FIBER CROPS 36! 



cotton, while the worms can be effectively poisoned by dusting dry undiluted 

 paris green upon the cotton. The cotton worm in recent years has not been 

 especially destructive, and the method of poisoning is not so common as 

 formerly. 



"Make two sacks of heavy cloth, each about 10 inches long and 4 in 

 diameter, open the whole length of one side and firmly sewed at the ends. 

 We have found 8-ounce Osnaburg the best cloth for the purpose. Take a 

 strip of oak or other strong wood, about 1.5 by 2 inches and 5 feet long, and 

 bore a 1-inch hole 5 inches from the end. Tack one of the sacks to each 

 end of the pole, fastening one of the edges of the opening to each of the 

 narrow sides of the pole. 



"The sacks can be filled by pouring the poison through a funnel insertec 

 in the holes through the pole, and distributed by riding on horseback through 

 the cotton rows, dusting two rows at a time. A little practise will enable 

 one to do this work very evenly, and care must be taken not to allow the 

 sacks to touch the leaves when wet or the poison will not pass through. 

 When the sacks are freshly filled a very slight jarring will shake out a suf- 

 ficient amount of the poison, but, when nearly empty, the pole should be 

 frequently and sharply struck with a short stick, or spaces in the rows will 

 be missed. 



"When used in this way we have found it the best plan to use the poison 

 without any admixture of flour, and if flour is to be added lighter cloth should 

 be used in making the sacks. With a pole and sacks as described, one man 

 and mule can poison from 15 to 20 acres per day." 1 



III. Fungous Diseases 



457. Diseases. The cotton plant is subject to a considerable 

 number of diseases, some of which do widespread damage. 

 While Texas has suffered greatly from insect attacks, fungous 

 diseases seem thus far to have done their greatest damage in 

 the states east of the Mississippi River, especially in the lower, 

 more humid and sandy sections of these states. The following 

 are the most important diseases arranged according to the 

 part of the plant which they most obviously affect : 2 



THE ROOTS AND STEMS 



1. Cotton wilt or frenching (Neocosmospora vasinfecta (Atk.) E. F. Smith). 



2. Root knot or root galls (Heterodera radicicola (Greef.) Muell.). 



1 Mississippi Sta. Bui. No. 12 (1890), pp. 2, 3. 



2 F. S. Earle: Diseases of Cotton; in Alabama Sta. Bui. No. 107(1899), 

 p. 289. 



