COTTON SELECTION ON THE FARM. 11 



It is customary for breeders and seed growers to publish descrip- 

 tions and pictures of their varieties, but the farmer should not expect 

 to gain an adequate acquaintance with a variety from such sources. 

 It is hardly possible to describe the differences between closely 

 related varieties of such a plant as cotton so that they can be seen 

 at once without skill and practice in observation. Indeed, many 

 skillful breeders do not themselves know wliat the differences are 

 that they use in selection, and are inclined to imagine themselves 

 possessed of some special sense instead of a refinement of ordinary 

 eyesight. 



Even a photograph of a plant is of relatively little value as a guide 

 or standard in tlie selection of cotton, for the plants of the same vari- 

 ety differ greatly in different places and different seasons. The famil- 

 iarity that is needed for purposes of making selections has to be gained 

 in the field where the selection is to be carried on. Selection is a 

 matter of skill as well as of knowledge. The farmer must be willing 

 to give himself a little training in the field and not expect to become 

 fully qualified by anything he can read in a book. 



The more familiar with a variety one becomes the more evident it 

 wall be that every field is likely to be different and may require to be 

 judged by a different standard. The training of the eye so that it 

 can carry the necessary standard is the secret of the art of selection. 

 It is this that determines the farmer's ability to select his own cotton 

 to the best advantage. 



If the farmer doubts his own ability to acquire the necessary skill 

 or is unwilHng to take time to train himself, he may find that the 

 wife or the children can give him valuable assistance. Women are 

 often more expert than men in the matching of colors and quahties 

 of fabrics, and children often have more acute powers of perception. 

 European growers of seeds of high-grade varieties of flowers and vege- 

 tables claim that women and children are more skillful than men in 

 cases that require extremely fine discrimination. If the necessary 

 talents of good eyesight and keen discrimination should prove to be 

 rare, there would be the greater reason for calling attention to the 

 need of having them utilized by their fortunate possessors. 



ESTABLISHING A STANDARD OF SELECTION. 



One of the best methods of establishing or readjusting standards of 

 selection for a variety of cotton is to begin by a study of the behavior 

 of the best plants that can be found in the field. If there is doubt 

 about the kind of plant that ought to be considered as representing 

 the variety, it is well to look about for uniform groups of good plants. 

 To see several good plants standing together in a row gives a more 

 definite and useful im))rossion of a standard that can be used in that 

 particular field than can be secured l)y the study of scattered indi- 



[Cir. 6(i] 



