164 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Lc^nnection with K^Tptiaii cottuii and is in <j^c'neral use in the Salt 

 River Valley. By withholding water, thinning rather late, and 

 leaving the plants close together in the rows, it has been found pos- 

 sible to avoid tiio devoh)pmont of vegetative brandies ancl to 

 keep tiie lane open betAveen the rows, so that all of the fruiting 

 branches can mature bolls. Under the improved system each plant 

 is formed of a single upright stalk, witli its normal complement 

 of horizontal fruiting brandies, but there are no large vegetative 

 branches to fill the s[)aces between the rows, as in fields that 

 are not handled properly. AVhen the lanes are closed by vegetative 

 branches, fruiting is confined to the top of the plants after the 

 upward growth begins to slacken in the fall, but the crop is late 

 and ma}' be ruined by frost. 



One-variety cotton coinmunities. — As a result of further study and 

 experience with problems of cotton improvement, it becomes still 

 more api)arent that full utilization of superior varieties and scien- 

 tific methods of handling the crop are to be expected only in com- 

 munities that restrict themselves to a single variety of cotton. One- 

 variety communities are necessarj' to maintain stocks of pure seed 

 that are the basis of production and use of any variety of cotton on 

 a scale large enough to give it a practical commercial and indus- 

 trial status, and it is only in such communities that the habits 

 and special behavior of a variet^y become sufficiently well known to 

 permit the farmers to become really skillful in the handling of the 

 crop, so that a product of the highest quality can be secured and 

 placed to the best advantage on the market. In view of the progress 

 that is being made through the organization of one-variety communi- 

 ties, it is believed that this plan opens the way to a general improve- 

 ment of cotton production that is practically impossible in communi- 

 ties where different kinds of cotton are growing and any new variety 

 " runs out " in a few years through mixture of seed at the public 

 gins and crossing in the fields. 



Field insjyection to determine the quality of cotton. — Lack of dis- 

 crimination of the quality of fiber in buying from the farmer is a fea- 

 ture of the commercial system that interferes with the improvement 

 of production. Even the competent buyers who know how^ to judge 

 the staple length from samples often fail to detect inferior mixed 

 stocks, and farmers who produce superior uniform fiber may secure 

 no advantage in price over the inferior fiber produced by careless 

 neighbors. A way has been found to improve the system of buying by 

 ascertaining the "general quality and uniformity of the fiber through 

 inspection of the cotton in the fields, in the same way that the fields 

 are inspected to determine the quality and value of the seed for 

 planting purposes. Purity and uniformity of the plants in the field 

 are as important in relation to the fiber for textile uses as they are in 

 relation to the seed, so that the same system of field inspection would 

 serve both purposes. These facts are being brought to the attention 

 of manufacturers to secure their interest in developing better meth- 

 ods of buying, which will encourage the planting of superior varie- 

 ties of cotton. 



Factors of cotton j^roduction in China. — The cotton-growing area 

 of China, which was studied to some extent by our cotton specialists 

 during the year, probably is larger than that of any other country, 



