The log cabin Democrat., 1917-02-28
WHICH VARIETY 0F
 COTTON IS BEST?
Ds You Know Which Variety Pays the Best in Arkansas and
 Why it Does?
By W. E. Ayres, Experiment Station University Of Arkansas.

Varieties of cotton belong to two general classes, short-staple and long. staple-"Benders" or Rivers" being nothing moro 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 1-18 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 are more pointed than the shortstaples. 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 a Good Variety? The money value per acre produced by 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 inn portant in determining values, but the variety which yields the highest per 1 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. Un- der boil weevil conditions, toward the northern limit of the cotton belt, or on new land. earliness is very important.
 What 10 an Early Variety7 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 earii- 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 lapd such varieties as Trice, Shine. King. etc, should be considered if short-staple varieties are preferred.
 Variety Tests In 1916 Interesting. The Arkansas Experiment Station tested fifty-five varieties and strains of cotton at two different points in the state last year. In addition, to 25 varieties were tested in co-opera- tion with the county agents in several 1 counties. One of the large tests was conducted at Scotts 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 land The yields there were very low. due to extreme ly 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-five varieties produced seed and lint worth Cat market prices for September, October and November) more than $100 per acre, the average I PCI dSAC NohuC Ol LAcb0 LWClF0 VdTlc- ties being more than $107.00. The per acre value of the same varieties at i Scotts averaged more than $170.00 The poorest twelve varieties averaged d little less than $76o0 per acre in the two tests and $116.0o at Scotts.
 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 yielders. This would have amounted to about s5 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 i s25,00 and the cost at Scotts $2700 per acre the per acre profit was S77 .00 for the high yielders and $51O for the low yielding vaEieties. The per acre profit at Scot& was s195 and $S9, 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, Toole, and 8 strain of Cook bred by the Alabama Experiment Station, all in the short ] staple class; and the following long 1 staple varieties: Foster, Webber No S2, Webber No. 49, and Express. Ex- press was the earliest os the above varieties, but had lower per cent of lint and shorter lint than any of the above long-staples. All of the above short-staples. except Toole, were com. 1 paratively early, Other varieties which