Vol. XI. No. 275. 



THE AORJCULTURAL NEWS. 



359 



Preliminary experiments in topping young plants have 

 resulted in stimulating the growth of buds in the axils of 

 cotyledons. Branches just below the point where the plant 

 is topped make an excessive vegetative growth and tend to 

 assume an upright position in place of the severed axis. The 

 topping of nearly mature plants to hasten the ripening of 

 fruit has not yet been adequately tested. 



Egyptian cotton plants grown on sOil containing con- 

 siderable alkali restrict the development of limbs and reject 

 their early fruiting branches. 



Differences in the branching habits of the different 

 Jigyptian varieties grown from imported seed are not sharply 

 defined because of the diversity within each variety and 

 hence cannot at present be u^ed to distinguish one variety 

 from another. 



absorption of poisonous products generated in the digestive 

 tract by decomposition or putrefactive changes peculiar to 

 this feed. The problem, however, has not yet bsen ap- 

 proached from this point of view. 



COTTON SEBD MEAL AS FOOD 



FOR STOCK. 



Two articles on this subject have appeared recently 

 in the Agricultural Ne^cs,m the issues for August 31 

 and September 14. In continuation of the matter, the 

 following are the conclusions reached in a recent 

 bulletin of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment 

 Station (No. 108), which describes work having fur its 

 chief object the testing of methods designed for the 

 purpose uf removing the poisonous properties possessed 

 by the meal when it is fed to pigs and young cattle: — 



It was found, in one trial, that 'fermentation' or 

 decomposition of cotton seed meal for forty-eight hours at 

 a temperature of 20° to 28° C. did not lessen its toxic action 

 when fed to pigs. 



Cotton seed meal, from which 2 per cent, more of fat had 

 been removed by extraction with gasoline, showed no diminu- 

 tion of toxicity. 



In two trials it was found that cold aqueous extraction 

 removed from cotton seed meal no substance which could be 

 shown to be toxic for pigs. 



The extract similarly obtained by dilute hydrochloric acid 

 proved non-toxic in one trinl. In a second test a temiorary 

 sickness occurred in one animal, the identity nf which wiih 

 cotton-seed poisoning was not established. 



The fluid strained from cotton seed meal, after 

 prolonged steaming, caused death with symptoms and 

 post-mortem changes of cotton seed poisoning in one case. 

 This rtuid, however, was not a clear solution of matters 

 extracted from the meal, but contained much material in 

 suspension. The meal itself after such cooking and 

 separation of the fluid also proved toxic. 



In young cattle (fattening steers) symptoms of poisoning 

 appeared after a consumption of cottonseed meal (along with 

 hulls) equal lo from 75 to 108 per cent, of the body weight. 

 The anatomical lesion of cotton-seed poisoning of cattle is an 

 interstitial keiatitis [inflammation of the cornea or front 

 covering of the eye] which may end in complete blindness 



In hogs there is a degeneration of the muscular tissue of 

 the heart and of the parenchyma of the liver and kidneys, 

 with extreme passive congestion of all the viscera, and fluid 

 effusion into the serous cavities, especi&lly the pleura Hogs 

 which have recovered and regained their thrift did not show, 

 after slaughter, any micrcscopic changes in these organs. 



It may be noted, finally, that the ill effects resulting 

 from the feeding of cotton seed may be due to a prolonged 



COTTON EXPERIMENTS IN THE 

 UNITED STATES, 1911. 



There has been is.sued recently (July 17) Circular 

 No. 96 of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United 

 States Department, of Agriculture, dealing with the 

 results of cotton experimentation by that department 

 during 1911. The statement of the results is to be 

 considered as supplementary to that contained in the 

 Annual Report of the Chief of the Bureau mentioned. 

 It will be useful to quote here the conclusions that are 

 reached in the circular: — 



Improved varieties of American Upland cotton bred by 

 the Department of Agriculture and sent out through the 

 Congressional Seed Distribution are being utilized for the 

 improvement of the cotton industry. 



New types of Upland cotton, introduced from weevil- 

 infested regions of Mexico and Central America, have been 

 acclimatized in the United States and have given excellent 

 results in Texas and other South western States. 



One of the new varieties from Mexico, called Durango, 

 is the most promising Upland long-staple cotton for irrigated 

 di-stricts. Long-staple cotton is likely to become one of 

 the most important crops in the irrigated regions of Texas 

 and other South-western States. 



Cotton-growing communities have much to gain by 

 cooperative organization for the production and marketing 

 of a single superior variety of cotton. 



An improved method of distributing select varieties has 

 been devised to avoid waste and encourage the production of 

 superior fibre on a community basis. 



The necessity of continued selection to preserve superior 

 varieties has been demonstrated and improved methods of 

 selection have been devised. The value of distinctive char- 

 acters that enable the plants to be recognized in the field 

 is being taken into account in the breeding of varieties 



Cultural methods are suggested for avoiding malforma- 

 tions of young seedlings, which often delay the development 

 of the plants and reduce the yield. 



Several methods of utilizing superior first-generatioji 

 hybrids between Egyptian and Upland varieties of cotton are 

 being tested, including the propagation of such hybrids from 

 cuttings. 



Experiments have shown the possibility of controlling 

 the development of vegetative branches by thinning the 

 plants gradually and restricting the supply of water in the 

 early stages of growth. 



The Egyptian type of cotton proves to be less suscepti- 

 ble to the shedding of the buds and young bolls than ihe 

 Upland cotton, which is an additional element of security 

 for the crop. 



Differences in habits of growth and methods of pickipg 

 render the Egyptian cotton superior to the Upland type 9S 

 a family crop. 



The suc:essful production of Egyptian cotton in Arizona 

 and Southern California does not justify expectations of 

 similar results in Texas, where the conditions are essentially 

 different. The Durango variety is preferable for irrigated 

 districts in Texas. 



