most 
by gardeners growing sweet corn for early market. Badly infested 
must be thrown away and a greater acreage is therefore necessary to 
insure a sufficient supply of uninfected ears. How serious a matter 
tin's may be depends entirely upon the locality, and much the same 
may be said of the regular crop. Many of the ears have some of the 
grains damaged, and this, together with the excrement of the worms, 
makes them to a certain extent distasteful or undesirable for feeding 
purposes. But the most serious objection arises when the corn comes 
to the mills to be ground into meal. Technically the meal will be re- 
duced in purity and standard quality, but this is after all only a theo- 
retical objection, since the question is never raise.d or thought of when 
the meal is on the market, and its market value is not affected. 
General estimates of insect injuries by per cents are misleading, and 
"hence the advisability, in order to maintain scientific accuracy, of as- 
signing to them only a local application or significance. 
FOOD-PLANTS OTHER THAN COTTON AND CORN. 
Tobacco. — The eggs of the Boll Worm are laid indiscriminately upon 
all parts of this plant. Tobacco leaves and very young portions of the 
plant are thickly set with plant hairs, which are covered with a sticky 
secretion. The eggs are usually found stuck fast to the tip of one or 
two of the hairs; not close to the surface of the leaf. The stick}' hairs 
trap many small insects which crawl about them and even the newly 
issued Boll Worms are caught occasionally, and perish in the attempt 
to get away. The flower-buds and green seed-pods of tobacco are freely 
attacked, and large racemes sometimes have one-half or two-thirds of 
their fruit eaten into. Tobacco is topped to prevent its flowering and 
producing seed. The stem contains a succulent pith which the larvae 
relish and they often eat down the stem from the broken and exposed end. 
As they go down, the leaf found at each node often withers and dies as 
they pass it. The small field of tobacco examined was several miles 
away from any cotton or corn fields. This partially explains the abun- 
dance of the Boll Worm in this isolated patch. They doubtless do not 
feed so extensively in regular tobacco districts. The important thing 
for the cotton-grower is to see that the topped portions, bearing so many 
eggs and young larva', are burned tor the purpose of destroying them. 
The suggestion may be carried even further. The topping process prac- 
ticed upon tobacco leaves only a minimum Dumber of racemes for the 
production of seed. These remaining racemes were more thickly 
stocked with Boll worm eggs than anything else observed in Texas; in 
tact, nothing except fresh corn silk was ever found SO thickly infested. 
This was on August 25, which ispast the height ol the flowering period 
of the earlier cotton. Small patches of cotton could therefore be planted 
14935—^0. 29 2 
