Harold Maxwell-Lefroy

“ But here come insects, which to some people are insignificant, but which are far more highly developed than man, and these insects, quite incidentally and without intent to hurt man, merely in pursuit of their own aims and success, are going seriously to affect man in what he wears. ”

“ Now of this cotton, not all can be used for fine spinning. Some cottons have a fibre so short that it will not make fine thread. All cottons really separate into two groups: the cottons over an inch long, which they use in America and Lancashire for making fine cloth, and the shorter cottons less than an inch long, which are spun and woven abroad into coarse cloths or are mixed with other fibres. Mostly, the world wants and uses long cotton, and nearly all this comes from America. ”

“ THIS is a talk about insects really, and especially about the way insects are going to decide for us, one of our most important questions—what we are all to wear. Most of the people of the word wear cotton—some. particularly in cold climates, wear wool, a few wear silk, a lot wear artificial silk and very few wear linen—which is flax. But by far the cheapest, simplest and most generally used fibre has been cotton. ”

“ The grub destroys the seeds, and also the developing cotton. When the boll opens, instead of thee being a large, fluffy mass of cotton, there is only a mass of black and eaten ends—nothing that can be picked and used. ”

“ The Cotton Boll Weevil.
The little insect that is causing so much damage to the cotton industry. Most people wear cotton; the production in the world of cotton is round about 20 million bales each of 400 pounds. Of this, America produces 11 millions, India about five, China about two, Egypt one and the rest of the world one. ”