194 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STAPLE CROPS. 



progressive agriculturist of the South. This alone has 

 been very largel}^ responsible for checking the rapid spread 

 of the pest. 



Now that the seed has become such a valuable joroduct 

 of the cotton-plant, smaller varieties with many seeds and 

 a short fibre are being grown, in contrast with the rank- 

 growing, long-fibre sorts formerly preferred. Thus the 

 rows are more open, the work of the worms is more readily 

 detected, and remedies more easy of application. With 

 these advantages in their favor, the more southern planters 

 have come to realize the importance of destroying the 

 early broods, and by doing so have been able to keep them 

 in a state of comparative subjection. 



For many years the most commonly used and. exj)erience 

 has shown, effective remedy is the use of the dry Paris 

 green. It is usually dusted upon two rows of j^lants, from 

 bags fastened at the ends of a pole, and carried by a man 

 on horseback, who can thus poison from 15 to 20 acres per 

 day. These sacks are about ten inches long by four inches 

 in diameter, open the whole length of one side and firmly 

 sewed at the ends. Eight-ounce Osnaburg is the best 

 cloth for the purpose. A strip of oak or strong wood 

 about one and one-half by two inches, and five feet long, 

 has a one-inch hole bored through it at five inches from 

 each end, and to this the sack is tacked, fastening one of 

 the edges of the opening to each of the narrow sides of 

 the pole. The sacks are filled through the holes in the 

 pole. When freshly filled a slight jarring will shake out 

 a sufficient amount of the poison, but when nearly empty 

 the pole should be frequently and sharply struck with a 

 short stick, or S2:)aces in the rows will be missed. The 

 poison has been found most effective without the admix- 



