COTTON SELECTION ON THE FARM. 13 



found in the hairs of the leaves or those of the leaf stems and the 

 branches. A difference in the habit of growth or in the length of the 

 joints is very likely to be accompanied by a difference in the amount 

 of hairiness. 



A study of the characters of small-boiled and other inferior plants 

 that are very common in unselected cotton fields will aid the farmer 

 in training himself to recognize some degenerate plants in their 

 younger stages. When the necessary skill has been acquired it is 

 almost as easy to see and pull out the inferior plants as it would be 

 to give this treatment to the same number of weeds that might have 

 sprung up in the row. In the great majority of cases it is not nec- 

 essary to get close to the plant or give it any very detailed examina- 

 tion. Indeed, it is often better to stand at a little distance, so as to 

 gain a general impression of a plant in comparison with its neighbors, 

 than to begin with a closer and more detailed inspection. The gen- 

 eral view of a plant as a whole often gives a more vivid impression 

 of the fact that it is different from its neighbors than can be gained 

 by more detailed comparisons of the different parts. The general 

 view sums up, as it were, the more detailed differences of leaves, 

 stems, and branches and the effects that such differences have in 

 altering the apjiearance of the plant. 



The habits of branching have a very direct relation to the earliness 

 of the crop. Earhness becomes an especially important factor under 

 boll-weevil conditions and should always be taken into account in 

 selection. The main stalk of the cotton plant puts out two different 

 kinds of branches. From the base of the stalk come the vegetative 

 branches, or "wood-limbs," and above these the true fruiting branches 

 that bear the bolls. The vegetative branches do not bear any bolls 

 of their own, but put forth fruiting branches Uke those of the main 

 stem, though shorter and of later development. Plants that grow 

 too rank and produce too many of the vegetative branches can not 

 begin to put on their crop as soon as smaller plants that produce 

 fruiting branches closer to the ground. Small plants often ripen 

 more bolls than their larger neighbors, especially under boll-weevil 

 conditions. Even for cultural reasons it would be good policy to pull 

 out any unusually tall, rank-growing plants that do not begin to bear 

 early in the season, if only to give better conditions for neigh- 

 boring plants that have begun to set their crop. 



SELECTION BY BOLL CHARACTERS. 



If the farmer is engaged in the selection of a big-boll variety of 

 upland cotton, such as the Triumph, most of the degenerate plants 

 are ver}^ easy to recognize, because the}' have small bolls. This fact 

 becomes most apparent in unselected fields about the iiiiddle of the 

 season, soon after the earlier bolls have reached full size, but before 



[Cir. 66] 



