The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1903-09-16

Farmers Delevcln the b. edlng OF
live stock, but you cannot get them
to see the logic and appreciate the
benefits of breeding plants = But if
the farmers Of Richland County and
Of South Carolina could see the inter
csting experiment patches around Co.
lumbia, they would hclicyc in the
propagation Of hybrids and in the
planting Of better cotton. These
patches are cultivated by Mr.. X. {.
keenan, under the direction Of Prof.
II. j. Weber, Of the department Of
agriculture.
1t was Prof. Weber who made the
remark quoted al the introduction of
this article. lie had just given Con-
grcssman Lever and representative
Of The State an insight into the great
work which he is trying to do for the
farmers Of the South, 4 work which
promises great results. He has ]9
patches in the ncighborhood Of Colum-
bia, and these he watches with jcal-
Gus care. The fruit Of these patches
means to him success or disappoint-
ment. The cultivation, or rather the
culture, Of hardy, fruitful cotton
FOR upland is passion with him and
the. earnestness and common sense
which he combines in his endeavors
impresses the visitor with the belief
that he will succeed.
Prof. Webber is native OF Missou-
ri and taught in the State University
before he was engaged by the govern
ment to make experiments in the cul-
sure Of oranges. After spending FIVE
years in that work he decided to turn
his Investigations to something which
would be useful to greater section
Of the country, and took up the cul-
ture Of corn. After getting this work
thoroughly in hand, he turned it over
TO assistants, and is now studying the
hybridization Of cotton, which ranks
second to corn in the value Of the
crop. Prof. Webber is Psychologist
in the agricultural department and is
in charge of the breeding of cotton.
In these 10 patches around Colum-
bia some interesting specimens Of
highly bred cotton may be seen. The
soft, silky Egyptian has been bred
with the sturdy, coarse cotton Of the
uplands Of the South. The dainty,
artist tocratic sea island variety has also
been crossed with class more than
characteristic of the up.country and
more suited to the soil. The progress
OF the work Of culture is exhibited in
several stages.
The object is to get for production
in the uplsnds of the Southern States
fibre OF the sea islands and the rug
ged nature Of the indigenous plants,
or plants which thrive in the hills to
such an extent that they may be re-
gsrded as Indigenous. The sea island
cotton when planted in other attitudes
than that Of the boast Of South Caro-.
lima degenerates into short staple cot
ton in one or two years, and the OBJ
ject Of these experiments is to produce
variety which will grow on attitudes
other than by the seacoast, and which
will remain hardy, prolific and yield
ing soft, silky fibre of greater length
snd strength than is to be found in
the ordinary cotton of the State.
The first Of these patches visited
yesterday was just in ths rear Of the
Catholic cemetery. Prof. Webber IL
Illustrated the process of crossing the
parieties-which is done while the
blooms are in their first vigor, the pol
len from one being transferred to the
other. He showed first year hybrids
which appeared to be perfect speoi-
mems, but they are not trustworthy
and the seed will be planted next year
to see if there will be any deteriora-
tion or degeneration.
There were many technical points