APPENDIX VI. 
report of jnxiK william j. JONES. 
Virginia Point, Tkx., October 5, ls*80. 
Si k : At no time, from the commencement of active investigations and study of tlie 
Origin, habits, and destructive tendencies of Ah I'm syliim, have mi many ohstai les pre- 
sented themselves to a full and exhaustive research into the most interesting facts 
growing out of tlx- question, so very important to success of cotton growth in the 
South. During the season just passed, through the whole length and breadth of 
the land where cotton has been cultivated (except lo a few favored localities), com- 
mencing early in July and not yet terminated, there baa been ■ continuous fall of 
rain, unprecedented in the history of eult i vat ion, destro] ing a very large portion of the 
crop, as yet undetermined and impossible of MOUrate estimate, till the remainder is 
secured and ginned and marketed. AJ far m my observation and memory date hack-, 
I have discovered in this year a more anomalous exhibit in the movement of this 
fugacious enemy of the cotton than before remarked in I period Of forty years .past. 
I'pon a considerable number of plantations, which I was enabled to \ i>it in despite 
ot the frustrating condit ions ot* t he weather, I observed what I had never before 
witnessed, the obvious fact that in almost every field, where .the fly had deposited its 
eggs, u ere plainly to l>e seen sect ions of t he crop upon which no worms had appeared, 
although only separated by a corn-patch or turn row. while the remainder of the 
held was entirely riddled by these trueulenl depredators. 
In looking for some latent cause for these special exemptions, I found in almost 
every instance that the unmolested spots were the early and well-cultivated portions 
of every held, clearly manifest ing an evident instinct in the mother moth for the 
selection of those plants in the most succulent state and ottering suitable sustenance 
for their larva:. I found that the same views prevailed among the planters themselves 
a> to my observations and the theory upon which the\ were based. 
To some of the quest s embraced in your Circular No. ? * very lew planters were 
prepared to give any answer dear to themselves or satisfactory to you. To Nos. 1 
and '2 I failed to obtain any definite Information. To the 'M a large number an- 
swered they had remarked no special difference. They were reminded that in Ht>7 
and 1NVJ, when the ground was frozen about the middle of March of each year, the lly 
had appeared early and the worms were very destructive. To the 4th the replies 
were uniform, that the worms appeared earlier and were more numerous and destruc- 
tive in wet than dry weather. To the 5th, they had observed them since l*t>4, in 
some years as early as the lirst week in May. To the bth, the fust moths seemed 
always to seek the rankest cotton, which was most gem-rally to be found in the 
richest land. The answers to the 7th question were varied and unsatisfactory, though 
a majority inclined to favor the ground hibernat ion. because they had plowed up 
chrvsalids resembling Aletia. and yet few had sufficient curiosity or had taken the 
trouble to hatch them out. But a few of the most intelligent and observant planters 
were very positive they had seen the moths alive in protected spots and after the 
coldest weather in winter, and had no doubt in regard to identification. To the 8th 
question, it was answered with one accord that the insecticides most generally observed 
were the small ants, dispersed everywhere in the cotton liehls. many v.-iriet ies of birds, 
an 1 some domestic fowls, where iields were convenient to habitations, assisted by 
spiders, wasps, yellow-jackets, and dirt-daubers, as known to plantation parlance. 
Among quadrupeds, none but wild animals were supposed to prey upon the worms, as 
hogs were fenced out aud not allowed in the fields. To the 9th, opinions were about 
equally divided as to practical results, though a very general concurrence of views 
in favor ot' lights, if all planters would sot them at or near the same time. A few had 
used lamps, with pans smeared with coal-tar or tilled with molasses and vinegar. 
Hardly any were satisfied with the results, as this style ot* warfare was not in general 
use. One planter thought he had hastened the destruction of his crop, though his 
* See introduction. 
[55) 
