The Ozark spectator., 1917-02-14
WHICH VARIETY OF
 COTTON $ BEST?
Do Yeu Knew Whlsh vasiety Pays ths Beet Ia Art<ansas and
 Why ft nassf
By ". E. Ayres, Experiment. Station Uni~efssty Of Arkansas.

general classes, short-staple and long staple-"Benders" or Rivers" being nothing more than commercial trade name used to designate any cotton grown on rich soil in . humid climate, and therefore producing superior lint. All varieties having lint longer than l 1-1S inches are long-staple varieties; those having shorter lint belong to the short-staple class.
 In general, the long-staple varieties are later, have lower per cent of lint, and their bolls arc more pointed than the Short-st2ples. However. some of the recently introduced long staples are earlier than the average short-staple cottons and have other desirable characteristics which are bringing them into favor.
 What Is Good variety7 The money value per acre produced by a variety of cotton is the criterion by which it is ultimately judged, provided 1t has no qualities which are strikingly un- desirable. Such factors as length and per cent of lint are usually i'm. portant in determining values. but the variety which yields the highest per cent of lint or the longest lint is often poor when profits arc considered. earliness size of bolls, ease of picking, and storm resistance are factors to be considered in selecting . variety. Un- der boil weevil conditions, toward the Eyyci< ~ thA kNclf new land, earliness is very important.
 What Is an Early Variety? Since the advent of the boil weevil it Is agreed that the variety which will pro duce the most cotton in an area heav- fly infested with weevils is the earli- est variety. Small boiled, early matur- ing varieties often fail to yield as well on soils medium low in fertility as the medium early, large boiled varie- ties even under boil weevil condi tions. The greatest difference be- tween the earliest and latest varieties exists in humid districts on poorly drained rich bottom land On such land such varieties as Trice, Shine, King, etc, should be considered if short-staple varieties arc preferred.
 Variety Tests In 1916 interesting. The Arkansas Experiment Station tested nfty-fve varieties and strains of cotton at two different points in the state last year In addition, to 26 varieties were tested in coopera ton with the county agents in several counties. One of the large tests was conducted at Scots in cooperation with MT. Conoway Scott and the other at Mena on the old substation The test at Scotts was on Arkansas River bottom land. The season was favorable and the yields good. The Mena test was on hill 1and The yields there were very low, due to extreme y dry weather shortly after the plants began to set forms.
 The average results of the tests at Scotts and Mena show that twelve of the fifty-ive varieties produced seed and lint worth Cat market prices for September, October and November) more than $100 per acre, the average Der acre value of these twelve varie- ties being more than $1O7.00. The per acre value of the same varieties at Scotts averaged more than $170.00 The poorest twelve varieties averaged a little less than $76.00 per acre in the two tests and s116.oo at Scotts.
 The high yields were produced at the same expense as the poor ones plus the cost of harvesting and mar kettng the excess produced by the high yieldev. This would have amounted to about $5 per acre for the average of the two tests and about $500 per acre at Scotts. If the aver age cost per acre of production and marketing for the poor yielders was $25.00 and the cost at Scotts $270 for the high yielders and $51.o0 for the low yielding varieties. The per acre profit at Scotts was $135 and sS9, respectively, for the high and low yielding varieties. Profits from high yielding varieties were about 50 per cent greater than from low yielding varieties. Profits from high yielding varieties were about 50 per cent greater than from low yielders
 Among the high yielders in the av- craze for the two tests were Triumph. Wannamaker, Big Boil (Cleveland) Cleveland, Half and Half, Roundnose, Christopher Big Boil, Tooae. and . strain of Cook bred by the Alabama Experiment Station, all in the short staple class; and the following long staple varieties: Foster. Webber No a, Webber No. 4S, and Empress Ex press was the earliest of the above varieties, but had lower per cent of lint and shorter lint tAan any of the above long-staples. All Of the above ahort-staples, except Toole. were com paratively early. Other varieties which did we'll at Mena were: Cooks Im- proved, Rublse. Lone Star, Rowden, Dodd's Prolific, Dodd's Fayorite, King and Shine. At Scotts, Durango Co. lumhia, Dixie and Sproull Big Boil