BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 405 



through planting too early and of having late plantings destroyed 

 by weevils bred in early fields in the same neighborhood. 



Cotton improvement under weevil conditions. — The results of 

 a study of weevil conditions have been published in a Farmers' Bulle- 

 tin, showing that the presence of the boll weevil does not prevent the 

 improvement of the cotton crop through the use of better varieties 

 and the production of better fiber. In the early days of the boll- 

 weevil invasion it was believed that all but the extra-early and rather 

 inferior short-staple varieties would be excluded, but this danger has 

 now been avoided. The old late-maturing varieties of upland long- 

 staple cotton are likely to go out of use, to be replaced by newly de- 

 veloped, early-maturing, long-staple varieties. 



Acclimatization of the Durango cotton. — A new Upland long- 

 staple cotton, the Durango variety, has been derived from Mexican 

 stock by acclimatization and breeding for several years in Texas. 

 It is much earlier than the old late-maturing long-staple varieties, 

 less susceptible to weevil injury, and more resistant to drought, so 

 that it can be grown in many regions to which the former long- 

 staple varieties were not adapted. The Durango cotton has thus far 

 shown itself distinctly superior to any other variety of Upland long- 

 staple cotton for irrigated conditions in Texas and other SouthAvest- 

 ern States. Select stocks of seed are being increased as rapidly as 

 possible, more than 200 acres being grown in different communities 

 in the season of 1912. 



Distribution of impro\t;d varieties. — Continued distributions are 

 being made of superior varieties of American Upland cotton bred by 

 this department. The culture of the Columbia long-staple cotton 

 is being extended rapidly in South Carolina and adjacent States, the 

 Lone Star variety in Texas, and the Trice variety in Tennessee, 

 Arkansas, and Mississippi, in regions recently invaded by the boll 

 weevil. The Lone Star cotton belongs to the same Texas big-boll 

 series as the well-known Triumph variety, but its habit of growth 

 is somewhat more upright, and it has larger bolls and longer lint. 

 The Trice cotton is a very early and prolific variety, with larger 

 bolls, better lint, and more uniform than the King. 



The need of education in cotton breeding. — After a superior 

 variety has been bred, distributed, and established in cultivation tlie 

 problem of maintaining its uniformity by continued selection still 

 remains. It is essential to the success of the plan of community or- 

 ganization that farmers learn how to select and rogue their fields, 

 at least those that are to produce seed for planting. The work is not 

 difficult when once understood, but it has to be learned by actual prac- 

 tice in the field in order to develop the necessary skill. One of the 

 most important steps that can now be taken in the improvement of 

 the cotton industry is to provide field training for men who can 

 serve as guides and instructors of local communities. 



Heredity and cotton breeding. — A general bulletin has been pub- 

 lished showing on the one hand the application of heredity to the 

 breeding of cotton, and on the other hand the bearing of facts learned 

 in the acclimatization and breeding of cotton upon some of the fun- 

 damental problems of heredity. Recognition of the general fact that 

 heredity involves two distinct processes, transmission and expression, 



