The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1904-08-17
BANK OF BROOKHAVEN,
srookhayen, Miss.
Cotton Talk,

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The following extracts are taken
from the United States Governs
iment Yearbook OF the Department
lof Agriculture ON The Growing
Eof Long Staple Upland Cotton, &
for which Claiborne county has
become famed i'd the cotton MAI Is
land cotton mills of the world.
The most marked advance liz
the development Of the long staple
Upland cotton was achieved BY
the introduction Of the Allen
Long Staple, which was original
ed BY Mr.. J.. B. Allen Of Port
Gibson, Miss, about 1879. This
variety is said by Mr.. Allen to
have come from single fine stalk
selected in field ofthe so-called
Bohemian cotton, a variety
which he had obtaiEaa from
Louisiana ard the origin Of which
was unknown. The Bohemian cot
ton had a fiber about ! "A inches
Hong and was probably similar to
Peeler, If indeed it was not iden-
tical with that variety. The orig
inal Allen Long Staple cotton was
a compact plant with large white
tufted seed and fiber / Y inches
long. 1t might be supposed flom
the length of the fiber that the
original plant was a hybrid of
some Upland cotton with Sea Is
land, but Mr.. Allen believes it to
have been simply an individual
variation Of a pure Upland plant.
In 1892 Mr.. Allen originated
his Allen Yellow Bloom, which
came from a single plant growing
in a field planted with Allen Long
Staple. It was the first plant
with yellow flowers that be had
ever seen in fields of Allen Long
Staple, and it was preserved as
the progenitor of a new race. The
Yellow Bloom had small seeds
and rather smaller bolls than Al
len Long Staple, and was very
productive. The lint ranged from
liz to 1S8 inches in length and
constituted from 90 to 90 per cent
of the seed cotton. The appear
ance Of a yellow -fiowered plant
among the Allen Long-StapIe
paints would indicate that hybrid
izatiOn with Sea Island cotton
must have occurred somewhere IN
| the remote ancestry of the race.
"The Allen Long Staple and
Allen Yellow Bloom were both
found to be rather susceptible to
anthracuose, or boil rot, and in
1894 the Allen Hybrid was intro
duced, which was not so suscepti-
BILE to this disease, and was hard
Ter. This variety was believed
Iby the originator, Mr.. Allen, to
be a hybrid between King and
Allen Long Staple, the original
plant having the habit of branch
ing and form of boil Of King, but
a long staple like Allen Long
Staple.
In 1898 still another Iong-sta-
pie cotton was introduced and
distributed by Mr.. Allen. This
was the Allen Improved which.
was supposed to be a hybrid be-
tween his Yellow Bloom and Al
len Hybrid. 1t was an improve
Ilnent in having limbs of medium
length and more puffy lint, which
| is more easily picked.
Allen Improved. The variety
| is recommended because Of its
productiVeness and its long staple.
The bolls when ripe open up wide,
like ordinary Upland, letting the
cotton hang. out and making it
easy TO pick. It is said to pick
easier than the Allen Hybrid, and
| to have stronger fiber. Mi
FALLEN states that it has stood the
weather better for Che past three
years than any other variety Of
long staple he has ever planted,
not rotting in wet weather as the
yellow Bloom does. II gives an
average yield per acre Of about
1900 pounds of seed cotton and
from 800 to 800 pounsd of lint.
The crop Of 1900, Mr.. Allen
states, sold for II cents per pound
net; that of 1901 for Is cents, and
that of 1902 for from 165z to / z
cents. The staple Of Allen cot
ton, according to the statement Of
lspinners, can be handled success
fully in crops from SOS to T0's,
and in filling, up to 1905 Or 125 s.
Plant 3 to 6 feet high, compact,
with two or three long basal limbs
and one main central stem. Bolls
lof Upland type, medium size,
weighing o. IA to OILS grain, gary
tufted I to 8 per lock. Lint,
white, fine, and silky, to III to
lisa inches long, fairly strong.
Per cent lint, 29. Time Of ripen-
| ing, n3idseason.
The Allen long staple cottons
are probably more widely known
land grown than any other Of the
long staple Upland sorts.
In The year book Us S. Dept. Of
Agriculture Ore plates showing
Ela seeds 0f Allen Improved with
Hint attached. illustrating long