COTTON SELECTION ON THE FARM. 17 



that are not to be used for seed can have the top of the stalk broken 

 down, to indicate that they are not to be picked until after the others. 

 The final selection and picking of the seed ought not to be deferred 

 too long. If the work be put off till all the plants have ripened their 

 crop, it becomes impossible to toll which are the early individuals 

 that ought to be specially favored in selection. The last picking of 

 seed, even from good plants, is often inferior, for many of the later 

 bolls are likely to open prematurely as a result of drought or of frost. 

 It is well, therefore, to have the seed plat large enough to supply the 

 desired quantity of seed without waiting for the last joicking, and 

 to allow this to be thrown in with the general crop. 



RAISING SELECTED SEED FOR SALE. 



Farmers who acquire the necessary skill in selection and are conse- 

 quently able to raise a uniform crop will often secure an additional 

 advantage by selling seed to their neighbors. Many intelligent 

 farmers who wish to obtain an improved variety of cotton will prefer 

 to buy seed enough to plant a large field or to stock the whole farm 

 at once and thus save themselves the extra trouble and loss of time 

 required in beginning with a peck or a bushel. The same pains, or 

 even greater, have to be taken to keep a small quantity of cotton 

 from becoming mixed, either in the fields or at the gin, than for a 

 large quantity. To bring a large quantity of a new and untried 

 variety from a distance might be quite unwise and is a very different 

 matter from adopting a variety that is behaving in a uniform manner 

 in the same locality. 



Local communities will profit in several ways by the presence of 

 careful growers of selected seed. The seed that has been raised and 

 selected in the same community is likely to give better results than 

 any stock of the same variety that could be brought in from distant 

 localities. Farmers who expect to sell their seed in their own com- 

 munity are likely to be much more careful to maintain the uniformity 

 of the stock than those who expect to ship their seed to nonresident 

 seed dealers. 



A variety that can be obtained in quantity from a local grower is 

 also more likely to be adopted by a whole community, which is another 

 distinct advantage. The product of the community as a whole be- 

 comes more uniform and secures a better standing in the market. 

 With one variety grown and carefully selected by a whole community, 

 the difficulties of protecting the cotton from admixture at the gin or 

 from cross-fertilization 'by bees in the field are greatly diminished. 



The farmer who has learned how to maintain uniformity in his 

 seed plat effectively has only to extend his method over his whole 

 farm if he wishes to produce high-grade seed. No matter how 



[Cir. 66] 



