16 CIECULAK NO. 115, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



specific directions that can be used everywhere without discrimina- 

 tion. In agriculture, as in other arts, every new application of a 

 scientific principle makes an additional demand for intelligence and 

 insight into the problems of production. The contrasts with preva- 

 lent theories and practices of cotton culture are so great that careful 

 consideration of the habits of the cotton plant is needed before the 

 full possibilities of cultural improvement can be appreciated. 



The hist step toward permanent progress in the new direction 

 is to secure the attention of the intelligent farmer to the principle 

 itself, so that he can begin to observe and experiment on his own 

 account with rows of cotton thinned to different distances and at 

 different stages of growth and thus see for himself the relation 

 of the habits of the plants to the cultural problems. In this case 

 no special equipment of books or instruments is necessary to enable 

 the farmer to study the plant and learn what he needs to know 

 regarding its habits of branching. It is true that these habits are 

 somewhat peculiar from the botanical and biological standpoint, as 

 already pointed out in preceding papers on the subject, but there 

 are no technicalities that interfere in any way with direct observa- 

 tions of the behavior of the plants under the usual farm conditions. 



APPLICATION OF IMPROVED METHODS. 



Unless the farmer can understand the underlying reasons he is 

 not likely to adapt a new method or to apply it properly, any more 

 than he can use a new machine to advantage without knowing how it 

 works. This requirement of intelligence may limit the application 

 of an improved method, just as it restricts the use of high-grade 

 machines to those who have the ability to handle them properly 

 and understand their construction. But it is generally agreed that 

 larger rewards for more intelligent and skillful farming are in the 

 interest of agricultural progress, and this is especially true in rela- 

 tion to the cotton industry. To make it seem worth while for intelli- 

 gent men to remain on the farm would soon counteract the urban 

 tendencies now so much deplored. 



That cotton has been considered a " sure crop " even with the 

 most careless farming is one of the chief reasons for the backward 

 state of the industry. But the need of improvement is now recog- 

 nized as never before, as a result of the many changes that are being- 

 enforced by the invasion of the boll weevil. With the continued 

 advance of the boll weevil the period of sure-crop cotton is drawing 

 to a close, and the rapid expansion of cotton culture in foreign coun- 

 tries shows that a new test of competition in the production of this 

 crop must be met in a few years. In the mean time any improvement 

 that promises increased efficiency of production is worthy of careful 

 consideration. 



rOir. 1151 



