22 
BULLETIN 12U4, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
•S\ are cotton, while Fields 20 and 22 are corn. Cabins and adjoin- 
ing outbuildings were present in many fields, and the bayou which 
adjoined llerinione on one side and the canal which ran through 
the center of Shirley were both lined with trees. 
Each type of held was studied as an individual flying problem, 
and efforts were made to decide upon the most efficient and safest 
manner in which to fly that particular field. Especial attention 
was devoted to those fields that presented unusual difficulty for fly- 
ing. Throughout the work the individual cut of cotton was treated 
as the unit, rather than lining up a series of cuts in a row which 
could be treated by straightaway flights. In any commercial use 
of the planes, every effort should of course be made to arrange the 
Fig. 18. — An oblique view from about 500 feet elevation of Shirley Plantation, Cuts 20 to 
23, inclusive. This illustrates the type of flying problem presented by such fields, 
extending irregularly along timber and containing occasional isolated tall sikil's. 
cotton and the flying so that straightaway flights as long as possible 
may be used. 
Wind direction occasionally proved important in deciding the 
manner in which a field should be flown. It is safer to fly low 
against the wind than with the wind, and the same degree of sta- 
bility can be maintained with a slower ground speed against the 
wind than with it. This factor, however, was important only near 
the middle of the day, as in early morning and late evening the 
wind velocity wan not sufficient to cause difficult v. 
FLYING METHODS USED. 
The usual manner of treating a field consisted of flying back and 
forth on paths which permitted the dust clouds to overlap slightly. 
