BEHAVIOR or SEED COTTON IN FARM STORAGE. 19 



When our observations began, bulbs were planted in almost every 

 part of the pile, which was at no point more than 4 feet deep, and 

 temperatures were found ranging from 69° to 111°, with the room 

 temperature at 65° F. A sample was drawn from the immediate 

 vicinity of the bulb registering 111° F. and was thereafter kept in a 

 small sack in a dry place until the seeds were picked from it by hand 

 for the germmation test. Two tests of this seed showed a germma- 

 tion of 13 and 5 per cent, respectively. 



On October 7 the Southern Cotton Oil Co.'s mill at Bennettsville 

 was shoveling over a pile of about 100 tons of seed the previous 

 history of which is unknown, but it was a little above blood heat in 

 several spots at the tmie. This seed was rebulked in the seed house, 

 and two bulbs were planted in the mass as it was moved and then 

 covered with some 10 tons of seed. The fii'st record of temperature 

 made on October 9 showed 87.25° and 82.5° F. for the two bulbs. 

 On October 11 the readings were 89° and 86.5°, respectively; on 

 October 21, 127° and 133° F. 



The manager of the oil mill considered the seed in a dangerous 

 condition at this heat and immediately began its manufacture. More 

 frequent observations were not made, because the oil mill was lo- 

 cated at a considerable distance from the storage house, which made 

 daily records at both places impracticable. On October 21a sample 

 of seed was drawn from the portion of the pile registermg 133° F. 

 Two tests have been made without germinating a single seed from 

 this lot. 



The most important results of these tests are those developed from 

 sample 2. Tliis cotton had not apparently been injured in any way 

 by the heating to which it had been subjected; it had not been wet 

 when picked or when stored. It contamed, of course, a larger pro- 

 portion of freshly opened bolls and a smaller proportion of thoroughly 

 dried-out bolls than the cotton which was picked a week later. Its 

 behavior was entirely different, and though it was closely watched 

 and an unusual amount of labor expended in frequently forking it 

 over and stirring it about, yet the planting value of its seed was 

 practically destroyed at certam points in the mass within the first 10 

 days of storage. Our tests of freshly picked samples of this same 

 cotton showed from 43 to 64 per cent of germination. Whether a 

 cotton of stronger germinating power would have withstood the same 

 degree of heating in storage with less damage is an open question. 



The practical point to be observed is that cotton from which 

 planting seed is to be saved must be so thoroughly dried out before 

 bulking or must be spread out in such thin layers as to prevent any 

 noticeable development of heat if the germination of the seed is 

 not to be affected. These observations have not covered a suffi- 



tCir. 123] 



