39 . 
Agriculture. The results of the investigation of the United States 
Entomological Commission on cotton insects are contained in the Fourth 
Keport of this Commission, by Prof. C. V. Riley, a volume of about 600 
pages, of which 29 are devoted to the bollworm. While the report 
referred to was issued in 1885, the work of the Commission was prac- 
ticall}^ completed in 1881. 
From these reports much was gained in knowledge of the injuries, 
life history, and habits of this pest, and sound remedial measures are 
suggested. The character and scope of the work may be best indi- 
cated by the presentation of the topics discussed in the report of Pro- 
fessor Comstock: 
The bollworm: Importance of the subject; Natural history; Nomenclature; Geo- 
graphical distribution; Food plants; The egg; The larva; The chrysalis; The moth; 
The number of eggs; Influence of weather. Remedies: Natural remedies; Artificial 
remedies; Topping; Poisoning; Handpicking; Destruction of the chrysalids; Destruc- 
tion of the moth. 
The principal points presented in this report are the wide geograph- 
ical distribution of the bollworm moth; the practically omnivorous 
habits of the larvae; the determination of the fact that the eggs of the 
bollworm are distributed quite generally over the plant, as foliage, 
stalk, square, and flower, and the feeding of the young larvae on more 
or less exposed portions of the plant near the place of their birth; the 
hibernation of the pupae in the soil; habits of the parent moth; the 
determination of five annual generations for central Alabama; the fact 
of more serious injury during wet seasons; the possibility of killing 
bollworms by poisoning; the possible utility of corn as a trap crop, 
and the usefulness of fall plowing in more northern latitudes for the 
destruction of hibernating pupae. 
Many of these points were not original with this investigation, as, 
for instance, the recommendation of the possible utility of corn as a 
trap crop in protecting cotton. This idea appears first to have been 
suggested by Mr. E. Sanderson in 1858, as a result of his belief in the 
identity of the corn worm and bollworm, and his recommendations are 
set forth in the American Cotton Planter of 1858. Professors Riley, 
French, and others had also previously determined many of the points 
here presented. The report of the United States Entomological Com- 
mission on the bollworm, by Professor Riley, adds but little to our 
knowledge of the pest as presented in the report of Comstock, and 
need not be considered in detail. 
A special investigation of the bollworm was provided for by Con- 
gress in 1890, and this work was begun July 1 of that year, by Mr. 
F. W. Mally, working under the direction of the Entomologist, 
Professor Riley. The chief object of this investigation was to con. 
duct further experiments with remedies, as well as to verify the value 
of those already employed, and incidentally to ascertain new facts 
