Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1919-09-03
YOU CAN IMPROVE YOUR COTTON
BY The PROPER SEED SELECTION
State Board of Entomology Tells How This Can
Be Done-Announc es Discontinuance of
Free Seed.

All of this loss or a great portion Of
it, may be prevented by planting pure,
improved. pedigreed seed Of suitable
variety.
If you are not growing cotton
adapted to your section, we would sug-
gest that your purchase from some one
in your section of the state, some good,
improved, pedigreed seed Of a variety
adapted to your soil. The Depart
ment urges all who are growing a
good variety to make mass selection
from which to secure seed for plant
ing an increased plot next year. This
method of improving cotton by mass
selection should be practiced by all
cotton growers in order to increase
their yield of cotton and maintain its
purity
Ii you are growing two or three va
rites of cotton on your place, go over
the different varieties and decide
which one you wish to plant next
year. Having determined on the va
riety to select seed from. go over the
field very carefully and note the diff
ferent types of cotton stalks found in
it. You will find a few stalks very
well fruited, many poorly fruited, and
some with scarcely any fruit at all.
Note the type Of stalk that produces
the most fruit. You will probably find
that this type of stalk produces the
most cotton in all parts of the field,
whether the stalk is large or small.
Having determined the type of stalk,
now proceed to select the best indi-
vidual stalks of this type.
Consider These Points
In Selecting Your Seed
In determining the individual stalks
to select you should carefully consider
the following points: Type of stalk,
fruitfulness, earliness and disease re-
sistance. Select and tag enough of
these good individual stalks to secure
hundred pounds or more Of seed
cotton. Pick out the cotton from
these individual stalks, ahead of the
cotton pickers, or instruct them not
to pick the tagged stalks. Take this
cotton to the gin and feed it to the
gin by hand and let the seed run
out on a sheet spread on the floor.
In this way you can gin a small
amount of seed cotton and keep the
seed from becoming mixed with the
seed in the seed auger.
If you do not select enough good
stalks to make more than twenty-five
pounds of seed cotton, send this by
prepaid express to the Georgia State
Board Of Entomology, Atlanta, Ga.
and they will gin it for you and de
termine the percentage of lint it turns
out, and return the seed by express
collect. There will be no charge for
the ginning, but the lint will be kept
to partially pay for the expenses OF
the operation.
The cotton seed thus secured
should be planted next year in a
patch to itself as much as possible
and if the seed from this patch is
carefully saved, it will plant large
field the following year. The Depart
ment has issued a circular on the
value and Importance of maintaining
the purity of cotton seed.
For a copy of this circular, for bull
letin on variety tests of 1918, or foI
advice in regard to the variety adapted
to your section and list OF parties from
whom good improved cotton seed may
be purchased, address A. c. Lewis
State Entomologist. Atlanta, Ga.