COTTON CULTURE. 85 



engravings the insects of which cuts are given in this 

 chapter. 



Of the first, little, perhaps, need be said. It is a small, 

 gray louse, that attacks the plant when very young, and 

 is generally found upon cotton that is unfavorably situated 

 with regard to soil and moisture. 



Where there is a rich but wet bottom from which fine 

 returns may be expected, and copious rains follow the 

 planting, the young sprouts will have a sickly and rusted 

 look, and grow very slowly. Upon examination they will 

 be found to be suffering from the louse. 



The first remedy, and that which is generally effectual, is 

 careful culture. The earth should be loosened around the 

 young plants, and, if the stand is very thick, it should be 

 thinned. In many places these early troubles of the cot- 

 ton plant result from an exhaustion of some of the constit- 

 uents of the soil which cotton demands. 



Ashes and plaster are the best fertilizers of young cot- 

 ton, and they would probably, if sprinkled dry upon the 

 plant, destroy this little vermin. It is recommended, then, 

 to dash or dust upon young cotton plants that are afflicted 

 with the louse or the sore-shin, a mixture of dry wood 

 ashes and plaster of Paris. Let it be done immediately 

 after the first plowing, and before the hoes go over the 

 crop, as this will give the hoe an opportunity to mingle 

 the fertilizer with the soil around the roots of the plant. 



THE CUT-WORM. 



This animal is about an inch long, of a dull, leaden hue. 

 He burrows in the earth, is of a slow and torpid nature, 

 and proves himself the enemy of the cotton plant almost 

 as soon as it appears above ground. From that time for 

 a month he shows his mischievous nature by biting the 

 tender stalks just where they emerge from the ground. 

 Generally he inflicts a severe wound, but quite often sev- 



