Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-12-22
OIL Content and Yield of Cotton Seed

The need Of Standardization of varie-
ties Of cotton for planting purposes is
now becoming more generally appreciat-
ed than ever before. II is high time
that some substantial progress in this d.
rection be made because earliness is one
OF the qualities which must be sought in
varieties of cotton 10 be grown in the
presence OF the boil weeviL 1t seems
quite clear that il will be necessary to
secure varieties which viii mature a
considerable part of their crop in hve
months from the date OF planting, and
certainly all that is not mztured in five
and a half months fro planting is al
most certain TO be lost TO the farmer
because OF the destruction Of the bolls
by the weeviL Strains OF a given va
riety OF cotton vary materially as to the
Yields they will make There is PROB
ably quite as much difference in this re-
spect as between varieties. Varieties.
OF course, vary according TO the condI-
tfons under which they are grown and
the skill with which the seed has been
selected during a series OF years The
method OF planting, fertilization and pre-
paration OF the land may also influence
some varieties. but when all varieties are
grown under the same identical condi-
tions for several years. one should be
able to determine with fair degree OF
accuracy those which will mature ear
lest and therefore be the most desirable
TO uiaat under boil weevil conditions. Up
toihe present time this is about the only
character which has been studied In va
rieties OF cotton II now seems certain
that there are other qualities which
should be given consideration The high
cost of living necessitates the farmer
making a greater effort 10 produce
- rur,1 ma
same acreage he is now cultivating. If
this could only be done at the expense OF
Weld. there would be objection 10 thu
plan which mas keen suggested, but when
an increase in desirable food constit-
uents can be obtained and high yields
maintained, IL is TO the interest OF the
farer and those who use the raw prod
uct- that all qualities in plants sus-
ccptible Of correlation be studied and de-
VelOped-
FOR some years it has been evident
that certain varieties OF cotton. Nor in
stance. yield a larger per cent of oil per
ton OF seed than others This difference
has been very marked in some sections
where distinct varieties have been grown
IL has been thought, of course, that sea
son soil and fertilizers accounted Tor
these differences. and IL IS possible that
all these factors exert an influence OF
some Importance. The Investigations
conducted are still OF such an initial
character that a definite answer can not
lie given at this time.
II seems quite clear. however. that the
Inherent qualities which belong 10 a
given variety and are. therefore, trans
mitted from generation TO generation
PLAY an important part in regard to the
amount Of oil obtained from ton OF
seed. To study this problem tests have
been carried on at the College or Agri-
culture, at Athens. for several years
mast and an endeavor made through
plant breeding to develop strains not
only Of early maturity and which would
make a large crop from the first and
second pickings. but high In oil ana nj
trogen content as we'll
This article deals only with the ques-
ton Of oil content in its relation to
high yield and earliness, and IL seems
evident from the work which has now
been I'm progress for several years that
IL can be stated with safety that there
IS a definite correlation between high
oil content. earliness and substantial
yields This is a very important mat
ter. and is bound TO exert a very ma
teriaI influence on the question Of plant
ing seed in the not distant future 1t
is one of those wise provisions OF ma
ture for now that the boil weevil is
forcing the selection OF early-maturing,
varieties. she has so constituted in her
mysterious way the makeup of certain
varieties that they have the desirable
qualities Of earliness, a good percent
age OF lint. large yields and high oil
content all properly correlated together.
An illustration OF the correlation in
question is shown in the following
table: