A four-year study of the rate at which cotton deteriorates under Mississippi conditions is summarized.

Introduction

During the mid-1970's I became aware of the delay in maturity associated with insect damage. Especially, the delay associated with square damage in preblooming cotton. However, it was not until the early 1980's when studies were conducted to investigate the cost of harvesting cotton that the author began to understand the economic magnitude and importance of the strong interaction between early season insect induced delayed maturity and harvesting costs. This study was initiated in 1985 to estimate the loss associated with delayed harvest.