548 



FARMERS REGISTER— ROT IN COTTON. 



it not surprisintT that there are persons, sugar 

 planters too, wlio are slill skeptical on the subject 

 of wind-rowing the sugar cane, as soon as the 

 leaves and upper joints are deadened by the 

 frost? 



From the Southern Agriculturist. 



OjV THE ROT IX COTTON, AND THE INTRO- 

 DUCTION OF THE PETIT GULF SEED FROM 

 KEW ORLEANS AS A REMEDY. 



Edgefield District, (S. C.) near Mount \ 

 Vintage P. O. December Uth, 1834. 3 



Sir — I shall endeavor to throw some light on 

 the rot in cotton, and recommend the more gene- 

 ral introduction of a better species, than our cora- 

 inon green seed. 



The last year I purchased in Augusta a bag, 

 containing about six bushels of what is termed 

 Petit Gulf Cotton Seed, and with it planted about 

 ten acres of land; this cotton did not suffer from 

 rot, whilst a fourth, at least, of the balance of my 

 other cotton crop was lost by it. With the seed 

 produced from these ten acres of cotton, I planted 

 seventy acres the present year, and had enough 

 Jeft to rc|)lant a supply if occasion should have re- 

 quired it. 



The general and fatal effects of the rot the pre- 

 sent year, is so well known, that it is unnecessary 

 to enter into a detailed account of it. My cotton 

 was so much exempt from it, that I thought it 

 unnecessary to make any calculation of loss from 

 it, whilst that of my neighbors all around was 

 destroyed in a ratio of from one-fourth to a third 

 of their crops; and although the frost of the 20ih 

 October, was so severe as to destroy all vegetation, 

 my cotton book will show five thousand weight of 

 Beed cotton picked in, to every effective hand, and 

 in this section of impoverished country, may be 

 considered a good crop, even if no accident had 

 occurred; and this 1 ascribe to the Petit Gulf .seed. 

 I would, therefore, advise ever}- planter of cotton, 

 to procure this seed from New Orleans, let it cost 

 what it will, at least as much as will |)Ut him in 

 seed for the next year, and to adopt the same plan 

 every second or third year at farthest, for after that 

 period it will become degenerated by m-ixture, and 

 then more subject to the evil of which we com- 

 plain. Perhaps by the general introduction of this 

 seed the enemy ma)', by the change of food, be 

 driven off entirelj', as I am perfectly satisfied, that 

 the rot originates from insects, and ^ve know that 

 every insect has a predilection lor a certain kind of 

 food, and this species of cotton is less palatable to 

 them than the common green seed. I am the 

 more convinced of this fact, from having tried a 

 email experiment two years in succession, of some 

 black seed from Peru, to acclimatize it, but iound 

 the seasons too short, to make it an object. This 

 cotton was not affected by the rot, whilst other 

 cotton near it was — and if I am not mistaken, the 

 sea island cotton is exempt from this kind of 

 rot. 



On a former occasion I have advanced this opin- 

 ion in relation to insects, and every day's expe- 

 rience confirms me in it. These insects are like 

 pome of the human family, a kind of thieving tribe 

 that seldom appear until the sun declines and '*the 

 evening shades'" prevail, and then come from 



their concealments to commit their depredations, 

 until he returns to throw his light upon the earth, 

 when they retire to their covers beyond discovery. 



The reason why the cotton boles are more sub- 

 ject to the rot in rainy seasons, or when the at- 

 mosphere is humid, is owing to a promotion of 

 growth in the plant, making them more tender 

 and susceptible of perlbration than in dry seasons, 

 rendering the insect more industrious in taking hia 

 (bod, and leaving the injury behind him. It is al- 

 ways observed after a shower of rain, that insects 

 are more upon the alert in gathering tbod, and sip- 

 ping ti-om the breath of Flora the reli-eshment pro- 

 duced by it, than in a time of drought. 



In conclusion, I would further remark, the Petit 

 Gulf cotton, grows more luxuriantly, the quality 

 is better and one-third more can be picked out in 

 the same time than the green seed; and the return 

 is thirty pounds of nett cotton to one hundred of 

 that in seed, 



A PRACTICAL PLANTER. 



WHEAT INSECT. 



The following description of this insect by Prof. 

 Low, agrees with our observation of it about Al- 

 bany. — Con. Cult. 



"Certain flies also attack the wheat, at a later 

 stage of its growth. The Cecidomyia Tritici is a fly 

 with an orange colored body and white wings. 

 About the month of June the female ascends the 

 ears of wheat, and deposits her egirs in these by 

 means of a fine trunk, and in a fiiw days she pe- 

 rishes. The progeny lieing hatched in the ear, 

 feed u|"!on the grain. They are very small, from 

 ten to fourteen being sometimes found in one grain, 

 and are distinguished by being of a bright orange 

 color. They do not extend beyond the grain in 

 which they are born; but several grains being thus 

 consumed on one ear, the damage done is often 

 considerable. The larvai, after a f/Criod, fall down to 

 the earth in which they burrow, and remain there 

 till the following summer, when they ascend from 

 the earth in the form of the beautiful fly which has 

 been mentioned," 



For the Fanners' Register. 



ADDRESS DELIVERED TO THE AGRICULTU- 

 RAL SOCIETY OF ROCKBRIDGE, BY THE 

 PRESIDENT, DR. R. R. BARTON. 



Gentlemen. — The duty of addressing you on 

 this occasion has again been assigned to me, and 

 though I may have wished this to have devolved 

 on other hands, I will cheerfully comply. 



I would have been glad to ha\e gone into a 

 review of the operations of our society since our 

 last meeting at Fancy Hill, and have presented a 

 synopsis of our proceedings since that time. But 

 I regret to say, the materials would not alibrd me 

 much todweil on. We are yet in a state of in- 

 fancy, and have not entirely overcome the preju- 

 dice against innovation and book knowledge. Much, 

 iiowever, has been done to arouse our farmers 

 from their lethargy, and excite emulation and a 

 spirit of inquiry. Your premium for the corn 

 crop was awarded to Capt. Barclay, for the pror 



