ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR NO. 7. 
[811 
as worms. Occasional hiBtancefl at men being nauseated while mixing the green with 
dour and plaster, or even while sifting it on the plant, have come to my notice; but 
a single dose of the antidote, hydrated oxide of iron, always gave relief. A good many 
instances occur of men becoming chafed by riding, and the flour mixture and even the 
wat^r getting on their persons causes soreness, and sometimes swelling of the parts 
accompanied by an eruption of white pimples; but this is soon relieved by the use of 
the antidote externally or an occasional application of sweet oil and sprinkling of 
flour. This trouble is prevented by use of oil-cloth aprons and free use of strong soap 
after working with the mixtures. Mules are sometimes made sore around and under 
the tail and on flanks and shoulders if care is not taken to wash them clean of the flour 
mixture, which becomes caked in the hair. 
15. 1 have found the application of Paris green the surest poison for destroying the 
worm,- applied in the early morning and late evening, mixed with flour and equal 
parts plaster of Paris and Land plaster, 6 pounds green to 200 pounds, carefully and 
thoroughly mixed and sifted before using, and then sifted on each side of the row 
through .i No. 94 niter, and during the heat of the day when the leaves are dry. f 
pound to 1 pound green to 40 gallons water, sprinkled on each side of the row with a 
2-gallon watering-pot. ordinary sized rose, perforated with holt s about the size of a 
knitting-needle. The drawbacks the cotton-grower has to contend with are many, 
First, if the worms come early, say about August 1, in sufticient numbers to justify 
the use of green, the next crop, which eoines about September 1 , will destroy his crop; 
besides the work of cultivation is not completed. If they do not appeal until 1st to 
10th of September, he is then compelled to devote his time to picking the crop on 
sandy lands, and a loss <,f a week from this important work results eventually in great 
loss. If the worm appears in force about the middle of August the planter is then 
better prepared to destroy them, and the plant in a better condition to justify the ex- 
pense; but often the weather is very showery, and much of the green is washed oft', 
and the plant is partially stripped before the worms are killed: also, now that Paris 
green is so extensively used for this purpose, the article is very much adulterated, and 
while he pays less apparently per pound for it. if require! more of it to sam e quantity 
Of floor or water, and even then it is not so destructive. Our gieat need is a cheap, 
solubh' poison, which will dissolve thoroughly in water and kill the worm and not 
burn the cotton. 
U*>. The cost of application, outside of first cost of the Paris green, depends upon a 
good many contingencies — convenience of water, size of cotton plant requiring more 
or less of the mixture to the acre. Where applied mixed with w ater and the water 
is convenient . as is generally the case in this parish, it w ill cost from si to sl..">0 net- 
acre. When applied mixed with flour and plaster ( by far the most efficacious pro 
cess) it will cost lroin si. ."»(). at the low est . to s-J..">U per acre. The best ami surest plan 
for the cotton-planter to piot< ct himself against the ravages of Cotton Worms is to 
list up his lands in December, and very early in January replow , plant early, and 
force the piant to maturity by constant, judicious cultivation. This mode costs as 
much per acre as the application of Paris green, but it is money better spent, as the 
soil is kept in better plight by such a process. Still, under favorable circumstances. 
I am a strong advocate for the use of Paris green, or any other efficient poison, to kill 
this worm, and use the gieeu whenever my crops aic threatened with injury by the 
worms. 
Verv respectfullv votirs, 
P. S. SHIELDS. 
0. V. Riley, Chit/ r. & E. C. 
Natchitoches, La., September 29, 1^79. 
First, in order to answer your tjuestious intelligently. I will give a slight outline of 
the geographical location and situation of the parish of Natchitoches. It is situate 
in the northwest part of the State of Louisiana, the greater portion being imme- 
diately south of the thirty-second degree of north latitude, its greatest length being 
from southeast to northwest. It had a population, according to the census of 1670, of 
18.205. Had in cultivation last year, or rather in the previous year (1877), in cotton, 
23,600 acres, ami produced 13,940 bales of cotton. The lands are particularly fertile 
and productive, yielding the greatest abundance of the fruits of the earth with a 
small outlay of labor. As to your questions: 
1. I answer only for the parish of Natchitoches, La. Cotton was first planted in 
this parish about the beginning of this century. 
2. The first appearance of the worms in this locality was in the year 1623, late in the 
autumnal season, and they did but little damage to the cotton-plant. The second 
time was in the year 1640, doing again very little damage, and creating no alarm in 
the minds of the planters; but when they came again, in the year 1844, they did con- 
siderable damage, causing serious alarm 'to those engaged in planting, making them 
63 CONG— AP 6 
