and serve to formulate methods of procedure that can be 

 followed by other plant breeders. In breeding cotton, more 

 Work has been bestowed on the Cook variety than on any 

 other. However, much attention has been paid to the 

 crossing of a number of varieties. The object, both in im- 

 proving" the Cook variety and in endeavoring to originate 

 new varieties by hybridization, has been chiefly to evolve 

 a variety better suited to boll weevil conditions than are any 

 of the varieties now generally grow^n. 



In the strains of Cook, which have been carefully bred 

 up for four years, much improvement is noticeable in the 

 form and productiveness of the plant and in certain strains 

 progress has also been made in uniting earliness, fair size 

 of boll, and in some strains increased length of lint, with 

 the productiveness which has been sought in all work with 

 this variety. 



During the past year the systematic breeding of the 

 Poulnot variety was undertaken with the hope of engraft- 

 ing earliness on this variety, which is otherwise quite 

 promising. 



The special susceptibility of Cook cotton to the attack of 

 boll rot has been an obstacle to its improvement. Begin- 

 ning in 1910 a new metnod of handling the crop has been 

 started and selections made with special reference to breed- 

 ing a strain more nearly resistant than ordinary Cook to 

 this serious disease. Elaborate records have also been 

 made relative to the amount of boll rot on all of the differ- 

 ent varieties of cotton grown on the Station farm. 



The varieties of corn with which breeding work has been 

 in progress for several years are Experiment Station Yel- 

 low, Henry Grady, and Mosby. 



With oats the bulk of the breeding" work has been done 

 with the Red Rust Proof variety, though other varieties 

 and various hybrids of our own making have received at- 

 tention. 



Except for Experiment Station Yellow corn, the im- 

 provement of w'hich has now gone far enough to permit of 

 its distribution to a limited number of farmers who will 

 agree to grow it in careful tests in comparison with other 

 kinds, the work of improvement will have to proceed for at 

 least another year before it will be advisable to enter on 

 any general distribution of seed. 



In addition to plant breeding, some of the most impor- 

 tant lines of experiments in progress during the year 1910 



