RESULTS OF COTTON EXPERIMENTS IN 1911. 7 



The most objectionable tendency obsei"ved'in this variety is toward 

 a premature ripening of the bolls, before the seeds at the ends of the 

 locks are fully matured. Were it not for this tendency the Durango 

 cotton could be recommended for general planting in competition 

 with Triumph or any other short-staple sort; but other long-staple 

 varieties sliow the tendency to premature opening in a greater degree 

 than the Durango. In comparison with other long-staple types, the 

 Durango cotton must be considered as distmctly drought resistant. 



Growers of long-staple cotton are familiar with the fact that the 

 length and strength of the fiber are likely to be diminished if the plants 

 are checked by drought or other imfavoi'able conditions while the crop 

 is bemg produced. The Durango cotton, being less susceptible to 

 such unfavoiablc conditions, has produced good crops in localities 

 where other types of long-staj)le cotton could not be grown to the 

 same advantage. In numerous experiments in Texas and southern 

 California the new variety has shown itself superior to all of the United 

 States Upland long-staple varieties \nth which it has been compared. 



The importance of the factor of local adjustment is well shown by 

 differences m the behavior of the Columbia cotton when grown in 

 comparison with the Durango. In South Carolina, where the Colum- 

 bia cotton was bred, it is an excellent variety, with a long, strong, 

 and uniform staple. But when grown m Texas and southern Cali- 

 fornia the Columbia cotton is markedly mferior. Many plants pro- 

 duce only short, weak lint that would not be considered as premium 

 cotton, and there are other departures from the normal characters 

 of the variety in the habits of growth, leaves, and bracts. Continued 

 selection of the more normal plants under the western conditions 

 would doubtless improve the behavior of the variety, but in view 

 of the superior adaptation of the new Durango type it seems hardly 

 worth while to attempt to adjust the Columbia cotton to the western 

 conditions. 



LONG-STAPLE COTTON AS AN IRIIIGATED CROP. 



The possibilities of producing long-staple cotton are worthy of a 

 careful consideration in all of the irrigated districts of the Southwest. 

 The popular idea has been that the production of a long, strong fiber 

 was necessarily limited to regions with a humid atmosphere, like the 

 Sea Islands of South Carolina or the Delta region of the Mississippi 

 Valley. In reaUty, however, the production of fiber of high quality 

 does not depend upon atmospheric conditions, at least to any such 

 extent as has been supposed. 



As long as the soil affords an adecpiate and readily available supply 

 of moisture, a high degree of atmospheric humidity is not necessary. 

 A dry atmosj)here is injurious, of coui*se, if it renders the supply of 



[Cir. 9G] 



