74 WALL'S MANUAL 



One bushel of salt to the acre is a .remedy for cut 

 worm, and a good fertilizer, when mixed ; one hun- 

 dred pounds Peruvian guano, one hundred pounds of 

 superphosphate of lime to the acre. 



INSECTS FOUND ON THE LEAF. 



The Cotton Louse (Aphis'). When the cotton plant 

 is young and tender it is subject to the attacks of the 

 aphis or cotton louse, which, by means of its piercers, 

 penetrates the outer coating of the leaf, and sucks 

 the sap from the wound. The under part of the 

 leaves or young shoots are the places mostly selected, 

 and the constant punctures and drainage of sap en- 

 feebles the plant, causing the leaf to curl up, turn 

 yellow and fall to the ground. The young lice are 

 extremely minute, and of a greenish color ; but when 

 they become older, they are about one -tenth of an 

 inch in length, and often a very dark green ; and, in 

 some instances, almost black. The female produces 

 her young alive throughout the summer, when she 

 may often be seen surrounded by her numerous pro- 

 geny, sucking the juices from the leaf, and still pro- 

 ducing young. Both males and females are said to 

 possess wings at certain seasons, but the females and 

 young, in summer, appear to be wingless. The end 

 of the abdomen of both sexes is provided with two 

 slender tubes, rising like horns from the back, from 

 which exudes the " honey dew," seen sticking to the 

 leaves, and which forms the favorite food of myr- 

 iads of ants and other insects. The principal in- 

 sects which destroy the lice are the lady bug, the 

 lace fly and the syaphus, all of which wage incessant 

 war upon them, and devour all they .iind. Another 



