131 
tassel and silk b}^ the 1st of August (see PL XXII, fig. 1). Corn in this 
condition will receive the great majorit}^ of the eggs deposited by the 
moths which otherwise would be placed on the cotton plants. In 
planting cotton in the spring leave vacant strips across the field every 
2()() or 300 feet sufiiciently wide for planting 10 or 12 rows of corn. 
Under favorable conditions of rainfall and with good cultivation, 
Mexican June corn planted by June 1 will be in prime silking condi- 
tion b}^ August 1. The corn should be allowed to mature and may be 
harvested in the usual way. Corn should not be planted in belts 
through the cotton field at the usual time in the spring. With the 
ripening of the corn the insects simpl}^ turn their attention to the 
adjacent cotton (see PL XXII, fig. 2). The planting of cowpeas in 
the trap corn belts is strongly recommended. Peas planted soon after 
the corn crop is up will ordinarily be in full blossom by early August 
and will serve to furnish the moths with an abundance of nectar for 
food, thus obviating the necessity of their visiting the adjacent cotton 
plants and the consequent deposition there of a certain proportion of 
their eggs. Much the same protection may be secured b}^ the plant- 
ing of late corn here and there over the plantation after such early 
maturing crops, as wheat, oats, etc. In all cases peas should be 
planted in the corn. The greatest benefit will result from the use of 
corn as a trap crop, when it is generally adopted b}^ the planters of a 
neighborhood. On large plantations it is perfectly practicable to 
grow late corn in such a manner as to attract the bollworms from the 
plantation generally. 
ARSENICAL POISONS. 
It is the general belief among cotton planters that the boll worm 
may not be successfully poisoned on cotton, from the fact of its bor- 
ing to the interior of bolls and squares and there feeding out of reach 
of insecticidal substances. Such belief is true only of the later stages 
of the larva. A newly hatched boUworm is so small a creature that 
it does not usuall}^ attract the attention of the average observer (see 
PL III, fig. 2), and the habits of the insect during this early larval 
existence are not generally taken into account. This unobserved 
period in the growth of the larva is about the only time during which 
poisons may be expected to exert any considei'able influence in its 
control. 
As has been elsewhere pointed out, the deposition of the eggs over 
the cotton plant and the habits of the newly hatched insect have an 
important bearing on the possibility of poisoning. Larvae hatching 
from eggs placed on other parts of the plant than the tender growing 
tips, squares, and flowers, which are ordinarily soon penetrated, must 
spend some time in crawling around in search of tender food. Dur- 
ing this aimless wandering of from several hours to a day or more, 
