REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 59 



COTTON IMPRO\'EMENT ON A COMMUNITY BASIS. 



To secure the full advantage from improved varieties of cotton it 

 is essential that each locality growing the improved variety produce 

 a sufficient quantity to warrant its reaching the manufacturers un- 

 mixed with other varieties. In a community that planted only one 

 kind of cotton, the crossing of varieties in adjacent fields and the 

 mixing of seed in gins would be avoided, selection could be made 

 much more effective, and the production of a larger quantity of uni- 

 form fiber would secure higher prices. In view of these and other 

 obvious advantages, special attention has been given to establishing 

 improved varieties and methods of selection in communities organ- 

 ized for the production of a single type of cotton. 



LONG-STAPLE COTTON IN THE ATLANTIC STATES. 



The advance of the boll weevil has reduced the production of long- 

 staple Upland cotton in Mississippi and Louisiana, resulting in an 

 acute commercial demand for this type of fiber. The action of State 

 quarantine laws against the importation of cotton from sections in- 

 fested with the cotton boll weevil and the high prices realized by 

 eastern growers of the Columbia variety originated by this depart- 

 ment have stimulated interest in this variety to the extent that all 

 the available supplies of good seed were long ago exhausted. Spe- 

 cial efforts are being made to preserve the uniformity of this variety 

 by growing new supplies of seed under conditions of isolation from 

 other cotton and by more effective cooperation in the work of 

 selection. 



SUGAR-BEET INVESTIGATIONS. 



The sugar beet has established itself as one of the most important 

 agricultural crops over a large section of the country, but in the 

 transplanting of this European industry to the virgin soil of Amer- 

 ica many new problems have arisen, A system of well-equipped 

 field laboratories in the beet-growing regions, where studies in path- 

 ology^, breeding, and agronomy can be carried out in close contact 

 with the fields, is essential to a speedy and successful solution of the 

 various problems presented. Two such additional laboratories have 

 been established during the past year, and others are contemplated 

 for the near future. 



Leaf-spot and curly-top, two important diseases of sugar beets, 

 have received special attention, and work upon damping-off and 

 root-rot has been inaugurated. 



The breeding of special strains of beets for American conditions is 

 an important line of work which should yield valuable results. It 



