The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1919-11-22
1pwards, is distinctly more acute

!; in maturing for successful cul.
,,urc unael. boil wesvil conditions. al,
though formerly grown extensively il
the Delta. OF. alluvial region along
the Mississippi River. these late type:
:harc been practically discarded in al
sections where the boil weevil has
to be reckoned with. There is an Ut
gent demand for satisfactory new va
erietics with at least a moderate
length Of staple to take the place OF
]. those types which have been dis
curded.
The question Of improving. long
staple cotton is much more comp;i-
Gated than in the case Of short cottor
In the latter instance the problems
are principally agricultural and are
icentered almost entirely on improving
characters which promote produc.
tiveness: SO long as the staple docs
no: fall below. q minimum length OF
about seven-c;glts to one inch, the
primary markets for upland short
staple, asa .Fsale. pay no regard 10 tise
alaliW Of tla.. }int. The. attention OF
on< who is trying to. itaproHe siaor'
.stapic cate rs. therefore. may bc;9cen-
tered pr4e..arllyeupon qualities which
promote high: yield per acre.. In
long staple work, en- the. contrary,
the length. and character Of the lint
must be as, fully taken into account
as the question OF yie.a. The prob
lem is complicated to that extent, but
] is: none The less interesting. r.
Ny own experiments in seed selte-
ton, which are being conducted IN
:: the Mississippi Delta. as veil as the
efforts Of the ofississinpi experiment
station. are being dircetcd principally
TOWARD the development Of s2tistac-
tory cottons with some leugtl OF sta
pic for. culture under boil weeyil. con-
ditions. We arc interested in fine cot
tons OF all lengths, but the. most nr-
gent need in our section'is fora sat
isfactory> cotton .ue !. one and one
/ eighth TO one. and three-siAteenth.i \.
inch staple. Our principal efforts ar"
being put on that class OF cotton, and
have bcGn sccnaPd. We ar. not ca
4tireiy. negleclinS the extra staples nor
t-crtn short staple cotton, however.
:o,. The past few years the demand
for staples of: one and on eighth 70
sone and three-sixteenths has been
/! fairly vel, supplied in the Delta prin
:ciIaliy- by the planting Of Express col
ton. This striking new type was pro-
pacatel} fron an. indiFj jdnat,-plans Sc.
lecteG .;n,sS904 by ;I1. ID. y. ,Slaesrn; >t,''
!of slae :I,epar rtnaents sef Agriculture, = y,
Norei1, .Te&as s.. .wlaercslt originated and
was. iss:ed fer seyeaal yea IS. II Nts $
!: ns,. u, nn 1i,eai. The S;triets. syas tfis-
carasd by the. Department: OF Asr. r.caa,
ture ard :barely missed being extlnct
Susaeeigales that this type OF. cotton
might :1ay:e CONSIDERABLE ei.aerit IA n1dAe
ss:sAppi i, De eltar = secured about .oIl!e !s
peck. aY seed oof the discard ed yariaty'', ,
which swa ,pIanteK at the3 1sllss'sslR,-
Della branch. :experi1aen sta ton ia
1911. This cotton proved tery prom
ising. at :o,lce,... and efforts to trace
down mere seed from severa' hatcs
which had been grown in Texas ti.e
preyio.:s season profed futile. All CT
the. Express cotton sabset;r nti!5.
p,antett On, hundreds of,thnnsa Qs1 OF
acre., .cu7ne from that peck OF seed:
Express came nearer than any 9th
er available. variety toward meeting
tic demand for.a long. staple ccston,
wh:eh could he Depended ca tba:9.;2
t,,e1 >, Is4a>,,is car.ta s.ssfs: '.,ll st'.t.'
conditions. 1T has sisseeI is t;e,r:-. ss.s,1 s.
pcr.,ler.. and within therlast 9sar or
s., :. .as1ha pa. been egroF,a ..ssere- t.5-
..,1si.eiYS ban any osler variety !n
tlac Iss;:ta rcsicn Of Mixsjaaippi- II,
pcrllsrs. wt i',c:udc Tho extreme
northern end. OF that territory.
III spite ef. jts popularis::-. the 3Eez-
,,yess ,x2riety. lg4s sonle 50 seG:i,ds de-
fac.s. Nhac tic plant grows veil in
th.. De.t:. region. it. Is not sufficiently
productivs. We hare been comparing
d;ffercn; varieties OF cotton as to- yield
ant! value per. ae2e for u number os
years. AS a-result Of these variet:
tests we find that, through a series %
years, the best short .star:t4t tn' se tse3ss>]s Il
give. us. a larger profit Der acr> a;t4'.t'5s z
Express or any aefer long staple Va
.ilstv. Long staple cottol,s. 10 .,e> de-
veniably profitable year after year.
sscula be more Of 2. sta ,,ie prad;a'.t
Or else, the premiuaa' over short sta
pie prices, To- be paid FOR Longer coz
ton, r1sst be stabilized at "a hagbsr
average. value and. the extreme hnc,-:
tua.fotls in the amount OF the pre-
1i.iuasas must ke avoided. The latter
problem Is. a comm mercial one, which
has.sheen preseat fqr "a long. time, but
cn., which i,a trade has, made: 10 IN :
ps ;ss;t;n. - The Other alternative, tha. !.
es. decreasing the -produc1veness o.
iilorser. cotton rslatiSe to short stap:>'
cotton. IS q task 10 be undertaken
through seed selection. -.
In our. experimental work: we have
attacked the problem in TWO differ
ent ways, III each case Express .e''t7
ton, which has about the right length
Of staple. for. cur needs. has sheen uscd
as 2 oasis for our work -:
In. speaking of several sorts of cot:
: ton i have already stated IN each
case that .he .new variety: chas de-
scended from "a single exceptional
plant ;diseotered. in the field ard iso-
lated from the. general population,
That has hcch the 'aofc OF origin
OF prsctically al ef the zco1n n1erc:a'
varieties Of cotton. This laethod, has
sbern e,npjeyeds With; s:xprcss COTTON
=, nd ln{ Selecting and testing, .niirlt;;:'