Cotton-Grass

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

a name given to the species of the genus Eriophorum, because of their fruit being clothed at the base with a silky or cotton-like substance. It really belongs, not to the grasses, but to the sedges (Cyperacea). There are several species; the most common is Eriophorum angustifolium, the narrow-leaved cotton grass. Paper and the wicks of candles have been made of its cotton, and pillows stuffed with the same material. The leaves were formerly used in diarrhea, and the spongy pith of the stem for the removal of tapeworm. COTTON INSECTS. There are a great many insects that do injury to cotton, among them the cotton worm, the budworm, the bollworm, the yellow bear, the io, and the bogworm. Perhaps the most injurious of these is the cotton worm, the ravages of which first began to be noticed in the United States early in the last century. The insect is the larva of a nocturnal moth, and is thought to have had its origin in South America. Its destructions have sometimes covered whole districts, a Government report of 1879 estimating the loss due to its despoliations as averaging nearly $20,000,000 each season. The moth makes its journeys during the night and deposits eggs on the leaves of the cotton plant, the hatching taking place at the end of a couple of nights. The caterpillars then begin their ravages, eating up the leaves and passing from one district to another. Following a period of about sixteen days the caterpillar begins to enter the chrysalis stage, following which the female moth begins to lay eggs totaling The into hundreds during the season. generations sometimes amount to seven in a season in districts favorable to the insect, about four weeks separating one generation from another. Following the cotton worm, the budworm appears to approach next in destructiveness. It resembles the cotton insect in its various stages, being hatched on the plant and living largely on flowers and bolls. It breeds in the winter as well as in the summer, the first three generations living chiefly in the cornfield, the fourth generation making its appearance on the cotton plant. Beetles, fleas, and bugs of various kinds are also apt to do damage to the plant. The capsid or cotton flea is a cause of apprehension in some districts. The red bug or stainer is apt to have an injurious effect on the cotton fiber, not only sucking the sap from the bolls, but ejecting also a liquid which leaves an indelible stain, greatly lowering the value of the fiber. Continued experiment has resulted in the discovery of methods of counteracting the destructive power of the varieties of cotton insects, and these, aided by their natural enemies, tend to lessen the damage each successive season.