62 The Bulletin. 



of its production of a larger amount of lint and higher selling price of 

 total products (lint and seed). It should be remembered that lint sells 

 for from eight to fifteen times as' much per pound as seed. 



Other things being equal, preference should be given to the larger- 

 boiled varieties, with a larger number of locks per boll, as they are much 

 easier picked, and hence are most popular with pickers. 



A few hours spent in the fall in selecting and gathering separately 

 the seed cotton from stalks that have a large number of bolls well dis- 

 tributed over the stalks and with other desirable characteristics, will pay 

 as well or better than any other form of farm work. The seed cotton 

 thus gathered should be ginned separately and the seed carefully saved in 

 some secure place for the next year's planting. Every one who has been 

 through a cotton field in the fall has surely noticed the great difference 

 in the same field, in the form, shape and number of bolls on different 

 stalks, as well as in the characteristics of the stalks themselves. Now, 

 remembering that the law of heredity is as strong and constant in plants 

 as in animals will help to emphasize the great importance of selecting 

 seed of the short-staple cotton only from those stalks that bear the largest 

 amount of lint cotton per stalk. Of course, this latter statement does 

 not apply to long-staple cottons in comparison with the short-staple ones, 

 for a long-staple cotton may produce less lint per acre than a short-staple 

 one, yet this smaller number of pounds may sell for more on the market, 

 on account of its higher selling price per pound. 



BUYING COTTON SEED. 



Seed of cotton, as well as all othej- crops, should be purchased only 

 from the most reliable sources, for frequently seeds advertised in extrava- 

 gant superlatives are inferior. It is not always the cheapest seed that 

 are secured for the smallest outlay; nor, on the other hand, are all ex- 

 pensive seed of superior quality ; so the only safe plan to follow is to buy 

 from the most reliable parties. It might be said, however, that if seed 

 are properly selected they will have to bring a good price to compensate 

 the seedsman or grower for his extra care and expense. The seed should 

 possess strong vitality, for seed of low vitality produce a poor stand of 

 stunted plants that do not produce as large yields as good seed when 

 grown under identical conditions of soil, fertilization and cultivation. 

 It will be remembered, however, that stunted cotton will give larger pro- 

 portional yields than will corn. It is common to see cotton only a few 

 inches high bearing one, two or more small bolls per stalk, while corn 

 that only reaches three or four or five feet high will frequently produce 

 not much more than a spindling stalk, small shuck and cob. 



SOUECES OF VARIETIES OF COTTON TESTED. 



The seed used in the variety tests of cotton at the Edgecombe and 

 Iredell farms this year were received from the following sources : 



Alexander Moneymaker Alexander Seed Co., Augusta, Ga. 



Bighorn's Improved J- N. Bigham, Charlotte. N. C. 



Brnswell's Cluster J. R- Pitt, Rocky Mount, N. C. 



Brown's No. 1 M. L. Brown, Decatur, Ga. 



Carolina Excelsior Seed Farm, Cheraw, S. C. 



