Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-12-20
Eighty-F Five Cent Cotton
By Fre6esic ]. Haskia

Cotton ut this Fprire IA the now III
Dorado of the west, and fertile vine
yards, forange groves and alfalfa heids
arc being uprooted that the new crop
may be given an opportunity to enrich
the holders Of these once-descrt lands,
now made productive by irrigation.
Farmers have repeatedly made ten
thousand dollars year on ffty-acre
field gwen over 10 this grade OF cbtton-
Its cultivation, as an example of the
application of science 70 the tiliipc OF the
soil, is probably without an equal IN the
success with Which IL has been carried
out, and in the promise Of n permanent
industry which il offers.
ngsr corToN IN WORLD.
The ultimate product is cord tires for
American automobiles and sewing cotton
for the needles OF American housewives.
For the cotton grown in Arizona is the
best cotton in the world and these are the
two important products which call for
cotton of great strength and durability:
Here is an industry which has resulted
from taking thought, and from rsirsulng
one. purpose unpaverlngly for two de
caIes Twenty years ago the depa ri
mcnt Of agriculture found, down in
| Egypt, a grade OF cotton that brought
better prices on the market than did
any other cotton, with the possible ex-
ception Of Sea Island cotton, of which
limited amounts were grown in South
| Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
The price Of cotton ls governed, other
| things being equal, by its length of staple.
| The longer the fiber of the cotton the
| more valuable il is on the market Sea
! Island cotton il q variety developed on
the islands of the South Carolina coast,
and now grown more extensively IN
| certain interior counties of Georgia and
/ Florida. There are certain difficulties
/ in the way of raising 1t, however, and its
! cultivation does not spread II requires
a long growing season, is difficult to pick,
! and deteriorate- wear by year. The south
is prejudiced against IT, The exactions
| Of its civilizations are too great
Egypt had the rival long staple cotton.
I Fpyr,t had be-en more successful In keep
/ ing its strain pure. In Egypt the condi-
/ fons were more favorable To the cultlva-
/ tian of eIistinct varletieH. The mass Of
! the long staple cotton 0f the world had
come to he grown In Egypt. The United
| States. the greatest OF cotton raising
countries, had allowed itself to be out
stripped in growing this thread cotton.
Agricultural explorers were sent To
| Egypt and brought home quantities OF
! the ssed of the choice long staple varieties.
] These wrre distributed through the cotton
regions Of the south. They did not do
we'll They had been accustomed for
generations TO the dry air and the I'M
CATION of Egypt They required longer
growing season than that Of the southern
States
The representatives Of the Depart
rnent OF Agriculture turned their atten-
ton to the far southwest where conditions
more nearly appropriated those of Egypt
Arizona had the dry air, the long growing
season, the irrigation. Would Egyptian
cotton grow there Would it be suffl-
eiently profitable To displaoe those al
falfa fields which yielded SIX crops Of hay
per year and from one 70 two tons per
crop? Oniy experiment would show.
The best Egyptian cotton WAS taken
70 Yuma Arizona. and there propa-
gated The yield was ragged and unlike
that on the Nile. The stranger deport-
ed itself peculiarly in its new home.
There were isolated plants which were
satisfactory. The scientific farmers Sc
lected these plants and propagated them
In the subsequent crop a greater number
Of the plants were satisfactory. Those
with satisfactory yields and staple were
again selected and propaRated. Alter
ten wears of this sort of selectIve growing,
distinctive variety Of cotton was devei-
oped that was quite different from Egyp-
tlan. Il was called Yuma cotton.
Yuma Is down in the corner Of Arizona
lust across the river from the great desert
of southern California, In the hottest
part OF the United states. Up IN the
middle of the State IS SacatOn reserva-
ton where reside certain Indian wards
OF the government They have arteslan
wells and fertile lands. The government
has sn experiment station there. Hum
dreds Of miles Of barren lands stretch
IN every direction. There Is consequent
" no possibility OF a pure strain OF cotton
becoming contaminated.
TEARS IN PERFECTION.
The scientific men at Sacaton took the
Yuma cotton as q basic stock and began
to build upon il. They selected plants
with certain desirable qualities and mated
them, wear after year. 70 yet another
variety of cotton was developed. 1t was
called Pima from the Indians OF the
neighborhood II is better cotton than
the Yuma It is undoubtedly better
cotton than the best varieties of Egyp-
tian. 1t Is probably the best variety OF
cotton In all the world.
Near Sacaton Indian reservation Is
Salt River Valley. Here strip ot land
twenty miles wide and fifty long is water
ed by the famous Roosevelt Reservoir.
1t IS valley built up OF silt washed
down from the mountains. Ii IS level
but gently sloping. 1t used TO be an
uninhabitable sagebrush plain but was
long ago brought under irrigation. II
is the model irrigation project Of them al
and one of the most productive stretches
of farming land in all the world, 1t used
10 be planted in alfalfa, fruit trees ane
sugar beets.
In this valley farmers began, SIX year:
ago, TO grow Pima cotton experlmentally
The success was immediate, and the re
turns were greater than from any othel
crop Each year saw the number OF acre:
doubled Each year saw methods i'm
proved and profits increased.
Last year nearly hundred Thousand
acres of Pima cotton were under cultiva
ton in this valley. Next year there vii
be 10000 acres. This will be the maxi
mum. 1t will be half the land in th'
valley and the other half must be devoted
To raising the necessities OF the region
grain, hay. fruit, vegetable.
4 good farmer IN Salt River alley
grows a bale Of cotton to the acre. Il
weighs 500 pounds which. at eight,
! cents pound amounts to $500 |
costs Sl25 an acre to grow the crop, tn
!