, 1911-02-15

spects. Many planters have made Il Prac-
tice Of noticing differences in lint, and are
already we'll qualified to perform his Kind
of selection.
The length and abundance Of the lint are
compared in the field by the familiar process
of straighteuing it out from the sides Of the
seed, either by pulling between the thumb
and finger or by using a small comb. One
or more samples Of the combed out lint
from different plants can be held between
the fingers Of the LETT hand and thus
carried along for ready comparison. The
strength of the lint IS Judged IN the
field by breaking the combed out strands
while held between the thumbs and first fin
gers Of the two hands. Any plant is rejected
that shows itself distinctly inferior TO it's
neighbours, in length, strengthen abundance.
USE Or Progeny Rows IN SELECTION. Sc
lection Of a hi9h-9rado variety Of cotton
can be somewhat simpIiiod and also rend-
cred more effective if the farmer is wiling
to take the additional precautIou of saving
the seed Of each selected plant separately,
in order to plant a part OF 1t III a separate
row the following season.
The use OF the progeny rows x onab'es an
additional |precaution to be taken to guard
the purity Of a good stock by holding over
Il part OF the seei from which each Of the
progeny rows has been planted II any Of
the rows should prove to be Of exceptional
merit, it IS possible to go back 10 Tie re-
served seed Of the parent OF the best row,
and SOW it IN It separate, isolated plot, IN the
next season as the foundation of a special
strain, descended from a single superior plant
Planters Of Sea Island cotton are accus-
toned to the plan Of narrowing their selec-
down to Il single superior plant. They null
tjply the seed from this plant for two or lhree
years in separate seed plots, to secure
enough for field planting. The very high
quality and unusual uniformity OF the Sea
Island cotton are to be asCribed largely to the
method of selection that has been followed.
Conclusions. The full possibilities Of i'm
proving the cotton crcp cannot be realized
until the work Of selection is carried out on
every farm, and becomes established as Il
regular part Of the care of the crop. III
only adequate alternative is the purchase OF
s lected seed from II careful neighbour, who
maintains his selection aud produces Il uni
form crop.
One of the most important Advantages Of
the plan Of raising cotton for seed in II separ-
ate field or plot, IS that the farmer is likely
to give the plants more attentl N, and thus
become more familiar with the characteristics
OF the variety that the plants represent.
Such familiarity is necessary in order to
qualify the farmer or the breeder to establish
and maintain the uniformity of the variety
by selection.
Though much Of the undesirable diversity
Of the crop can be asclibod to the mixture Of
varieties, it is not possible to keep any yarie-
ty uniform without continued selection Spon-
tnneous changes to inferior characters occur
even in the most uniform varieties; and ii
such variations are not removed, the uni
formity of the stock is gradually destroyed.
4 farmer who knows his variety well
enough can mako use of the external charuc-
ters for the removal Of inferior plants early
in the season, when this work can be done
more easily aud efficiently than by waiting
for the lint and seed characters at the end
Of HE season
Attention 10 the external characters makes
it possible to detect degenerate plants
those that will produce small bols and nfe-
rior lint, even before they have begun 10
flower. The roguiug ont Of such plants
early in the season guards the uniformity Of
the crop by preventing the cross fertilization
of good plants with pollen Of inferior indi-
viduals.
The cotton plant is extremely susceptible
TO influences of soil and climate. Each va