The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-10-26

Ihe arClcle DeloW w NIL. A'
Brabham, of Olar, was recently
printed in Realty" magazine pub
lished in Newark, N. ]. The pub
fishers of Realty precede Mr.. Brab'
hams article with this comment:
A w. Brabham, South Carolina
planter of intelligence and magma
ton, has astonished the scientific
world by growing co1ored cotton from
a white plant. He has sent to the
New York cotton exchange samples
of a dark greenish gray, a light
green, tan and light tan. These
SAMPLES have caused a sensation.
There is no reason why other planters
of Sea Island cotton cannot emulate
Mr.. Brabham. The commercial pos
sibilities of natural colored cotton
are enormous, which cotton goods
manufacturers will be quick to grasp,
no matter the price of raw material.
Mr.. Brabham's discovery will great
ly enhance the value Of land IN the
Sea Island cotton belt. {
Before treating the subject OF pro-
ducing cotton in natural colors' a
paragraph on the changes in cotton
production is in order. Short or up
land cotton more than once since the
Civil War has gone down to zero
cents the pound in the local mar
kets-on the other hand cotton. pro-
duced off the coast of South Carolina,
parts of Georgia and Florida, known
as Sea Island, was commanding as
much as 40 cents per pound at the
time that ordinary cotton was SELL
ing for cents.
A few thinking cotton planters,
myself included, conceived the idea
of crossing the upland varieties with
the Sea Island sorts, hoping to pro-
duce an intermediate grade. we
were laughed at. The consensus OF
opinion was that we were on ''fools
errand,' or were playing the role OF
Jason with his Argosy in search OF
the golden fleece. The desired cot
ton was produced, the mills took It,
and last year the South produced
$4,000 bales of upland long staple
cotton, commanding a premium OF
from 2 to 10 cents per pound.
Some years ago, in making crosses
between upland, Sea Island and
Egyptian cotton, lint of different
color was found: Here was puzzle
in plant pathology. We have always
heard that like begets like, but in
this case it was far different. Ex-
periments were begun, but, of course
it took year to get results, but the
same color of lint produced itself, al
though the parents were both plants
bearing white cotton two years be-
fore.
1t was plain to me that this white
cotton in some time past had com
pletely assimilated some different
colored cotton, and by recrossing it,
this lost colored cotton was at least
restored in part. Why reproduced
by crossing is inexplicable. Perhaps
the learned may explain it, but
must admit that I cannot, unless IN
this way.
Produce First Color.
To produce first color, it is
necessary to have one parent plant
of the Egyptian strain.
Now, when it was discovered that
cotton could be produced in the Nile
Delta, cotton seed from every part of
the world was poured into Egypt and
planted Unfortunately, and no cot
ton comes from Egypt as white as
the cotton produced in the South, the
Egyptian being from a light cream
to brown.
To show that all sorts of cotton
were planted there, the Coptic plant
er is now having trouble with Hindi
cotton appearing here and there, and
is a menace to his fine staple, for it
is known among all cotton experts
that India produces the shortest and
coarsest cotton known, while on the
other hand the Egyptian stands next
to the fine Sea Island cotton in length
and fneness of fibre. The Coptic
planter, also the expert breeders of
Europe, are at a loss to know from
whence comes this Hindi cotton year
after year, while strenuous efforts
are being made every year to ex-
terminate it, going so far as to plant
seed for seeding purposes under fine
wire gauze, so as to keep out all in
sects, but even under this protection
the Hindi cotton appears. The rea-
son is simple; the Hindi cotton has
hocomo fiYad in tho HhIood +bo