DUSTING COTTON FROM AIRPLANES. 25 
convinced that it was possible to deliver dust into almost any field 
which would be encountered, as certainly this group presents the 
most difficult flying problem in the entire community. 
The remaining type of woodland field is well illustrated in 
Figure 18. These cuts all extend back into the timber line, and Cut 
21 contained several single trees and old snags which stood at some 
distance from the timber line, thus increasing the difficulty of getting 
poison back to the cotton adjoining the timber. Nevertheless, all of 
these fields were poisoned very effectively so far as worm control was 
concerned. 
There were many fields on Shirley out in the center of the plan- 
tation, where they are absolutely free from obstructions of any sort 
(see fig. 9). and thus permit maneuvering the plane at any desired 
elevation without worry. 
Figure 10, showing the general view of Hermione plantation, 
illustrates fairly ideal conditions for flying. The three tiers of cuts 
extended between the bayou and the timber line paralleling both. One 
cabin is present in the corner of Cut 16 and another in Cut 17. Aside 
from these, all cabins are in a row along the side of the bayou. Since 
these fields extend slightly over a mile along the bayou, it would 
be possible to make straightaway flights of a mile back and 
forth until overlapping strips had been laid down from the woods 
to the bayou, with only a few cabins to avoid. Cotton extends to 
the bayou between these cabins and presents a more difficult problem 
of poisoning, but it was found possible to maneuver the planes in 
and out between these cabins to treat all of this cotton. 
The ends of the fields immediately adjoining the timber presented 
a slightly different problem. The timber edge is not a straight line 
(see fig. 10), but curves in and out, and cotton is planted in these 
small indentations. These were rarely more than 20 or 30 feet 
deep, however, and they were poisoned very easily in the following 
manner : 
The pilot flew the plane on a line paralleling the timber and 
whenever he passed one of these short indentations he maintained 
his straight line until practically at the end. At this point he would 
bank the plane sharply away from the timber; that is, the plane 
would be turned somewhat on its side with the wing tip away from 
the timber lower than the other, and thus presenting the bottom of 
the fuselage somewhat toward the timber line. In addition the turn 
of the plane in this maneuver would aim the tail slightly into the 
indentation. The whole operation took very careful judgment, but 
no pilot remains healthy very long without this qualification, and if 
properly done, the slight swing of the plane twisted the dust cloud 
over and swept it down through the area in the indentation. The 
plane was then immediately righted and placed on a straight course. 
to repeat the operation at the next indentation. 
The methods which have been described for using straightaway 
flights of course present the most efficient manner of treating a planta- 
tion laid out like Hermione, and furthermore give the largest acre- 
age capacity for the plane. This method, however, was followed 
only long enough to obtain a few comparative figures, and in all 
other cases the various cuts were treated individually, the plane 
turning back and forth until one cut had been completed before 
moving to another one. 
