FIELD, ORCHARD, AND GARDEN CROPS 



157 



Its long, beautiful, silky staple, or fiber, is much valued for making 

 lace and thread. The yield is smaller than that of the short-stapled 

 upland varieties which are cultivated in most of the cotton belt. 



Wilt and Weevils. Within recent years the cotton crop in 

 some sections has suffered much from disease and insect ravages. 

 The sea island cotton was attacked by a wilt disease which de- 

 stroyed entire crops; cotton grown on the same land for years 

 afterward was almost sure to be attacked 

 by this deadly leaf wilt. By careful 

 selection of resistant plants, a wilt-resist- 

 ing variety was bred. The upland cot- 

 ton in Texas was attacked by the Mexi- 

 can boll weevil, which is gradually in- 

 festing the cotton-growing region. You 

 will learn more about this insect in the 

 chapter on Crop Enemies. Although it 

 has done great damage, the boll weevil 

 has been of some use, as it is causing 

 southern farmers to improve their cul- 

 tural methods. 



Seed Selection. Plants for seed 

 should be selected with care in the 

 field, and marked before picking begins. They should be 

 thrifty, free from disease, and should have many and large bolls. 

 The fiber should be long rather than short. The selected seed 

 should be planted in a separate plot and carefully tended. From 

 the best plants seed should be saved for next yearns seed plot, and 

 from the others seed for the field crop. No seed ' runs out ' 

 more quickly than cotton where careful selection is not practiced. 



Flax. Flax is another valuable fiber plant. The long, fine, 

 tough fibers of its stem are used for making linen. Flax seed, or 



Staple, or fiber, showing dif- 

 ference in length between up- 

 land and sea island cotton. 



