The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-05-16


 The average number of varieties per year was twenty-two. The total number Of avrieties tested, from first to last was {, 1a0. many of them duplicates. of course. 1 The flnal tabulations and consultations 1 of the last nine years show the following: 1 Number of varieties annually, g; per- centage yield of lint, 32.S per cent. Cor s2.s pounds of lint per 100 pounds of seed ! cotton); number of bolls required to pro- duce one pound of seed cotton, 72; num- Der of seds in one pound of seeds. 4,11s :, average date of second picking. Septem- bar 22: prcentage of total yield harvest ed. to and including date. ss per cent i. yield of seed cotton per acre. 1.4S6 pounds; l yield of lint, per acre, 4S6 pounds; height of plants at maturity, 8 feet inches. If any such table as the one from which the above figures wer taken. covering so | long a period, has ever been prepared I and published. have not ben so fortun- ] ate as to see copy of It.
 But other and more significant point l CTS were learned in regard to the rela- I ton between certain characteristics, or 1 peculiarities. of varieties. and the value of total productsthe final test of merit Another analysis of the ascertained facts was made in order to find out what re- lation. during the nine years. the value of total products bore to: O The per- centage yield of lint; @ size of bonds; . ts) size of seeds. and (D early maturity. | In the tables for each year the lists of varieties, as they stand in the order of value of total products were divided Into two equal parts--as nearly as possible. The first half was called the Better Half" and the latter half the Poorer Half" These annual tables were consol- dated at the close of each year of the ninc year period. and finally at the close of the period. thus enabling us to make the following: 3 ComaRfsons.
 Take the percentage yield of lint. or yield of line per hundred-weight of seed cotton: It is found that in every one Of the nine years the better half' of the varieties gave the largest average per- centage yield of line. Take size of boils: We find that in each of the eight years of the nine. the better halr' had the larger average size of bolls; but in one year Q90f) the better half" had the smaller size of bolls.
 Take the size of seeds: It is found that in each of the years 1894 to 1898. inclusive. that the better half" had the larger av- craze size of seeds; while in each of the years 1900 to 1902. inclusive. the better haIf'' had the smaller average size of seeds.
 Take early maturity as based on the percentage of the total yield gathered up to the second picking. inclusive: We note that in 1894. 1895 and 1901. the bet ter half'' averaged earlier, while in the Eother six years the poorer half aver aged earleir.
 Now. taking the nine years as whole, 1t is quite plainly suggested that large bells, large seeds, high percentage yield of line. and medium maturity are close iy related to the greatest value of total product of line an dseed. But there are frequent exceptions in individual vari- ties (which could easily name.) Q)A high percentage yield of lint is unquestionably point of high merit. Yet 1t would not be wise to base Judg- have occurred a number of individual exceptions to the general rule Some 1 varieties have stood high in this re- spect, but failed materially in others. (2)<A large boiled variety is to be preferred. In eight of the nine years the better ha1f''had the larger aver age bolls. Large bolls are to be pre- ferred for the additional reason that they may be harvested more rapidly. But neither should large boils, alone, be relied upon in selecting a variety.
  productfveness. length and fineness of staple, capacity to resist drouth of sta- pie, capacity to resist drouth and storms (and possibly the boil weeviD. to be predicated of a variety that, on careful test, was found to have nothing to recommend 1t but the large size of ias 4bolIs It was hard to pick" did not open we'll and was unproductive to the lowest degree
 
 decided significance. the advantage be- ing with the larger seeds.
 S(4) Early maturity is largely a mat ter of seasons" yet the relation is vital. In but three of the nine years did the ''beter half" average earlier than the poorer half" while in the other six years the earlier, varieties were among the poorer half" Since these experiments were made in the central line of the cotton belt (experi- ment is near Griffin. Ga-), 1t is well to remark that the seasons throughout the middle and southern parts of the cotton zone are usually more than long enough to mature maximum crops. But in the northern part of the zone, espe- cialIy when a higher latitude Is asso- ciated with a higher altitude, early maturity Is a prime consideration. This refers also to the boil weevll region of Texas.
 Some Other Points.
 The plants should be pyradidal in form, the branches starting low down on the stem, regularly disposed and regularly growing shorter toward the apex The main stem should be stout | and stocky near the ground.
 The so-called cluster" varieties once in considerable favor-are no long, l CT popular. The clustering habit is ob- jectionable on more than one ground, l besides the fact that 1t has not been | associated with maximum yields to any | marked extent.
 In Conclusion.
 The proper practical use to be made | of the points of merit developed in | these experiments, which I have tried l to briefly relate, is to be found in the | careful selection of seeds from such | matering cotton plants in the field, as | agree. as far as may be, in the char | acteristics that we have found to be | significantly related to the value of | total products. If a farmer already | knows, in regard to a variety of cotton, | that 1t generally yields the maximum | value of lint and seed, he need seek no farther, but continue to select. every | year. the best staalks, the best and largest bolls, etc.
 Were this letter not already too long 1t would be well to explain more fully | why I atach, at the present, but little | importance to length and fineness of staple, and some other points that have been barely touched upon.
 In aa future and shorter letter. if de-