Cir. 123— ("] 



EGYPTIAN COTTON CULTURE IN THE SOUTHWEST/ 



By Carl S. Scofield, Agriculturist in Charcje of Western Irrigation Agriculture. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Since 1902 the Bureau of Plant Industry has been experimenting 

 with Egyptian cotton in the irrigated sections of the Southwest. At 

 the close of the season of 1911 these experiments had reached a stage 

 which seemed to justify the trial of this crop on a small scale by 

 farmers in the Salt River Valley in Arizona and in Imperial County, 

 Cal. 



In the spring of 1912 a supply of seed was distributed by the De- 

 partment of Agriculture for planting by a number of farmers. Most 

 of the seed so distributed was of the Yuma variety, a new tj^pe 

 developed in Arizona as a result of careful selection which had been 

 carried on for several seasons. The investigations and experiments 

 made in connection with the breeding and acclimatization have been 

 reported in numerous })ublications of the Bureau of Plant Industry. 

 The seed distributed in 1912 was entirely free fi'om contamination 

 with the degenerate type known as Hindi cotton, which infests 

 practically all of the cotton grown in Egypt. This seed was dis- 

 tributed to about 75 farmers, and about 530 acres were planted in the 

 spring of 1912. The location of these farmers and the acreage in 

 each locality were as follows: In the Salt River Valley, 32 farmers 

 planted 303 acres, besides 29.5 acres planted on the Indian reserva- 

 tions; in the Colorado River Valley north of Yuma, Ariz, (\dcinity of 

 Bard, Cal.), 19 farmers planted 44 acres; in the Imperial Valley, Cal., 

 25 farmers planted 122 acres. In addition to this acreage in the 

 Imperial A^alley, there were 20 boys who planted one-half acre each 

 under the direction of Mr. Walter E. Packard, of the California 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, cooperating with the Bvu'eau of 

 Plant Industry, Near Hecliicera, ^lexico, south of the Imperial 

 Valley, there was one field of 30 acres. 



1 Issued Apr. 26, 1913. 



The work of the Bureau of Plant Industry in connection with establishing the Egyptian cotton industry 

 in the Southwest is conducted under the direction of a committee composed of Messrs. C. S. Scofield, C. J. 

 Brand, O. F. Cook, T. H. Kearney, and W. T. Swingle. 



[Cir. 123] 21 



