Sharp County record., 1917-01-26
WHICH VARIETY Of
COTTON IS BEST?
Do You Know Which Variety Pays
the Eest in Arkansas and
Why It 0oes9
BY W. E. Ayres,
Experiment Station University Of
Arkansas.

Var1etleS OF cOLIOn OelOnS 10 LWu
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 lib 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 cheir bolls are more pointed
than the short-staples. 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 Variety The money
value per acre produced by variety
OF cotton is the criterion by which it
Is ultimately judged, provided it has
no qualities which are strikingly I'M
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 are considered.
earliness, size of bolls, ease of picking,
and storm resistance are factors to be
considered in selecting variety. I'm
der boil weeviI conditions, toward the
northern limit OF the cotton belt, or on
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-
ily infested with weevils ts 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.
tons. 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 are preferred.
Variety Tests In 1915 Interesting.
The Arkansas Experiment Station
tested hfty.h7e varieties and strains
Of cotton at two different points in
the state last year, In addition, to
rs varieties we're tested in co-opera-
ton with the county agents in several
counties. One Of the large tests was
conducted at Scots In cooperation
with Mr.. Conoway Scott and the
other at Mena on the old substatlon.
The test at SCOTS was on Arkansas
River bottom land. The season was
favorable aud the yields good. The
Msna test was on hill land. The yields
there were very low, due to extreme
ly dry weather shortly after the plants
began 10 set forms.
The average results Of the tests At
Scots and Mena show that twelve Of
the nity-ave varieties produced seed
aAa unt wsrth Cat market prices for
ssptsnbsr, October and November)
more than 500 per acre, the average
per acre value OF these twelve varie.
ties being more than $1,000. The per
acre value Of the same varieties at
SCOTS averaged more than $4,000,
The poorest twelve varieties averaged
a little less than $1,000 per acre In
the two tests and $4,000 at SCOTS.
The high yields were produced at
the same expense as the poor ones
plus the cost Of harvesting and mar.
keting the excess produced by the
high ylelders, This would have
amounted to about Sc per acre for the
average OF the two tests and about
$500 per acre at SCOTS. n the aver.
age cost per acre Of production and
marketing for the poor yielders was
$500 and the cost at Scots $1,000
per acre the per acre profit was S7700
for the high yielders and sbl,00 for
the low yielding varieties The per
acre profit at Scots was s135 and
$50, respectively, for the high and
low yielding varieties. Profits from
high Yielding varieties we're about so
per cent greater than from low
yielding varieties. Profits from high
yielding varieties were about so per
cent greater than from low ylelders,
Among the high yielders In the nv,
erage for tho two testa were Triumph,
wannamaker, Big Boil (Cleveland)
Cleveland, Half and Half, Roundnose,
Christopher Big Boil, Toole. and a
strain Of Cook bred by the Alabama
Experiment Station, all In the short
staple elaaa; and the following lons
staple varieties Foster, Webber No
SO, webber No, 40, and Express, Ex
press was the earliest Of the above
varieties, but had lower per cent Of
lint and shorter lint than any OF the
above long'staples, All OF the above
shortstsplee, except Toole, we're com
-. a.