The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-08-23
Reasons for Seed Selection.

seed selection. Within a seed IS the
minute germ that has all the charac-
teristics of the preceding generations
Of that species, with the notifications
which the previous culture, SOIL, ell
mate, and selection have given 1t, and
these it transmits to the future plants.
IN addition, the seed contains a little
food to help the germ until the plant
can become established in the soil.
Will the types in seed are persistent
along general lines, within their limits
they admit Of great modification by Sc
lection and cultivation. In cotton the
size of the bell, the length and quality
Of lint, the time of maturity, the ten
dency to bundant fruitage, the height
anG form Of stalks, and other plant
chara cteristica may be modified at tttc
VII OF the farmer.
When a tanner buys h~igh-grade seed
at a large price he is simply paying
another man for using his brain to 90
what he can do just as we'll If he Will
improvement of Cotton by Seed SeIcc-
ton.
Careless cotton farming and gin-run
seed are responsible for a lot of short
cotton crops. There is but little pure
bred seed planted, and the product o.
that little generally becomes more or
les, mixed in the field and ut The
gin.
Five points should be carefully noted
in cotton-seed Improvement: Type,
variety, selection, ginning and storing.
A farmer should determine the type Of
cotton he wants to produce. He can
in the end produce what he wants if
he studies and works for it. By type"
is meant the kind of stalks, boil, lint,
etc. The type generally preferred is
d strong, short, vigorous stalk, with
plenty Of fruit limbs on the lower
half; fruit limbs short iointed but ex-
tending to the outer border OF the
MIA and fpr1ifino To tho pnI. Ia roo
bolls, storm resisting: a heavy percent
age of lint; staple, if large-boll cot
ton, at least 1 IS inches and strong;
plant hardy, early, and prolific.
Choosing the Variety.
Plant seed Of q variety that produces
cotton as near the type you want as
possible. 1t viii not be exactly your
ideal, but if good seed and of the
right variety it Will come near it.
Pant this seed On a separate tract
OF land, or plat, SO it Will not become
mixed by insects. Every farmer
needs a seed plat just as much as he
needs a well-bred male if he is going
to improve his stock. Thin and culti-
vate this plat in the best way.
Selecting the Seed.
Let US go personally to the seed
plat in the fail with a sack over our
ould and make selections. Here
is al ideal stalk about three feet all,
loaded with choice bolls. There will
be more than a pound of lint cotton
on it at maturity. Around the heart
Of the plant We select the best bolls,
rejecting the bolls on the ends of the
limbs and near the top and a few
that are so low as nearly to touch
the ground. The top and end boIls
tend to later maturity and the seeds
in the bolls too near the ground alb
serb the moisture and are not as Wig
orous as they should be.
The next stalk is not quite so per
feet, but it is pretty good. and we
take a few Of the best hollis. on the
next stalk are -four or five great fine
boils, My man was along With a
sack and he was just about to pick
them; in fact. his fingers had closed
over one. Let them alone | called
out, Look at that talk: it never
thought about going into the cotton
business until it was half grown. There
is only about an eighth of a pound
of cotton on it if all the bolls mature.
That plant has some bad blood in it
or is a black sheep in a good flock.
We do not want to raise that kind
Ihen we passed several plants not
very good and not very poor. Just
a few feet along the row noticed
two remarkably fine bolls near he
top Of a stalk. Something called my
attention away. and when | looked
back my man had them. Amt they
fine he remarked. and he gave a
smile of satisfaction. "Right." re
pied, IF you do not see the plant.
lhey grow too near the top and will
tend to make u crop late" "If
you are going to be so particular we
shant get much cotton seed he an
sWered, rather shortly. Bob" re-
piled. Il am through making these
quarter-of-a-bale cotton crops. They
say that like produces like. Now. that
f1rst stalk of cotton we picked had
over a pound on it and if all the stalks
on this plat We're just like it we
slould get three bales of cotton or
more per acre. | intend to make a
three-sale crop. and I am going to
by selecting the right seed
to do it
The next plant was loaded with
Dolls, but it did not stand over IS