The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1896-02-10
IMPROVING THE COTTON FIBER.

IMPROVING THE COTTON FIBER.
Dick McIaren IN the Independents
RE perfect cotton STAPLE shoild be com
plctely mature throughout It's entire
length. having a unif 1rm twist from ond
to end he of uniform width ia all parts.
have "A maximum length and be- pure la
color In the endeavor to attain this IDEAL
Rotanist +. H. Nell OF the Alabama eX-
rermem, station has during three years,
made scvcral hundred successful cross
poller ations OF different varieties Of cotton
and has made careful microscopic and
other studies of the Developments from
year 10 year. IN the experiments the
strongly marked distinctive and desirable
features of tho w. A. Cook and Peerless
varieties caused them to be selected tor the
female function. To their Disseminated
pstils was transferred, with soft brush.
the pollen Of twenty five other good Vnrie-
tics strong aud healthy plants being used
In all instances Tor the desirable hereditary
effect,
In nearly every cross the condition of
tho cotton staple WAS improved. aud in
t~euiy-eigh. cases to a Femarkablc ex-
tent. The strength of the iiher has been
almost doubled, and it's length hah in
creased IN most instances. me great tn
crease IN the size Of the seed caused the
per ccntagc Of iibcr in the crossed plants
10 he smaller than hat In the parents. but
the actual weight Of the eros j cotton waa
often nearly double that IN the orig mai
Yarietics. The efforts TO Improve the size
Of the cotton plant also tended To make
the fiber superior. Careful examination
of the cotton stalks In The field showed
that the larger, brighter colo4cd uowers
followed by well formed and healthy look
ing bolls. were on those plants when slow
~ grew to large, well developed stalks. be-
ing s.rong and vigorous from the start
the resulting fibers ia the bolls being Of
the best quality and greatest actual mar
ket value
The best new variety Of cotton WIS pro-
duced by crossing Barnett on Peerless.
the average weight OF cotton fiber In the
parents being increased y % per cent in
grams Of Int. The average weight or reed
in the parents was increased - per cent
in the cross, while the number Of seeds IN
each boil Was Increased from an average
Of 3il2 in the parents TO IS IN the cross. III
length OF the staple was Increased from
one inch in the Barnett ana seven iwcifths
OF an inch I'm the Peerless to one and one
tenth inches IN the cross. The maturity
of the fibcr II quite uniform throughout its
length, and its twist Is excellent The
average breaking strength of single iiber
is II 81 grams
The production Of twenty-eight improved
varieties Of cotton indicates the possibility |
OF wonderful results, " the parent plants |
be equally fed for wood making. leaf de- |
velopment and seed maturity; and If tie |
crossing experiments be consumed far |
enough TO establish the marked tendencies |
toward perfccting forms Of development. II |
nothing more be gained than an Increased |
length In the fiber. with maturity Of twist |
such useful results would fully repay the |
expenditure Of much work and time. The |
results already obtained were from the |
third generation ate rhte cross-pollens-
ton