DISEASES OP THE COTTON PLAJST. 
239 
SECTION n. 
AOOIDENTS AND DISEASES OF THE COTTON PLANT, TTStJALLT FEOM 
OTHER OAirSES THAN DSTSEOTS. 
Cotton, lite many other plants, is subject to diseases, 
caused principally by accidents, the defects of the soil in 
which it grows, the depredations of insects, and the effects 
of the weather. Those whicb are the most fatal may be 
described as follows : 
SORE-SHIN. 
One of the diseases to which the cotton plant is sub- 
ject, commonly known among planters as the " sore-shin," 
is sometimes occasioned by a careless stroke of the hoe, 
scraping the outer bark from the stem while the plant is 
yet young and tender. The sap being arrested by the 
wound, that part of the main stem above the injury dwin- 
dles away, becoming both weak and brittle. Although the 
regenerative powers of the plant may afterward produce 
new bark from the sides of the wound, and the injury heal 
up, leaving only a larger Or smaller cicatrix, or scar, ac- 
cording to the extent of the wound received, the stem 
eventually becomes so attenuated and weak as frequently 
to break off at or above the place where the wound was 
first made. 
The preventive of this disease would be, to take great 
care when hoeing, not to bruise nor injure the young plant, 
as, when the growth is once stopped by an accidental 
bruise, or abrasion of the bark, the plant, if not broken 
down by storms, or the weight of its own top foliage, will 
always appear stunted or weak. 
There is also said to be another species of " sore-shin," 
