Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-12-17

duce at least one full bale Of the new
variety Of cotton and also to produce
sufficient seed to plant considerable
acreage the following season. The
special distribution Is made to farm
ers who have shown interest in the
subject by complying with the request
of the department for a report on the
previous years planting Of the 1-quart
sample.
Growers who wish to share in the
special distribution the following year
are expected to furnish a sample of
the seed cotton representing ten g.
locked bolls. These are to be used
for determining the length, quality and
percentage of lint, information that is
needed to enable the special distribu-
tion Of larger quantities Of seed (prob-
ably half a busheD to be sent to COM
munities that are likely to adopt the
new varieties and establish them In
regular cultivation.
A mistake made frequently by farm
ers, and sometimes by professional
breeders, Is to attempt to combine
testing with breeding. The new va
riety Of cotton is planted by the side
of the local variety or mixed stock
in order to test its behavior, and seed
is saved from the same planting to
increase the stock Of the new variety.
There Is serious danger that the seed
Of the new variety will not be pure on
account Of crossing with the local va
riety, so that its special value will be
lost. The amount Of crossing differs
with the locality and the season, de-
pending on the abundance OF bees or
other insects that carry the pollen
from one flower to another. Usually
however, there is too much crossing
to make it safe to rely on the purity
Of any stock of seed that has been
grown close to another variety Of cot
ton.
Isolation Of Seed Plants.
A farmer who wishes to make a re-
ally adequate test of the value Of a
new variety should plant the seed In
a separate plat, removed at least 500
yards from other fields of cotton or
separated therefrom by 25 or 30 rows
Of corn. An isolated planting does not
provide, Of course, for close COM
parison with the local variety, but
this can be made in the following year
to much better advantage. With the
larger stock Of seed then available q
field planting can be made, as well as
test paintings. In the third year there
will be enough seed to stock even q
large farm with the new variety, II 1t
has shown itself superior under the
local conditions.
The distribution Of seed Of superior
varieties Of cotton is no longer limit
ed to a single season, as was the form
er custom. Unless improved varieties
there would be distinct advantage in
some part Of the United States the
work of breeding and distribution
no useful purpose. To increase
the number Of varieties in commune
ty Is not desirable. On the contrary,
there would be a distant advantage in
having the whole community grow one
variety, If the best variety for the
purpose could be determined. The
danger Of confusing varieties by cross
ing and the mixture Of seed at the gin
ha NJ
tormity of the product would also en-
able the community to secure a higher
price for its cotton.
Methods of Seed Selection.
No matter how good a new variety
may be or how carefully it may have
been bred and selected, inferior plants
are likely to appear, especially when it
is grown under new and unaccustom-
ed conditions. A special effort is be-
ing made to limit the distribution to
seed from uniform fields Of cotton, but
selection is necessary to keep any va
riety from deterioration, and it is
useless to wait until the deterioration
becomes serious before beginning the
selection. If proper attention be paid
to the elimination Of inferior plants in
the first season there may be much
less variation in the second, the va
riety becoming better adjusted to the
new conditions.
AS uniformity Is one Of the first es-
sentials Of value in a variety, the be-
havior Of new variety In this respect
is one Of the first things to be noted.
The plants should be watched in the
early part Of the season for even before
the time Of Towering it is possible to
distinguish freak" plants by differ
ences in their habits Of growth or the
characters of their stems and leaves
Whenever such variation can be de-
tected, the plants should be pulled out
at once in order to prevent the cross
ing Of good plants with inferior pol
len. After the bolls begin to reach
mature size it is well to go through
the plat again and pull out all plants
that show by small size or other pc
culiarities Of the bolls that there has
been a variation from the standards
OF the variety. The preliminary Sc
lections greatly simplify the final Sc
lection in the fall when attention can
be limited to the yield and to the
character Of the lint and seeds.
Methods Of Testing Cotton Varieties.
The best way to test the behavior
of two varieties of cotton is to plant
them in alternate rows so that they
can be compared carefully during the
growing season and the yield Of each
row weighed separately at the end Of
the season. OF course 1t is often pos
sible to judge that one variety is SUI
perior to another without weighing, but
if the results are nearly equal. weigh
ing is necessary. Even experienced
cotton men are likely to make errors
in guessing at the yields Of different
rows of the field. A variety that
"scatters'' it's lint may appear to be
yielding much more than storm
proof variety with dense. compact lint
which a comparison Of actual weights
Of seed cotton and percentages Of lint