Question: Where is cotton grown in the United States?

Answer: Ninety-eight percent of the cotton is grown in 14 states: Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. The remaining 2 percent is grown in Kansas, Florida and Virginia.

Q: What is produced from a bale of cotton?

A: One bale of cotton can make 1,217 men's T-shirts or 313,600 $100 bills. For a list of other items, contact our office by mail.

Q: How many acres of cotton are harvested each year in the U.S.?

A: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, cotton production report for In 2006/2007, an estimated 21.6 million bales were produced.

Q: What is a boll weevil?

A: The boll weevil is the primary insect enemy of cotton. An adult is Ú- to «-inch long, appearing tan to dark brown or gray. It has a hard humpback-shaped shell and the characteristic curved snout accounting for about Ú of its length.

This pest has plagued U.S. cotton producers since 1892. It can complete an entire life cycle in three weeks, lay 200 eggs per female - each in a separate cotton square or boll, ensuring the destruction of each boll - and spread rapidly, covering 40 to 160 miles per year. The boll weevil has been eradicated in Georgia thanks to our boll weevil eradication program.

Q: We have enjoyed growing shiitake mushrooms for several years and sharing them with our friends. Do you have any information about selling mushrooms?

A: Our office of consumer protection advises that unless you begin to sell to other than family and friends a license will not be required. However, should you desire to set up a roadside stand or sell to a retail outlet, licensing will become a requirement. You would need to contact the Georgia Department of Agriculture for basic regulatory requirements.

If you have questions or problems with services or products regulated by the Georgia Department of Agriculture you may write the Office of Public Affairs, 19 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Room 226, Atlanta, GA 30334 or call 800-282-5852.; e-mail, info@agr.state.ga.us; Web site, agr.state.ga.us. This column appears Sundays and at gainesvilletimes.com.