42 The Bullktik. 



COMMENTS ON VARIETY TESTS OF COTTON. 



The varieties tested last year at each of the two Test Farms are 

 arranged in Table VIII in the order of selling price of ''total prod- 

 ucts/' when lint is selling at 10 cents per pound and seed at 24 cents 

 per bushel. This order may not be the order of productivity of seed 

 cotton as is shown in the tests this year by Russell's Big Boll in com- 

 parison with Culpepper s Improved at Edgecombe, and Tool's Early 

 Prolific with Excelsior Prolific at Iredell, and many other instances 

 in the tests of this and previous 3'ears. The reason for some varieties, 

 with smaller yields of seed cotton, producing more lint and hence 

 greater selling price per acre than some others with a larger amount 

 of seed cotton per acre, is due to the former varieties producing a 

 high percentage of lint to seed. 



The size of the plats used for these tests was about one-twentieth 

 of an acre. 



To eliminate inequalities in the land, if any, the different va- 

 rieties at the separate farms were planted each in separate rows 

 arranged consecutively, and this plan repeated a sufficient number 

 of times to give the designated acreage. The rows were 3 1-3 feet 

 apart at both farms, while the hills in the rows w'ere 15 inches. It is 

 absolutely essential, in order to eliminate soil and weather conditions 

 as much as possible, to continue work of this kind for some years on 

 diiferent types of soils before attempting to draw definite conclusions. 

 The yields for this year are presented in Table VIII, while the aver- 

 age rank of the several varieties tested during the past five years is 

 shown in Table IX. 



SOME XOTES ON VARIETIES OF COTTON TESTED IX 1905. 



Russell's Big Boll is a hardy, large-boiled and vigorous-growing 

 variety that yields well, especially on a loamy or sandy soil in the 

 eastern part of the State, and is very popular with pickers. In value 

 of total products (lint and seed) it stood third in 1900 and 1905, first 

 in 1901 and 1902, seventh in 1903 and fourth in 1904 at the Edge- 

 combe farm; third in 1900 and 1902, first in 1901, seventh in 1903 

 and fifth in 1904 at Red Springs ; and third in 1903 and seventh in 

 1904 at Iredell. In ordinary seasons this variety is not only pro- 

 lific but tolerably reliable, especially on the well-drained, sandy or 

 loamy soil of the East. 



Culpepper's Improved, too, is a large-boiled variety, yielding gen- 

 erally a little less per boll than Russell's Big Boll. It ranked* fourth 

 in 1900, third in 1901, fifth in 1902, ninth in 1903, seventeenth 

 in 1904 and second in 1905 at the Edgecombe farm; first in 1900, 

 second in 1901, first in 1902, third from Red Springs seed and fourth 

 from Edgecombe seed in 1903, second from Red Springs seed in 1904 



•All ranks of varieties of cotton are based on value of total products (lint and seed) per acre. 



