206 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



be rolled up so as to admit the sun, or let down quickly on the 

 approach of a shower. 



The baling should be thoroughly done. There is great loss 

 every year from bad baling, which necessitates rebaling at New 

 Orleans at a cost of one to two dollars a bale, and, also, largely 

 increases the cost of transportation, as a well made bale will oc- 

 cupy from one-third to one-half less space than when badly 

 done. Hoop iron has largely taken the place of rope for hold- 

 ing the bales together. 



From the brief description given, it will be seen that the cot- 

 ton crop keeps the hands busy nearly the entire year, the plow- 

 ing beginning in February, and the picking ending in December, 

 and then the ginning and baling must be done before plowing 

 for the next crop is begun. 



INSECT ENEMIES OF THE CROP. These are the Cotton Louse, 

 Cut-worm, Cotton-worm, or Moth, Army-worm, and Boll-worm. 



The first is a small, gray louse that attacks the plant, and is 

 usually found on cotton growing on a wet or unsuitable soil. 

 The remedy is, first, careful culture, which will give a thrifty 

 plant, and, second, dusting with ashes and plaster. 



The cut-worm is familiar to all farmers. Ashes or lime 

 around the roots of the plant is found to be a good preventive 

 of its ravages. 



The cotton-moth appears in August, and, as they are at first 

 few in number, would occasion no alarm to the uninitiated ; but 

 it sometimes happens that the worms hatch in countless millions, 

 and in three days they have been known to eat every leaf from 

 a thousand acres, leaving no possibility of more than an eighth 

 or tenth of a crop. If the crop is to be saved there must be no 

 delay in fighting this enemy. There are two methods : one is 

 to make war on the moths, and destroy as many as possible be- 

 fore they lay their eggs; the other to hunt their nests on the 

 leaves, and destroy them. 



For the first, let the hands go out early in the morning with 

 paddles made from wide shingles, and as the moths rise strike 

 them down and destroy them. Another method is to trap the 

 moths by placing plates on boards secured to stakes, on which 



