FIBER FROM DIFFERENT PICKINGS OF EGYPTIAN COTTON. 39 



FUZZINESS OF SEEDS. 



There was some indication that the seeds from the first picking had 

 a tendency to develop a rather larger quantity of fuzz on the seed 

 coat than was the case in the second picking, but it is by no means 

 certain that any noteworthy or constant difference in this respect 

 exists. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



It is clear from the foregoing that the earliest ripening bolls (chiefly 

 those near the base of the plant), which open while extremely high 

 temperatures still prevail, are likely to contain less abundant, shorter, 

 weaker, coarser, and less uniform fiber than bolls which ripen later. 

 The cotton from the earliest picking is also likely to contain more 

 dust and "trash," since the bolls which produce it are closer to 

 the ground and since the leaves and bracts around them have often 

 dried up and become very brittle before the picking is made. For 

 these reasons it would seem advisable, in order to maintain the high- 

 est possible standard for Egyptian cotton grown in the Southwest, to 

 make the first picking as early as the number of open bolls will war- 

 rant the expense of the operation and to sell the fiber from this pick- 

 ing as a separate grade, not allowing it to become mixed with the bulk 

 of the crop, which may be expected to show decided superiority in 

 grade and quality. It is also probable that the latest cotton to ripen, 

 especially that contained in bolls which open after a severe frost, 

 should also be graded separately. The investigation here described 

 does not, however, throw any light upon this latter point. 1 



Since the bolls which ripen first have often cracked open prema- 

 turely under the influence of the high temperatures and extremely 

 dry winds which usually characterize the month of September in the 

 Southwest, the seeds contained in them are frequently not thoroughly 

 mature. This is indicated by their smaller average weight and 

 in fact is evident to the eye from their frequently lighter color. 

 Although no experiments have yet been made to test the point, it is 

 not unlikely that these seeds will be found to give a lower percentage 

 of germination and to produce less vigorous plants than seeds from 

 the second picking. In such cases it would be advisable to use the 

 latter as much as possible for planting. 



1 It is interesting to note in this connection that spinners and buyers to whom samples of the 1910 crop 

 of Arizona-grown Egyptian cotton were submitted found the fiber to be weaker in the sample which repre- 

 sented the fourth picking than in samples which represented earlier pickings from the same fields. 

 LOir. 110] 



o 



