138 ANNUAL EEPOETS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



ACALA COTTON. 



A new variety called Aeala, bred from a stock obtained about ten 

 years ago near the town of Acala in southern Mexico, has attracted 

 special attention in Oklahoma on account of its resistance to drought. 

 Experiments haA^e been reported in which all the varieties failed ex- 

 cept the Acala, and also several tests in which the Acala yielded more 

 than any other sort. It is earlier than the Lone Star and other varie- 

 ties of the Texas big-boll type. In character of foliage and general 

 appearance of the plants it is intermediate between the Texas big- 

 boll cottons and the Durango variety, two other valuable types that 

 came originally from Mexico. The staple of Acala is also somewhat 

 intermediate, of excellent quality, from 1^ to l^^ inches under favor- 

 able conditions, and often sold at a premium of 2 or 3 cents above 

 short staples. The problem of developing adequate supplies of pure 

 seed has been intensified by the very severe drought of the season of 

 1917 in northern Texas and Oklahoma. 



AMERICAN EGYPTIAN COTTON. 



Some 16,000 bales (average weight about 500 pounds) of Egyptian 

 cotton were produced in Arizona in 1917, and both fiber and seed sold 

 at unprecedentedly high prices. It is estimated that the total value of 

 the crop exceeded $6,000,000. In 1918 about 85,000 acres, or two and 

 one-half times the acreage grown in 1917, were planted to this crop, 

 the Pima variety, originated by this bureau, constituting at least 80 

 per cent of the total acreage. The bulk of the crop is still located in 

 the Salt River Valley, but considerable areas are being grown in the 

 Gila, Yuma, Palo Verde, Imperial, San Joaquin, and Sacramento 

 Valleys. 



The scale of production attained by the Pima variety of Egyptian 

 cotton (about 70,000 acres) has made it possible to institute a general 

 comparison or contrast of the uniformity of this select stock with the 

 diversity that exists in Egypt and in the imported stocks of Egyptian 

 cotton. An expedition to Egypt for the special study of this subject 

 was made in 1910 and a report published, show^ing that the deteriora- 

 tion and extra labor resulting from the contamination with the in- 

 ferior " Hindi " cotton occasioned a net loss of several millions of 

 dollars annually to the cotton industry of Egypt. The contamination 

 was found to be general, most of the fields showing from 2 to 10 per 

 cent of plants with definite Hindi characters, very conspicuous to 

 the practiced eye. 



All of the forms of diversity that were associated with the Hindi 

 cotton in Egypt have been eliminated and no longer occur in the Pima 

 variety in Arizona. The farmers are now supplied with a superior 

 variety of Egyptian cotton, more imiform than any other commercial 

 stock. One of the chief objects of experimental and breeding work 

 with this type of cotton has been attained, and there is every reason 

 to expect that supplies of pure seed can be maintained in communi- 

 ties where only one variety is grown. The establishment of a uniform 

 type tends to disprove the theory of botanical writers that the Egypt- 

 ian type of cotton originated from hybrids of Sea Island crossed with 

 Upland and other tropical species. 



The great expansion of the industry, the partial embargo which 

 has been placed upon imports from Egypt, and the demand for cot- 



