746 
& 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
dutomolofliral. 
THE COTTON BOLL MOTH. 
W. B. Pratt , Marion Co., Ind., lately sent na 
a half a dozen specimens of an insect intruder on 
hia green corn. Last year the pest attacked his 
early oorn, but did not appear cm the late sorts. 
This year, however, it haa made its appearanco 
in almoBt every ear of hia latest variety; and he 
wishes to loam what tho “ critter ” is; its origin, 
metamorphoses, end, and any possible remedy 
or preventive that may have been deviBod for it. 
ANSWER RY B. RICKMAN MANN. 
The specimens sent have not preserved their 
original appearance well, but from what oan be 
concluded by the examination of them and by 
the account of their habits, it seems likely that 
they are caterpillars of tho cotton-boll moth 
(Heliothis armigora). My attention was first 
called to tho ravages of this kind of caterpillar 
by seeing an oar of oorn filled with a repulsive- 
looking and fetid-smelling blaok fungus. I 
took this homo with me to examine it more 
oloaely, and found upon thiB one ear seven dis¬ 
tinct species of larv®, some of them, at least, of 
the most destructive character. The most pro¬ 
minent of these larv® was of this species. 
THE PERFECT INSECT, OR MOTH, 
measures about 40 mm. across the extended 
wings, which are generally of a tawny or pale 
clay-yellow color, with a faint greenish tinge. 
The front pair are branded with two or more bars 
or rows of pale olive and rufous, and have a 
crescent-shaped, dark mark near the center. 
Tiio hind wingB are paler than tho front wings, 
and invariably have, along the outer margin, a 
dwk-browu or black baud, in the middle of 
wiiioh is an irregularly shaped spot of the same 
color as the wing. There is likewise a dark 
spot in the oenter of the wing, and the nerves 
are black or dark-colored. 
THE EOQS 
are laid during warm evenings in summer and 
fall, w’hen the moth may be seen hovering over 
the tops of the plants about sunset. This hap¬ 
pens as early as Juno and oontiuues until Au¬ 
gust. One egg is deposited upon the silk or 
point of each oar of corn. Each female moth is 
capable of consigning to their proper places 
more than iivoJhUudrodeggs. The egg is of a pale 
straw oolor, tapering, cylindrical in shape, and 
regularly ribbed longitudinally. 
THE ICATERPIIURS 
hatch out in three or four days. When full-grown 
they are from 35 to 40 mm. in length, varying in 
oolor from pale groen to dark brown ; the head 
is reddish, and tho under side is yellowish-white. 
There is a double line of darker color down the 
middle of the back, or the whole baok is covered 
with fine longitudinal light and dark lines, and 
on each side of the body is a clear brown stripe 
with a yellowish stripe below it. Each ring, or 
segment of the body, has about five black dots, 
or spots, on each side, from whioh arise soft 
hairs. There are two or throe broods in a yoar, 
acoording to the length of the season. The first 
brood feeds upon the undeveloped tassel of the 
oorn-plant, whioh is the staminate or male 
flower, boring into the stalk for the purpose, and 
is developed in time to attack the ear 
and the female flower or Bilk, daring 
its seoond brood. This it does by pen¬ 
etrating iuto tho point of the husk and cut¬ 
ting off the silk, so that the pollen is unable to 
reach the unimpregnated germ, whioh tht refore 
fails of its development. It also feeds upon the 
kernels of oorn while they are still soft and 
milky. 
But the damage done is not confined to the 
aotuai consumption of grain, for tho ends of 
the ears, when partially devoured and left by 
this insect, afford a secure retreat for hundreds 
of other smaller insects, whioh, under cover of 
the husks, finish the work of destruction begun 
by the oaterpillar, eating holes in the grains or 
loosening them from the oob. A species of 
greenish brown mold or fungus iB very apt to 
attack suoh ears, the dampness from the exuded 
sap appearing to favor suoh growth. The ker¬ 
nels or grains then swell up to a great size, and 
beoome fiUod with tho filthy spores cf the fun¬ 
gus, whioh burst out and sow themselves in 
every direction. Animals fed with tho oorn 
whioh has been attacked by this disease, fre¬ 
quently die from its poisonous qualities. 
When the caterpillar is full-grown it descends 
into the ground, where it forms a rough, oval 
oocoon by gluing together the particles of earth 
with the Bilk which issues from near its mouth. 
In this cocoon it sheds its last skin, and becomes 
a green chrysalis, but soon turns to a bright 
ohestnut-browu oolor, with four thorns at the 
extremity of tho body, the two middle ones 
being stouter than the others. At the end of 
three or four weeks, in summer, the moth is 
developed, the moths from tho last brood ap¬ 
pearing in November. 
THE HABITAT OF THIS INSECT 
oovers a vast extent of territory, for it has been 
found in North and South America (I found it 
in Brazil), the United StateB, England, Japan 
and Australia. It is very destructive, especially 
in dry seasons, when the growth of the plant is 
retarded by the drought; for it not only feeds 
upon the silk and the soft kernels of roaating- 
ears of corn', and upon the flowers and balls of 
the cotton-plant, but also upon pumpkins, to¬ 
matoes and other vegetables. For instance, 
during a year of drought (1800), the oorn crop 
in the State of Kansas was so much injured by 
this oaterpillar and the diseases it introduced, 
that one county which had raised lover 150,000 
heotolitreB of corn in 1859, produced less than 
20,000 in I860, and most of the other counties 
Buffered as bedlv. There can be no doubt as to 
THE BEST TIME TO ATTACK THESE RESTS, 
for all who have studied tho matter, agree on 
the necessity of adopting some praotioable meth¬ 
od of destroying tho early and less numerous 
broods in the caterpillar state, or in the perfeot 
moth state, as it is entirely from those early 
mothB (which do little damage) that tho im¬ 
mense multitudes are generated, which commit 
such ravages on the crops. This is evident; 
for if wo oonsider that should ouly two female 
moths be allow ed to deposit each two hundred 
eggs in safety, the third generation, if un¬ 
disturbed, would amount to the considerable 
number of forty thousand caterpillars. The 
devastation these insects would cause oan 
be belter imagined than described, especially if 
the moths developed from them were also al¬ 
lowed to deposit their eggs in safety. Happily, 
however, nature has provided them with many 
enemies, such as birds and the ichneumon flies, 
which destroy immense numbers of them. 
Several 
REMEDIES 
have been proposed, and some have been tried. 
The surest method is to go through the corn¬ 
field and remove the caterpillar wherever it is 
found at work, but this is Blow and almost im¬ 
practicable, unless done to the first brood. But 
a method which would avail completely if adopt¬ 
ed at the exaot time that the first mothB appear, 
is to light flreB in various parts of the plantation 
in the early evening, as the moths are attracted 
by light, and periBh in groat numbers in the 
flames. Some successful experiments in killing 
these moths with molasses and vinegar were 
made by Ool. Rorsby of Georgia, and are de¬ 
scribed in one of the U. S. Patent Office Iteports, 
from which I take the following account: 
Wc proenred eighteen common-sized dinner 
plateB, into each of which we put about five 
centilitres of vinegar and molasses, previously 
prepared in the proportion of fonr parts of the 
former to ono of the latter. These plates were 
set on Hmall stakes or poles driven into the 
ground iu tho field, one to about each bechtar, 
and roaching a little above the plants, with 
a board about fifteen centimetres square, 
tacked on lbs top to receive the plate. These 
arrangements were made in the evening, soon 
after tho moths made their appearance ; the 
next morning we found from 18 to 35 moths to 
each plate. Tho experiment was continued for 
five or six days, the plates being distributed over 
the entiro field ; eaoh day's success increasing, 
until tho numbers were reduced to two or three 
mothB to each plate, w hen it was abandoned as 
being no longer worth the trouble. The orop that 
year waH but very little iuj tired by the caterpil¬ 
lars. The moths wore caught iu their eagerness 
to feed upon tho mixture by alighting into it 
and being unable to escape. They were prob¬ 
ably attracted by the odor of the preparation, 
the vinegar probably being an important agent 
in tho matter. As tho moths feed ouly at night, 
the plates should bo visited late every evening, 
the iusoote taken out, and the vessel replenished 
as circumstances may require. 1 ’ 
It is also said that tho odor of certain chemioal 
substances, suoh as cresylio soap, or carbolic 
acid, sprinkled on tho plants, will prevent the 
moth from laying her eggs upon them, but ex¬ 
periments of this kind have not always proved 
successful. 
I must acknowledge my indebtedness for 
much of the above account, to the writings of 
Messrs. Glover and Walsh. 
%\t (fumst. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
MALADIES OF STOCK. 
What Ails t he Hogs ? 
J. J. Davis, Woodson Vo., Kansas, says that 
he has some Berkshire pigs ono year old that 
won’t weigh nearly as much as they should do, 
while some that were farrowed last March aro 
not bigger than those a month old ought to be. 
Yet they have had the run of 20 acres of timber 
with running water and all tho oorn and slop ne¬ 
cessary to keep them in good condition. The 
slop and meal wore cooked, too, during the cold 
weather- Homo of them droop around and have 
thick white matter running from the corners of 
their eyes, while on some of the others the skin 
appears dry and banffi. lie has given them salt, 
ashes, oopperaR, salts and turpentine, but with 
very little suooess. Ho thinks it is the liver that 
is affected, aud asks tho real nature, cause and 
cure of the ailment, whether it is contagious, 
and if it would be likely to affect hogs brought 
from other places for breeding purposes, 
Ans _This description is not sufficiently de¬ 
tailed to allow ub to speak with confidence in re¬ 
gard to tho nature of tho trouble. It may be 
some form of parasitic disease, or it might pos- 
Bibly be tho resnltB oT a mild form of the bog 
fever, generally called oholora. Tho digestive 
process is evidently impaired, and we are in¬ 
clined to believe this due to intestinal or he- 
fratic parasites. In this case, the treatment 
followed should have produced good results, 
especially tho turpentine, if given in sufficient 
quantity. It is advisable to give a dose of jalap, 
one drachm each for pigs, and after this has 
cleared ont tho bowels, give a teaspoonful of oil 
of turpentiue to bo followed by another dose of 
jalap in three or four hours. As a preventive, 
pigs should never bo allowed to run on the same 
pasture as tho old hogs aud all such pastures 
should bo changed yearly. 
Spaying Oows. 
M. IT. M., Lexington, Mass., asks for receut 
and reliable information with regard to the prac¬ 
tice of Bpaying oows. "Iam aware," he says, 
"that the books for fifty years, and perhaps 
longer, agreo in stating, in terms snspioiously 
similar, the manifold advantages secured by this 
operation. If all they say is true, and there aro 
no drawbacks which they fail to mention, it 
Booms strange that the operation is not more 
generally practiced on dairy and family cows, 
where stock brooding is not only of no conse¬ 
quence but altogether unprofitable. I have 
never heard of an instance of the practice being 
followed in tins section, although it Is a milk- 
farming region, despite tho trouble and expense 
of the method in vogue, and although not one 
oalf in five is raised here. A more extensive 
practice of spaying cows of a oertain character 
and for certain purposes, would undoubtedly 
result in the elevation of the oh area tor of dairy 
Btock, as only the best animals would be retained 
entiro for breeding purposes." 
Ans.— Bpaying cows is not practiced for the 
reason that tho benefits derived from it are not 
in general sufficient to counterbalance the ex¬ 
pense and danger of the operation and leave a 
profit besides. It a dairyman has good oowa it 
is not to his interest to dispose of them in twelve, 
fifteen or eighteen months after calving, even 
if he can secure a good yield of milk for that 
time. Nor is it to hia interest to Incur the ex¬ 
pense of spaying in order to fatten his oows that 
are poor milkers, when he oan accomplish this 
result as well in the first moutliB of gestation. 
In some circumstances, noar large cities where 
animal food is very high and oows are kept but 
a few years at best, and sometimes but a single 
season, it would bo well for dairymen to oonsider 
this operation. 
Black-Leg in Oattle. 
K. M. Crane, Orleans, Neb., asks : Is there 
aDy known cauBeor cure for blaok-leg in oattle ? 
Is it more liable to attack ono oondition of cattle 
than another ? 
Ans.— Anthrax always develops on lands with 
rioh soils, underlaid by impervious subsoils. 
Tho drainage of such Hoils is sufficient to pre¬ 
vent the disease ; where this cannot be done, 
cattle should he pastured on high, naturally 
drained laud during the montliB in which this 
disoaso is likely to appear. Tho disoaso is prob¬ 
ably not contagious through tho atmosphere, 
but contact of the blood or other liquids of the 
affected animal with the skiu, or eating the flesh 
may produce tho disease in other animals or 
in man. 11 is moro liable to attack fat, high-con¬ 
ditioned auimalei than others. An exhaustive 
article on this disease, from the pen of Dr. Sal¬ 
mon, D. V. M., appeared in Koral for May 11. 
Corns on Horses. 
Mathew Odell, Flint Co., Mich., asks for a 
sure remedy for shoo boils on a valuable horse 
of hiB. 
Ans.—I f tho corn has auppurated, make an 
opening for the escape of tho pus; poultice for 
two or three days with bran mixed with hot 
water, then dress with tar and apply the shoe so 
that it will not boar on the part. If it has not 
suppurated, proper shooing will be sufficient. 
Coryza, or Nasal Catarrh in Swina. 
J. I)., Kiiuj's Creek, Ohio, asks for the name 
of a disease which afflicts his hogs and a remedy 
therefor. It commences with sneezing whioh 
can only be relieved by blooding at the nose. 
The infected hogs thrivo very slowly on their 
feed, bnt do not die of tho ailment. 
Ans.—T his disease of swine is oalled coryza, 
or nasal catarrh, and is as old as history, and 
was mentioned by Aristotle, iu his History of 
Animals. As treatment, give castor oil till a 
laxative effect is produced, aud follow with 
nitrate of potassa in >*' to 1 ounce doses, accord¬ 
ing to size of animal. Fumigations with sulphur 
or tar, by burning iu a moderately tight building 
where the animals will be compelled to broath 
the air charged with the fumes, is also advan¬ 
tageous. Iu some cases tho disoaso is vory ob¬ 
stinate and cannot be profitably treated. 
Caponizing Cockerels. 
a. H. F., Selby, Ohio, aBks how to oaponize 
oookerels. 
The following is a description of a simple way 
of performing this operation, practiced very 
NOV. 23 
successfully by a neighbor of ours. There are 
several bulky books which give a full account of 
the process, but in all of them an expensive out¬ 
lay for inBtrmnents is reoommended, but with 
the process we now describe very little outlay for 
tools ia required as most of the necessary instru¬ 
ments are in many homes. 
1 u the flrBt place, secure tho bird to bo opera¬ 
ted on to a bench or tablo. This iR easily done 
by arranging three holes throng h tho bonch 
about an inch apart. PaRR a cord through these, 
forming two loops ou the bonch botween the 
holes ; pass the bird’s left foot through one 
loop, tie the lower leg, tlion draw the right or 
upper leg forward, and secure that to the bench, 
through the other loop, tho bird lying ou his 
left Bide. His wingB can now be laid back so as 
to expose hia side, and a weight laid on them 
to keep them in that position. Tho feet cannot 
be held still without tying them. With a pen¬ 
knife, or, what is better, an ink-eraser, cut with 
one clean out a gash between the last two nba, 
an inch or more from the back-bone, an inch 
and a half to two inches long—obliquely down¬ 
wards—according to the size of the bird; cut 
through both skin and flesh with the same 
stroke, hut not more than a quarter of an inch 
deep, bo as not to out through the intestines. 
Do not out any lower down than the cartilage 
that connects the ends of the ribs. To keep 
open the inoiaion while continuing the opera¬ 
tion, apiece of old clock spring about six inches 
long, is used, and a quarter of an iuoh broad— 
bnt the width is not material. This piece of 
spring when extended—not in use—forms a 
semicircle. Tho two ends are tempered soft, and 
bent np at right angles to the spring at a dis¬ 
tance of a quarter of au iuoh from each extrem¬ 
ity. Press the two ends of the spring together 
aud insert in the wound, so as to keep it extend¬ 
ed, while tho two turuod-up ends keep it from 
springing out. 
The intestines are now in view covered with a 
membranous skin. This must be out with great 
caution so as not to out tho intestines. The in¬ 
strument for doing this is made ont of a crochet 
hook made sharp, and cutting on one side, the 
point, and on the inside the barb, so as 
to out when pushed forward or drawn 
back, at will. If the bird has been kept from 
food—as it should be—two nights and ono day 
before, the intestines will bo small and allow 
room for further work. The testicleB are now 
seen enveloped iu the same kind of membrane 
as were the intestines. If the bird has been kept 
fasting, they will ho all the more readily seen. 
If they are not easily detected, the intestines 
may be gently pushed forward toward the breast. 
The mombrano inclosing the testioles must be ont 
with the hook very carefully, as there is an 
artery between the two. Now, insert a small 
spoon—a salt spoon is the best—hold it under 
the lower testiole; place tho testicle in the 
spoon, then out away to edge of the spoon with 
a pair of spring pincers curved at the points, 
such are used by dentists ; take away aud cloan 
the spoon. Then the same operation is performed 
with tho uppor or left-hand testiole, letting no 
blood get beyond the spoon. When this is done 
aud the spring removed, sew up the wound with a 
surgioal needle whioh is curved; use floss for 
thread. 
With due care this mode of treatment is bet¬ 
ter than those recommended is poultry works, 
and has given entiro satisfaction. 
Show “Point*" of Light Brahmas. 
A. J. Collins, Bergen Co., N. J., asks as to 
the " Points" of Light Brahma fowls, aB regards 
markings, build and particularly whether white 
or yellow legs are considered the best. 
Ans.— Yellow-colored legs are tho only oolor 
admissible in tho show pen. The feathers 
must be well down to the outer toe ends. Tho 
body should bo broad and deep, heavy with 
fluff behind j breast full and carried well for¬ 
ward. Except in wings, tail and hackle, there 
should bo no blaok. The backs, down from tho 
hackle, should be clear white ; the combs should 
be pea or tripple-shaped; that is, in three ridges, 
the middle ridge being tho highest. Cooks 
should weigh twelve pounds; hens, ten ; oook¬ 
erels, ton pounds; pullets, eight, for the show 
pen. 
Faradiso and Loucin Slock. 
H. M., Lexington, Mass., asks 1. is there a dif¬ 
ference between tho Paradise aud Douoin stookB 
used for drawflng Apples, and if so, what? 
2. What, if any, iB tho botanical difference be¬ 
tween a Crab and a oommon Apple. 3. Will 
oions of the former take ou stockH of the latter ? 
Ans.— 1. It Is presumed that the apple is of 
Eastern origin, and that all of our present va¬ 
rieties sprang from the wild Crab. The wild Crab 
often exerts a dwarfing influence. Tho Pat adise Is 
naturally a small tree or shrnb, and dwarfs 
whatever variety is worked upon it much more 
than the Douoin. 3. There is no botanical dif¬ 
ference. 8. Yea. 
Summer Savory. 
S. B., Johnstown, N. T., 1, sends specimens 
of leaf and root of plant for name; and 2, asks 
at what time Summer Savory should be gathered, 
and for what purpose should it be used. 
Ans.— 1. The specimens sent wore imperfect, 
having no flower, while tho leaf waB pulverized; 
hence we oannot name it. 2. Rummer Savory 
