The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1913-06-19

UIJ dlO pOlIlUtu OuU.
The distribution Of seed of
pedigreed varieties Of staple cot
ton which are uniform in char
acter and higher in production
than most of the short staple
varieties. and the campaign
which has at the same time
been carried on to instruct the
farmers how to handle these
cOttons, has resulted in the pro-
duction in the territory contigu-
Gus to Huntsville of a character
of cotton which for uniformity
and strength of staple is not
surpassed, if equalled, by that
produced in any other quarter
of the United States. This is
attcsted by the eminent salts
faction which well graded ship
ments from our territory have
given ever since the cotton was
introduced. MANY mills now
recognize our new cottons as
distiRRt from and much superior
to the old weak NASTY staples
which were formerly the only
kind in the Carolina uplanAs.
1t required several years Of per.
sistent effort, however, to in
duce many Of the staple mills
in the Carolinas to give the new
varieties a trial, and if it had
not been for the kind coopera-
ton Of Lewis w. Parker and a
few others, the task Of intro
ducing these new cottons would
have been almost insuperablc.
The mills and the farmers
have not yet fully realized the
significance Of the fact that the
Columbia and keenan, and my
Hartsvillc and Webbor cottons
actually make in our section
greater average yields Of lint
cotton per acre than short cot
ton. (This f t, repeatedly
proved in my own variety tests,
will not be disputed by any one
who is familiar with the results
OF recent experiments at the
Raleigh and Clemson expert
mont stations or who has talked
to any of the farmers in our
section that have had several
years experience with these
varieties). It means that the
planting Of these varieties and
other long staples bred in the
same way from short cotton,
will expand as rapidly. as the
demand, for them develops and
the knowledge Of the essentials
OF success in this industry reach.
es the farmers.
[ have thought it well to re.
peatedly warn the farmers that
the staple cottons raised in oul
section could not be expected tC
!, retain their superior qualities
unless proper are can be taken
to maintain the purity and uni
formity Of these varieties and
to handle them with intelligent
care at every point until the
cotton is actually sold.
The new upland staple cotton
industry of South Carolina is
distinctly the product of plant
breeding, and l do not expect it
to succeed permanently in zones
where the influence of the plant
breeder is not felt. l have no
ticed, in fact, that much of the
, cotton produced from seed of
the excellent varieties bred by
pr. Weber and distributed by
the government six or seven
years ago has already lost some
OF it's excellent character and
does not compare with that pro
duced from seed Of later pedi.
gree strains. This is, Of course,
because most Of the farmers
who receive these seed have
done nothing to keep them from
revcrting to the original type.
we are attempting in South
Carolina to do for the State at
large through our recent organ
lied Plant Breeders association.
or which this speaker is presi-
dent, the same sort of cduca-
tional work which has already
been done in the vicinity of
Hartsvillc, and it is hoped that
Within a few years our farmers
generally may be brought to
understand the essentials prin-
ciples of this new industry.
Meanwhile, however, we are
going to have a considerable
amount of very poor staple cot
ton from the eastern part Of the
belt and buyers and mills can
very materially aid our Plant
Breeders association in the pro-
paganda for better staples if
they will discriminate rigidly
against cotton of poor character
or that which has been careless
~ or roughly handled I want,
in fact, to pointedly warn those
mills who have received salts