Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-19
An ESTABLISHED FACT
The Agricultural Departments
Experiments.
CAN DOUBLE COTTON CROP
Seed That Will Produce Almost a
Half Longer.
NEW TYPES ARE SUCCESSFUL
Farmers Now Want to Cooperate
With the Department in Order to
Accomplish the Result.
NEW TYPES ARE SUCCESSFUL

With the cotton crop OF the United States
reaching an annual value of nearly $780,
100000 1t is easy to see that the man who
can make 1t worth four or five cents a
pound more to the grow er will put few
dollars of spending money into the pockets
OF the southern planters
This Improvement Of the crop has been
reailzed, and there Is no reason why In ten
years from now the whole Of the cotton
belt should not be growing longer staple
cotton worth on the average Az cents a
pound more than the present crop. OF
course this millenial condition of things
will not be altogether realized That there
Will be a decided and general advance in
the value OF the crop as the result Of work
already done by the Agricultural Depart
ment Is certain. But there are always the
factors OF Ignorance. indifference and preju-
dice to be reckoned with. and that will hold
down the grand total of advance
This is human nature. Otherwise every
one would be raising thoroughbred stock
cats and chickens, which cost no more to
feed aud rear than scrubs. but every one
does not breed thoroughbreds, whether they
be dogs or COWS, and SO 1t Is a certainty
that when the average OF the cotton crop is
vastly improved by the use of better seed
there will be large number Of planters
who are sticking to the old methods and
complaining because they find 1t hard to
make living.
Several New Strains.
1t Is fact, however that the Depart
ment Of Agriculture has, by several years
of persistent work. bred from the old vari-
eties Of cotton raised in the south several
new strains of cotton that, while having all
the desirable qualities of the old types,
produce staple that is almost a half
longer. 1t is just one branch Of the gen.
eral industry Of plant breeding and the re-
hx,f hn npffn hod
out In feecy Wilderness on black card, is
a striking object lesson in the POSSIBILITIES
of plant breeding.
The department has been at the work
FOR some years, and In the course of its
experiments has handled thousands Of sam
pies and hundreds of thousands of indi-
vidual plants In making the selections that
are now considered good enough to be sent
out as new fixed types. The story Of this
Improvement Is a long one, interspersed
with many disappointments. But the re-
suit now Is q success beyond contra diction.
Northerners. people who live outside the
cotton belt, do not realize just what long
staple cotton grown on the uplands means.
Cotton Is our principal export crop. 1t Is
the second most valuable crop grown in the
United States. corn coming first. 1t is the
principal crop of ten states, and in large
areas Of these states 1t is almost the only
crop grown. The United States furnishes
five-sixths Of the cotton crop Of the whole
world, and while there are great areas,
especially in Africa, that are adaptable to
cotton. there Is no prospect that the United
States will be overtaken as a producer for
many years to come. The worlds consump
ton of cotton and the consequent demand
are increasing steadily. so that there is lit
things are in our favor. Then comes the
question Of improving this great crop.
Outsiders DO not realize that eighth of
an inch on the length of the fiber In a cot
ton boil means q cent pound additional
on the value of the crop. Now by careful
breeding and selection the Department of
Agriculture has produced cotton that runs
from three-Q quarters of an inch to an Inch
ind a quarter longer than the parent plants
from which 1t was produced. This is not
q freak growth, either. 1t is an improve
ment that has developed into fixed type.
and is no more like the old upland cotton
than 1t Is like Egyptian or Sea Island
Seeds of New Types.
The parent types from which it has been
evolved are listed and carded in the de-
partment's collection, and each year as the
fresh crops come In from the improved
fields their output is carded for comparison.
These new types have now reached point
where the department feels justified In
sending out the new seed to the farmers.
And If the farmers will take little trouble
and spend practically no money at all, they
will be able to keep UP the improved strains
so that in a few years the American cot
ton crop will have been doubled In value
without necessarily expanding by single
acre.
1t has been tedious work and has been
carried on systematically. Score cards
such are used in judging at stock shows
are kept. The records of the Individual
plants are known, the shape and opening
qualities of the boil, the date Of maturing,
the length and frmness of the cotton fiber
and the degree to which the parent plant
may be depended to transmit Its desir-
able qualities to its progeny. The work
has been done in the open field and not In
the carefully tended plots of the experiment
stations. Thousands of plants have been
destroyed each year, and only the best
types kept These have again been welded
out the following year and only the best
Of the breed have been kept. The farmers
who have been cooperating with the de-
partment in the work have been as rule
careful, enthusiastic and painstaking under
the direction of the experts sent into the
field by the department, and slowly but
surely the length of the staple and other
desirable qualities in the new cotton has
increased, till the department now reels
1t has new and fixed type that be de-
pended on to perpetuate its desirable quail
ties.
One thing that has been carefully OBJ
served is to keep growing the new types
on the ground where they will be cultivated
commercially. There are several new strains
adapted to slightly different conditions of
soil and climate. 1t has been found In the
case of wheat for example, that strain
may be improved in one locality, and that
by moving 1t to new surroundings 1t shows
little, If any. improvement over the local
type. This error has been avoided with the
new cotton, and the department not only
knows the seed that will give the best re-
suits, but the conditions of soil and climate
that are best suited to the requirements of
each strain.
If Farmers Will Help.
The farmers at large can help greatly in
keeping up the work that has been given a
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