Arizona republican., 1921-12-18

ming an extensive tour for next snring and hopes to cover all the the original stock of the variety. These comparisons show very defi- nitely that the most recent seed is fully equal to the original stock.
 It is true that some fields produce poor cotton but this found to be due to adverse soil conditions or to faulty irrigation or poor farming and not to any deterioration in the va riety. There is no question but that some of the cotton shipped out of the valley in 1919 and 1920 has va ried greatly in length and strength. but this does not by any means indi- cate that Pima is deteriorating.
 Problem of Uneven Staple
 We have seen an expansion of the cotton industry in the valley from 30 900 acres in 1917 to 10000 in 1918, S5,000 in 1919 and 1S0,000 in 1920. This rapid expansion has resulted in growing Pima on wide variety of soils, many of them being poorly adopted to cotton Also q very high percentage of the farmers who en- gagged in the industry were not well versed in the cultural requirements of the crop. Granting these things then it is not at all surprising that the staple has ranged from a little less than T. F inches to 1A inches. Obviously this alone has hand tend ency to bring about a lack of faith in the stability of Pima, but We can even go further than that and state that our cotton has been grown in such a way that frequently whole fields or parts of fields suffer at times for the want of water and this unquestionably weakens the staple. If the cotton from these fields could be segregated and marked accord ingly the difficulties encountered in marketing would not be as great as they are at present when it often happens that several different grades or staple lengths of cotton are found in the same bale. This is on of the greatest weaknesses in our present methodS~of handling cotton and Pima cannot obtain the recognition to which it is entitled until this prob lem is solved.
 Conclusions
 Your committee finds that: l. The Pima variety of cotton was developed by the bureau of plant in dustry through scientific plant selec- ! tion and line breeding.
 ?. Pima was adopted after exhaust ! i've comparative tests had demon strated its superiority over all other cottons which can be grown in this ! district.
 8. Each year Pima is tested at Sac aton (a) in comparison with other 1 types of cotton and (b) Pima grown from the Tempe Cotton exchange ! stock of seed/is compared With plants ! grown from the original Sacaton | stock and with the later selections ! resulting from the breeding work. ! These tests ave consistently con- | firmed the superiority of Pima for 1 this valley and have as yet revealed no deterioration of the variety. 4. The Pima seed stock of the | Tempe Cotton exchange is pure and ! the precautions necessary to insure | the maintenance of varietal purity ! are being taken under the direction Of the United States department of agriculture experts.
 5. We find that the Tempe Cotton exchange has adequate facilities for handling pure Pima planting seed. and | through this organization a continuu-
 ing supply of pure seed is assured
 that the methods employed are eco nomical and efficient and that the
 seed is furnished to the grower at
 a very small D rofit to that organ | fZation and at a rrice much lower
 than the cost of ordinary planting | seed elsewhere.
 6. It is difficult if not impossible
 to maintain varietal purity if more
 than one type of cotton is grown in ! a community
 '. The planting of oil mill seed not only reduces the value of the result 1 ing crop but also leads to deteriora-
 tion of the variety.
 s. The importation of cotton seed
 is apt to result in the introduction of dangerous insect enemies of cot 1 ton.
 g. The practical purpose of plant se- l lection within a variety is to main
 tain the highest type of varietaI pur- ity and uniformity and the selection 1 and propagation of unusual types by growers is not only of no value. but is
 a positive danger to the stability ol
 the industry
 10. We find that the supply of pure
 Pima seeG available for general plant
 ing in the spring Of 1922 amounts tc
 l,ISO 900, or enough to plant only 50
 900 acres without reserves set aside
 for replanting and 1t is imperative that arrangements he immediately ef-
 tected which will enable the Temp,
 Cotton exchange to prepare an addi-
 tlonal supply of at least 75O.OO ot
 pure Pima seed
 Recommendations
 l. (a) In view of the fact that there
 may be a demand for planting seed
 for S0,000 acres of Pima cotton in the spring ot 1922, we believe that imme- diate steps should be taken by the