Vol. III. No. 49. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



69 



COTTON. 



Improvement by Seed Selection. 



We publi.shed in the Agrtcultund Keuv (Vol. II, 

 p. 373) an extract from a report b}' Mr. George P. 

 Foaden on a visit to the cotton-growing States of 

 America. Mr. Foaden, who is the Principal of the 

 School of Agricidture in Egypt, paid his visit to the 

 United States in May 1903. His report is published 

 in the Journal of the Khedlvkd Agricultural Society 

 and School of Agricidture (Vol. V, Nos. 4 and 5). 

 The following extracts from the report deal with the 

 important subject of seed selection : — 



It i.s imjiossible to overestimate the importance of 

 the selection of good seed or the influence wliicli it 

 has on the resulting cotton crop. In the absence of 

 some system of selection, all cultivated plants tend towards 

 deterioration though this is much more marked in some cases 

 than in others. The more highly developed and specialized 

 a plant is, the more rapidly will it deteriorate under adverse 

 conditions. Of all jilants, cotton responds lil^erally, both as 

 far as yield and quality are concerned, to careful treatment, 

 and the sowing of good seed is the very first essential to the 

 production of good stapled cotton. However carefully our land 

 may be prepared and manured, the production of superior 

 cotton from inferior and mixed seed is an impossibility. 



The present variety of cotton known as Sea Island has 

 in fact been obtained by one means, and that is 'selection.' 

 While this has been the case, and while the fibre to-day is 

 acknowledged to have attained the highest standai-d of 

 excellence, yet it is accepted that its superiority can only be 

 maintained provided a .system of selection is continued. There 

 is no question of allowing Sea Island cotton to deteriorate ; 

 those interested in its growth by the careful system adopted 

 prevent this. 



In the selection of seed for cotton we have two jirimary 

 objects in view, viz., to obtain the greatest yield and the best 

 quality. To select for both objects at the same time is quite 

 possible, though we think that the main object in view can 

 be accomplished liy growing in the first place the very 

 best seed obtainable, and then selecting seed from the 

 heaviest yielding plants, provided the quality of those plants 

 is equal to the best standard of that variety. In the system 

 of selection adopted by Sea Island planters most distinctive 

 results have been obtained. For example, one grower's 

 ideal has been to obtain heavy yields with but a secondary 

 regard for quality and this has been quite successful, the 

 grower's cotton being known in the market as that from 

 heavy yielding plants liut whose quality is not ' extra.' 

 Another planter again has selected for quality only, and 

 though yield has been to a certain extent sacrificed, yet his 

 cotton is sold for a much higher price. Thus, starting with 

 the same seed, two different ideals may be reached according 

 to the wish of the particular grower. As a rule, however, 

 our primary object is to iiicrease the yield, and while 

 striving to obtain this we have to see that we do not sacrifice 

 quality and other desirable characteristics, but keep them at 

 least up to the best standard. 



The history of Sea Island cotton which is so extremely 

 interesting provides us with an object-lesson and ample 

 food for reflection. It serves as an example showing 

 how a tropical plant has not only been adapted to another 

 climate, but at the same time the produce has been 

 brought to a very high pitch of perfection ; the whole 

 having been accomplished by selection, aided by good 



cultivation and manuring. In the year 1785, seeds were 

 brought from the Bahamas and planted in the State of 

 Georgia. The plants died down, but sprang up again from 

 the roots and succeeded in ripening a few seeds before the 

 next winter. The earliest of the seeds thus produced were 

 sown and this again repeated the following year. By this 

 means an earlier flowering and ripening plant was j>roduced 

 until at last the plant matured a large proportion of its seed 

 before adver.se climatic conditions came, and this even along 

 the coasts of the Carolinas. Having attained this, a very 

 careful system of selection was adopted with the view of 

 improving quality, that is to say increasing the length, 

 strength and fineness of the staple. By a continuation of this 

 process of vigorous selection, the jDroduction of the finest 

 quality cotton in the world has been attained. 



Selection of Seed. 



To a representative of the Barbados Advocate, 

 who visited the Barbados Central Cotton Factory on 

 January 29, Mr. W. B. Seabrook, Ginnery Exjiert to 



the Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West 

 Indies, made the following remarks on this subject: — 



The first important step in planting cotton, with any 

 hope of success, is to secure c/ood seed — seed that can be 

 guaranteed to yield fibre uniform in length and fineness of 

 staple. It is as reasonable to place a cur in competition 

 with a fine-bred setter and hope to get a prize, as to place 

 cotton of mixed quality and staple in the market and expect 

 it to obtain the same price as that which is uniform. 



The good seed, to which I refer, and which is so essential 

 to success, could be obtained to the best advantage where 

 Sea Island cotton is raised in its highest state of perfection, 

 viz., from the Sea Islands of South Carolina, especially those 

 nearest to Charleston. The selection of cotton seed has 

 long been a study with planters there, and good seed, yield- 

 ing fibre of good length and fineness of staple, can be 

 obtained from them as proposed by the Imperial Department 

 of Agriculture. Thousands of bushels of Sea Island cotton 

 seed are used every year for fertilizing purposes — planters 

 refusing to plant it because of deterioration in quality. This 

 might be obtained for very little ; but if unfit for planting 

 there, it would be unfit here. It is necessary, therefore, to 

 obtain seed from a reliable source, and one where its purity 

 can be vouched for. The difi"erence in cost will be a small 

 item in comparison with the ditt'erence in result. Once the 

 strain is established in the West Indies, enterprising and 

 intelligent planters could at once begin to make selections 

 for themselves, and keep up a continuous supply of fine, 

 long-staple cotton to be delivered to the Central Factories 

 which are fully able to prepare it for the market in the best 

 possible condition. 



The Cotton Worm in British Honduras. 



A correspondent writing in the Clarion states that 

 some of the newly planted cotton in British Honduras has 

 been attacked by the cotton worm. It appears that _ an 

 attempt was made to grow cotton in that colony at the time 

 when high prices were obtained for cotton during the 

 American civil war, but was abandoned on account of the 

 ravages of this pest. Now, however, that it is realized that 

 the cotton worm can be kept in check by the use of Paris 

 green, its presence need not prove a very serious obstacle. 



Evidently the cotton worm is general. It appears in 

 every country where cotton is grown; so that there is 

 nothing exceptional in its appearance in the West Indie.s. 



