240 DISEASES OE THE COTTON PLANT. 
to whicli the young cotton plant is liable, differing entirely 
from that occasioned by careless hoeing,, the cause of which 
is attributed by many to cold, cutting winds, when the 
plant is very young. Others, however, assert that, when a 
high wind shakes the tender plant, the main stem is so 
much bent and twisted, that the sap vessels are upturned, 
and a serious injury occurs ; but the wound is sometimes 
healed, and if the cotton grows vigorously afterward, it 
apparently outgrows the shock. 
FRENCHING. 
In certain portions of the plantations, in many parts of 
Florida, individual plants grow with white or variegated 
leaves. This peculiairity is termed " Frenching ; " but, as I 
observed only a few thus marked, it may, perhaps be only 
a sport of Nature, similar to the variegated leaves of culti- 
vated plants of our gardens. Indian com, however, is subject 
to " French ; " and, in this case, the disease has been attrib- 
uted to some imperfection of the soil ; to improper use of 
manures, as well as to various other causes. Be this as it 
may, it appears as if only certain spots, varying in area in 
the same field, are attacked, sometimes in succession, year 
after year, while the remainder of the crop is perfectly 
healthy and good. When corn is thus Frenched on what 
are termed " Frenched lands," it grows light-colored, some- 
times almost white, or striped, and bears no crop. Until 
this Frenched land has been thoroughly and properly ana- 
lyzed, it would be useless to say any thing more on a subject 
so little understood ; and I merely mention this disease 
here to invite public attention to it, and to induce practical 
farmers to experiment, in order to find out the cause, and, 
should one be discovered, to suggest some remedy for its 
removal. 
