128 



Enclosure. 

 [Reprinted from the A,s:ricultural Ncivs, Vol. V. p. 97.] 



It is recognized that the most important matter requiring atten- 

 tion, in order to maintain the high quality of the Sea Island cotton 

 produced in the West Indies, is to plant seed obtained from 

 healthy plants that have given a good yield per acre, and that 

 have produced lint which has fetched the highest price during the 

 current season. The experience of a successful cotton grower 

 is : — The selection of seed is the one thing that cannot be over- 

 looked. 



As it will be impossible to obtain further supplies of seed from 

 the Sea Islands, the West Indies have to depend on their own re- 

 sources. This is not a difficult matter, provided growers realize 

 the necessity of making the selection of seed a matter of the first 

 importance. They should be prepared to take some trouble in 

 making themselves acquainted with the subject, and in carrying 

 out for themselves the process of seed selection, or they should be 

 prepared to pay a reasonable price for selected seed. Seed of in- 

 ferior quality should not be planted on any account. The 

 difference in cost between good seed and inferior seed is a small 

 matter as compared with the difference in the price realized for 

 the crop. 



The general lines on which cotton growers are recommended to 

 make a choice of cotton seed for planting during the coming 

 season are these : First, the plants from which it has been obtained 

 should be thoroughly healthy, and they should not have suffered 

 severely at any time from the cotton worm or other pests. The 

 next point is to ascertain that the plants are of good habit and are 

 prolific, yielding, on an average, say, not less than 200 lb. of lint 

 per acre. The third point, and perhaps the most important of all, 

 is that the plants have yielded lint that obtained the highest prices 

 during the current year. 



As already stated, the Imperial Department of Agriculture has 

 undertaken a' series of experiments in seed selection that are likely 

 to prove of great value to the industry. These experiments are 

 intended to cover the careful selection of seed, on field results, for 

 immediate planting, as well as the systematic selection of im- 

 proved seed from individual plants, as described in the Agricultural 

 News (Vol. V, p. 38), for future years. 



It has been abundantly proved by general experience both in 

 the Sea Islands and in the West Indies, that it is impossible to 

 obtain first-class cotton from inferior seed. In Egypt, also, the 

 importance of selecting good seed is fully recognized. Mr. 

 Foaden states : — 'Of all plants , cotton responds the most liberally, 

 as far as both yield and quality are concerned, to careful treat- 

 ment, and the sowing of good seed is the very first essential to the 

 production of good stapled cotton. However careful our land 

 may be prepared and manured, the production of superior cotton 

 from inferior and mixed seed is an impossibility.' Further, there 

 is the opinion of the British Cotton-growing Association, as fol- 



