322 EEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGEICULTUEE. 



plantatiou, thus doiug away with one of the greatest ohjectious to dry 

 poisons. 



The poison shoiikl he first apphed at a date not later than twenty 

 days suhsequeut to that when the cotton first ap]>ears above ground. 

 It will probably be found necessary, as the successive broods of worms 

 appear, to poison larger and larger areas, until, with the third crop, all 

 the cotton growing- should he poisoned; doubtless, however, it would 

 frequently occur that only the rank-growing cotton would need to be 

 poisoned e\'eu then. If concerted action were taken throughout any 

 extended region in poisoning early in the season, we do not believe that 

 the worms would be able to develop in sufficient numbers to do any 

 serious injury; at least, their progress might thus be retarded, so that 

 the cotton would not be stripi)ed until too late in the fall to do damage. 



Wet 2)oiso~'is. — The least expensive mode of applying poisons, and the 

 one most generally adopted, is with water. When Paris green, arsenic, 

 or London purple is used, it is necessary to stir frequently the water into 

 which the i^oison is x)ut, as none of these substances are soluble in water. 

 In applying the mixture every leaf should be thoroughly' wet, and the 

 proportions used should be such as to distribute from twelve ounces to 

 one pound of Paris green over an acre; with the other poisons a smaller 

 amount must be used, on account of the danger of scorching the cotton. 



When Paris green was first applied with water common watering-pots 

 were used. A man mounted upon a mule carried the pot and sprinkled 

 the plants as he rode along the rows. Other hands kept this one sup- 

 plied with the mixture. This was found to be a very imperfect method, 

 requiring, as it does, a great amount of water, whicb is a serious objec- 

 tion when the water has to be draAvn a considerable distance, as is 

 usually the case. Moreover, by this method the poison is not evenly 

 distributed ; the hand (almost invariably an ignorant and careless ne- 

 gro, and, perhaps, half asleep) rides along and deluges some plants, 

 while others are not wet at all. 



The most practical way of applying wet poisons that hns come under 

 our observation is by means of a machine known as the fountain-pump. 

 This is a simple instrument, tlie form of which is shown at Plate XIV, 

 tig. 4. 



Lt consists of two brass tubes, one vrorking telescopically within the 

 other; a hose is fastened to one end and a nose can be attached to the 

 other; this nose is represented in the lower part of the figure; an ar- 

 rangement of valves allows water to pass into the pump through the 

 hose, but will not allow it to return. Thus, when the smaller tube is 

 pulled out, the pump is filled to its greatest capacity ; by jiushing this 

 tube back, the water can be ejected with considerable force through the 

 nose in a fine spray. In this way, with a single pump, a man can throw 

 the poison over five rows of cotton at once, walking rapidly along the rows. 

 Thus five rows can be poisoned in about the same tinae that is required 

 to poison one row Avith a watering-pot. In addition to the saving of 

 time, much less water is used with the fountain-pump than is required 

 with watering pots; Jind as the pumps throw a Aery fine spray, the poi- 

 son can be more eveidy distributed in this way. 



In using the fountain-pump, one man w<nks tiic pump, another hand 

 (often a woman) accompanies Inm and carries tiie Inicket contaiiiingtlie 

 mixture. Otlier hands keep th.esc sni)pli(-d witli the ])oison. As some 

 jiarts of the work arc more tiresome tlmn others, tlie liands are trans- 

 ferred from one part to another at, intervals. The water is con\eyed to 

 and about the fiehls as far as i)0ssible in wagons. 



It is estimated by those who have had much experience iu applying 



