46 Growing Sea Island Cotton Under Florida Conditions 



While walking at a steady gait down the middle, the oper- 

 ator holds the pail containing the poison somewhat in front. 

 The short-handled mop is dipped an inch or so into the mix- 

 ture and quickly withdrawn, being dragged against the side 

 of the pail to remove some of the excess poison, and held, 

 handle and forearm vertical, above the cotton. Liquid will 

 then be dripping from the mop. A gentle swing of the mop 

 forward directs the drippings down the row eight or ten 

 feet. If this swing is made correctly most of the poison will 

 fall on the cotton, and leave the mop in an upraised posi- 

 tion. Then a smart swing of the mop diagonally downward 

 and to the left sprinkles the left row over a space of eight 

 or ten feet, and places the mop low and to the left. It is 

 quickly raised to a point about as high as, and directly in 

 front of, the left shoulder, and then swung diagnoally down- 

 ward and to the right, throwing the last of the poison on 

 the right row. This leaves the mop in a convenient position 

 for dipping and repeating the operation. 



It would perhaps be best for the beginner to sling only 

 the row on his right until the knack of quickly dipping the 

 mop and throwing the poison in a given direction is mastered. 

 After a little practice, the two row slinging operation can be 

 carried out at an ordinary walk. In this manner an opera- 

 tor can easily poison two acres of cotton an hour. After 

 the cotton is large and most of the liquid poison falls on the 

 plants when slung at random, two or more rows on each side 

 of the operator can be slung, but the operator will have to 

 walk somewhat slowly. While the cotton is in the early 

 Idossoming stage a gallon and a half of poison solution will 

 l)e enough to apply on an acre at each application. As the 

 cotton grows larger, the amount should be gradually in- 

 creased. 



Time to Begin Poisoning 



Stainers appear neither to do much damage nor to multi- 

 ply rapidly in cotton until bolls begin to appear. As soon as 

 the cotton reaches the blossoming stage, however, close 

 watch should be kept for stainers. When they appear in 

 appreciable numbers, poison applications should be begun, 

 if hand picking or spraying with pyrethrum solutions appear 

 to be impracticable. Two row slinging at weekly intervals 

 will prevent the stainers from multiplying unduly. If it is 

 necessary to begin poisoning in the early blosoming stage, 

 six or eight applications might be necessary to prevent them 

 from becoming numerous before the bolls are mature, if 

 it is not necessary to begin poisoning until a later stage of 



