50 The Bulletin. 



comments on variety tests of cotton. 



The varieties tested this year at the Edgecombe and Iredell farms 

 are arranged in Table IX in the order of their selling price of "total 

 products," when lint is selling at 11 cents per pound and seed at 30 

 cents per bushel. This order may not be the order of productivity 

 of seed cotton, as is shown in the tests this year at both the Edgecombe 

 and Iredell farms. For example, at the Edgecombe farm, although 

 Russell's Big Boll produced more seed cotton than Brown's No. 1 

 and Sugar Loaf, each ranked higher in value of total products. The 

 same was true of Cleveland's Big Boll, when compared with Brown's 

 No. 1 and Cook's Improved at the Iredell farm. 



The reason for some varieties with smaller yields of seed cotton 

 producing more lint and hence greater selling price per acre than 

 some others with a larger amount of seed cotton per acre, is due to 

 the former varieties producing a higher percentage of lint to seed. 



To eliminate inequalities in the land, if any, the different varieties 

 at ihe separate farms were planted each in separate rows, arranged 

 consecutively, and this plan repeated a sufficient number of times to 

 give the designated acreage. It is absolutely essential, in order to 

 eliminate soil and weather conditions as much as possible, to continue 

 work of this kind for some years on different types of soils before 

 attempting to draw definite conclusions. 



The yields for this year are presented in Table IX, while the aver- 

 age rank in value of total products of the several varieties tested dur- 

 ing the past seven years is shown in Table X. Taking the whole 

 variety test at the Edgecombe farm, the stand was very irregular and 

 poor. The late, cold spring was largely the cause of this defect in 

 stand. It should not be overlooked, however, that all the varieties 

 were planted in the same way, on the same day, on uniform land, and 

 given the same fertilization and cultural treatment, hence the re- 

 sults are valuable as showing the ability of certain varieties to with- 

 stand adverse seasonal conditions and produce paying yields, which is 

 a matter of considerable importance. At the Iredell farm the stand 

 of the different varieties was considerably better than at the Edge- 

 combe, but the yields at both farms were comparatively small, as an 

 unusually early frost in the fall cut off the crop from one-third to one- 

 half. Two pickings were made of the varieties this year at both the 

 Edgecombe and Iredell farms. Of the varieties that have been tested 

 continuously at 'the different farms since the inauguration of variety 

 testing at them, as seen by Table X, Russell's Big Boll and Culpep- 

 per's Improved, as an average of eight years' tests, have ranked as the 

 best varieties at the Edgecombe farm ; Culpepper's Improved, Excel- 

 sior Prolific, King's Improved and Russell's Big Boll were best at 

 Red Springs as an average ©f five years' tests ; while King's Improved, 

 King's Improved Native and Edgeworth were highest at the Iredell 

 farm as an average of five years' testing. 



