6 THE FIBERS OF LONG-STAPLE UPLAND COTTONS. 



of both of these varieties is remarkably free from this so-called longer 

 group of libers. In the case of the greatly improved Russell strain, 

 which has become distinctive enough in good lint characters and yield 

 to be designated as a new variety — the so-called Columbia cotton — 

 these longer fibers are evident to a remarkable degree. 



THE TRUE NATURE OF THE LONGER FIBERS. 



It has been more or less the rule with cotton breeders and cotton 

 growers acquainted with the requisites of desirable lint characters to 

 regard these extra-long fibers as an unfavora})le feature. In this light 

 they meant a variation toward nonuniformity. In the work of selec- 

 tion, to avoid as much as possible a perpetuation of this sort of varia- 

 tion, plants showing this character most markedly were regarded with 



suspicion and later even discarded, although 

 in other respects they were among the best in 

 the field. 



A careful examination leads to the conclusion 

 that these fibers should be regarded in a wholly 

 different light. They are not longer fibers as 

 they have heen generally considered., hut are 

 Fig. 1.— Single cotton fibers from caused hy inore oT less curling and interweaving^ 

 the so-called longer group of .^/^/(;.^ results hi the pulUng out of filers from 



adjacent seeds. 



In the ordinary manner of stretching the locks to determine the 

 drag, the fibers are slowly separated and drawn out, and at those points 

 of greatest binding, as shown in Plate I, C, «, h., and c, the groups of 

 longer fibers appear to rise. If, now, a single seed is selected and 

 detached from the rest and the entire group of fibers loosened from 

 its attachment to the seed 

 coat ii) the neighborhood of 

 the longer groups, one can 

 with fine forceps draw these 

 fibers out caref ull}' and com- 

 pare their length with those 

 of the rest of the seed. 



In many instances the sin- 

 gle fibers now readily Sepa- fig. 2.— a few extra-long cotton fibers, showing two 

 .1 . • J. libers united. 



rate, since the tension or 



pulling has ceased. Several of these single fibers are shown in figure 1. 

 In some instances fibers nearly- twice the normal length are drawn out. 

 Oftentimes with the naked e3"e the point of union or t3'ing may be 

 discerned by the tin}^ loose ends, as is shown in figure 2. In other 

 cases, however, this point of union is so intimate that onl}^ a high 

 microscopic power can make it evident. Figure 3 illustrates various 

 111-11 



