246 
DISEASES or THE COTTON PLANT. 
plant bugs avail themselves of as food, I have seen young 
bolls, apparent^ healthy, suddenly drop from the pla,nt, 
and, on being carefully cut open, showed a wound which 
had been pierced by the trunk of some insect, in one of 
these glands, and that a watery rot had commenced where 
the boll had been stung. It was evident that this rot had 
been caused by the piercer of some insect unknown, as the 
puncture could be traced throughout its length to tbe heart 
of the lower part of the injured boll. 
