234 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



that was drawn out ; and as care was taken in the separation, most of the staple was unin- 

 jured. It is not pretended that every filament was unbroken in fact, the delicate taper ends 

 were sometimes wanting ; but no one was neglected, in order that a fair representation might 

 be made of the available length before ginning. Of course, the most perfect method of con- 

 ducting that operation could do no more than leave the cotton of the same length. 



"For the purpose of measurement, the filaments were gently extended upon a glass plate 

 slightly greased or moistened, and the finger was pressed several times over the'whole length 

 to remove the curl. The measurement was made by dividers, and a diagonal scale to hun- 

 dredths of an inch. The specimens examined were Georgia Sea-Island, three parcels and 

 one of short staple ' top-cotton,' or late cotton, not opened at the time of frost. 



" The following is the result of the measurement obtained : 



"The length of the perfect filaments taken from the same boll is very uniform. The ave- 

 rage length of the staple of mature Sea-Island cotton, of the kinds examined, as it goes to the 

 gin, must be between an inch and a half and an inch and three-quarters. In extreme cases, 

 the length may vary four-tenths of an inch from the average ; but the larger proportion is 

 within one-fourth of an inch abve or below the average. The unripe cotton is not subject to 

 greater variations than the ripe. 



" There is a probability that the fibre taken from the base of the boll is the shortest, and that 

 from the middle the longest, while that from the top is between the two ; the variation, how- 

 ever, being very small. 



"As far as can be seen from a single instance, the short staple seems to be remarkable for 

 its uniformity in length, varying from 1-27 inch, to 1-05. The gentlemerf^who forwarded 

 the specimen supposed from its immaturity that it might show varied lengths of fibre 

 in reality it exceeds all the other specimens in equality. A slight examination of these 

 colons under the microscope shows that each has its distinctive character, and that the Sea- 

 Island may differ in its varieties as much as some Sea-Island differs from some Upland. 



" The adaptation of the different kinds of staple to different kinds of manufacture, is much 

 more intimately connected with the minute characters of the fibre than is generally known ; 

 for instance, the peculiar character of the Sea-Island does not depend so much upon its greater 

 length, nor upon its fineness, as upon its cord-like or ' spiral' structure. 



" Again : the flat or ribbon-like varieties differ widely from each other, some of them show- 

 ing, even in their flattened parts, an approach to the spiral structure. 



"Such peculiarities can only be described and made available after the examination of a 

 large number of specimens, and these should include every kind of cotton, from situations 

 differing as much as possible with respect to soil and climate." 



The Enemies of the Cotton-Plant. 



THE enemies of the cotton-plant are chiefly the caterpillar and the boll-worm. 



The ravages of the chenille, or cotton-caterpillar (Depressario Gossypioides) have been long 

 known in other countries. It prevailed destructively in South America and the West Indies, 

 having been described previous to the present century, and is probably coeval with the culti- 

 vation of the cotton-plant. In 1788 and 1794, two-thirds of the crop in one of the Bahama 

 Islands were destroyed by it. The remedy first resorted to was the burning of the cotton- 

 stalk in which the eggs of the insect were supposed to be deposited. This seems to have been 

 ineffectual ; it was certainly so as respects the insect that occasions the rot, as, during the 

 whole period of its prevalence in this country, the burning of the stalks was universal, and 

 no diminution of the disease was known to have resulted from the practice. " The most fea- 

 sible remedy," says Mr. Wailes, in his report to the Legislature of Mississippi, on this subject, 

 " is one I proposed more than ten years since ; it is the destruction of the enemy by means 

 of torches at night, immediately after the perfect imago or moth emerges from its puparium 

 or chrysalis state, and flies abroad, it being very well known that fire-light will attract insects 

 of this class. If the hands on a plantation were each provided with a lighted torch of pine 

 wood, dried cane, or some similar material, and made to pass through the fields at intervals 

 of five or ten rows apart, shortly after twilight had closed, myriads of moths would perish in 



