The log cabin Democrat. [volume] (Conway, Ark.) 1908-current, 1917-04-10
WHICH VARIETY Of
COTTON IS BEST?
Do You Know Which Variety Pays
the Best in Arkansas and
Why II Does?
BY w. z. Ayres,
Experiment Station University Of
Arkansas.

general classes, short-Staple and long
sta ple-"Benders" or Rivers" being
nothing more than a commercial trade
name used to designate any cotton
grown on rich soil In a humid climate,
and e1@refore producing superior lint
All va 4eties having lint longer than
l lis inches are long-staple varieties;
those having shorter lint belong to
the short-staple class
In general, the longstaple varieties
are later. have a lower per cent of
lint, and their 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 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 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 Is an Early Variety? Since
! the advent of the boil weevl it Is
agreed that the variety which will pro-
duce the most cotton in an area heav-
| lily Infested with weevils is the earli-
est variety. Small boiled, early matur-
| ing varieties often fail to yield as we'll
on soils medium low in fertility as
| the medium early, large boiled varle-
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
Variety Tests In 1916 interesting
| The Arkansas Experiment Station
tested fifty-fve varieties and strains
of cotton at two different points in
| the state last year. In addition, to
| rs varieties were tested in co-opera-
counties. One of the large tests was
| conducted at SCOTS in cooperation
with Mr.. Conoway Scott and the
other at Mena on the old substatioa
| The test at SCOTS was on Arkansas
River bottom land. The season was
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
SCOTS and Mena show that twelve OF
the fifty-fve varieties produced seed
and lint worth (at market prices for
September, October and November)
more than 500 per acre, the average
per acre value OF these twelve varie
ties being more than $4,000 The per
acre value Of the same varieties at
Scots averaged more than $40 co.
| The poorest twelve varieties AVERAGED
a little less than $1,000 per acre IN
the two tests and $1160 90 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 yielders. This would have
amounted to about SIS per acre for the
average of the two tests and about
$500 per acre at SCOTS. II the aver
age cost per acre of production and
marketing for the poor yielders was
$500 and the cost at Scots $27.0O
per acre the per acre profit was $77.00
for the high yielders and $51.00 for
the low yielding varieties. The per
acre profit at Scots was $135 and
$50, respectively, for the high and
low yielding varieties. Profits from
high yielding varieties were about SO
per cent greater than from low
yielding varieties were about so per
cent greater than from low yielders
Among the high yielders in the av
erage for the two tests 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 shor,
staple class; and the following long
staple varieties Foster, Weber No
3d. Weber No. 40, and Express. Elk
press was the earliest OF the above
varieties, but had lower per cent oil
lint and shorter lint than any of the
above long-staples. All Of the above
short-staples. except Toole, were com
paratively early. Other varieties which
did well at Mena were: Cook s I'm
proved, Rublee, Lone Star. Rowden
Dodd's Prolific. Dodd's Favorte King
and Shine. At Scots, Durango, Co
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