The Bulletin. 71 



WHAT A VARIETY SHOULD BE. 



A variety of cotton should be a group of plants having some special 

 excellencies, such as total yield of lint per acre, resistance to disease 

 and insect pests, etc., and the seed of which should be able to trans- 

 mit to their progeny, with certainty and without diminution, the 

 excellent qualities of the parent plants. If the designated group of 

 plants does not have these qualities, then it is not worthy to be styled 

 a variety. ISTeither should the same variety have two names. 



EARLY MATURING VARIETIES. 



The earliest varieties, judged from the percentage of total cotton 

 open at first picking in the past three or four years' tests at the test 

 farm.s of the Department, are Dozier's Improved, King's Improved, 

 Hodge, Shine's Extra Early Prolific, Missionary, and \¥ebb. The 

 first two named are probably the earliest maturing varieties we have 

 thus far tested. They are especially adapted for growth in regions 

 where cotton is liable to be cut off by frost, mattering not whether the 

 prolonged gTowth be due to climate or soil; 



MEDIUM MATURING VARIETIES. 



Culpepper's Improved, Cook's Improved, Excelsior Prolific, Peter- 

 kin's Improved, and Edgeworth are varieties that matured during the 

 past year at a medium date. Peterkin's Improved and Edgeworth 

 were late in maturing during the past year at the Iredell farm, but 

 medium at the other two — Edgecombe and Red Springs. 



LATE MATURING VARIETIES. 



Russell's Big Boll, Black Texas Wood, Brown Texas Wood, Tool's 

 Early Prolific, and Moss' Improved were the latest varieties tested. 

 Some of these are good yielding varieties when grown where the 

 season is long enough for complete development of their bolls before 

 frost. 



VARIETIES WITH HIGH PERCENTAGE OF LINT. 



Of the varieties tested. Moss' Improved, King's Improved, Brown 

 Texas Wood, Peterkin's Improved, Cook's Improved, Tool's Early 

 Prolific, Hodge, Excelsior Prolific, Brown's No. 1, Edgeworth and 

 Mortgage Lifter are the ones that have yielded the highest per- 

 centage of lint to seed. With these varieties in 1904 the per- 

 centage of lint to seed varied from 35.42 per cent with Excelsior 

 Prolific at the Edgecombe farm to 43.03 per cent with Moss' Im- 

 proved at Iredell. The percentage yield of lint alone of a variety 

 is frequently an unsafe guide in selecting a variety that will produce 

 a large amount of lint cotton per acre. 



