186 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



Texas. The few plants did well and others w^ere encouraged to try. 

 In 1909 the first commercial planting of about 1,500 acres produced 

 well, and in 1910 the acreage was increased to 15,000 acres. In 1913 

 the acreage above and below the JMexican line amounted to some 

 23,000 acres and the yield to 21,000 bales, or nearly an average of a 

 bale to the acre, with a total value of about $1,250,000. The present 

 planting will about double that, making the output of California in the 

 neighborhood of $2,500,000. Eight four-stand gins are now in opera- 

 tion and are taxed to the limit. A large cottonseed oil mill is located in 

 El Centro which handles | of the cotton seed grown in the valley. 



The future possibilities of cotton outside of the Colorado River 

 region, where the industry has come to stay and bids fair to be the 

 most important crop, depend upon two factors, the physical and the 

 economic conditions. In the first place, the climate of many parts 

 of California is not suited to the cotton plant. The entire coast region 

 is too cool and foggy for successful growth and fruiting. The tempera- 

 ture should range from 60 to 100 degrees during six months of the 

 year, and the locality to be suitable for cotton culture should be free 

 from the damp fogs and cool trade winds. This limits the geographical 

 range for cotton to the Colorado River region, the San Joaquin and 

 ►Sacramento valleys — with the exception of parts along the low lands 

 of the Sacramento and near the junction of the two rivers, where the 

 cool trade winds and damp fogs are present, and to parts of River- 

 side, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. The growth of Egyptian 

 (totton is restricted, however, to the Colorado River region, and the 

 lower parts of the San Joaquin. 



Although cotton will grow well with a comparatively small supply 

 of water, irrigation would be essential in most parts of the State. This 

 fact, of course, limits the area in which cotton can be successfully 

 grown to those parts of the State where irrigation water is obtainable. 



SOILS FOR COTTON. 



Cotton needs a fairly good, deep soil, and will not do well on land 

 where harclpan is close to the surface. Although cotton will stand more 

 alkali than any other field crop, it should not be attempted on bad 

 alkali land. Land containing a small amount of alkali, even enough 

 to injure barley or wheat, will often grow cotton, although the quality, 

 and especially the strength of the cotton, is affected detrimentally. 

 This was well illustrated in the early experience in California when 

 cotton was planted on land too heavily impregnated with alkali to 

 grow barley, and has proved to be true in Imperial Valley, where 

 successful cotton planting occurs on land when barley and milo fail. 

 Cotton is used as a reclamation crop in Egypt, growing successfully 

 on land where drainage operations are under way to wash out the 

 excess salts. This quality of the cotton plant to resist alkali may 

 prove of value in certain sections, although it should certainly be urged 

 that no commercial plantings l)e tried until experiments have shown 

 that the cotton will grow on the land in question. 



So far, then, as the physical conditions in this State are concerned, 

 cotton can be successfully grown in those parts of the State free from 

 the cool trade winds and damp fogs, where the growing season is long, 



