[Cir. 130— A] 



COTTON PROBLEMS IN LOUISIANA/ 



By O. F. Cook, BiOnomist in Charge of Crop Acclimatisation and Adaptation 



Investigations. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Louisiana must be considered as a State adapted to raising long- 

 staple cotton. Short staples can also be grown, but there are special 

 conditions that favor the production of long staples. The planting 

 of early-maturing short-staple cottons in Louisiana was advised in 

 the first years of the boll-weevil invasion as a means of avoiding 

 acute distress from complete loss of crops, but this was because of 

 the late-maturing habits of the long-staple varieties, which rendered 

 them very suscejDtible to weevil injury. Earlier long-staple varieties 

 are now available, and it is believed that these offer the best prospect 

 of maintaining a permanent cotton industry in Louisiana. 



TVliether long-staple cotton can take the place of sugar cane on any 

 of the Louisiana lands and how far such a substitution may be 

 expected to go are questions of present interest, but even outside the 

 sugar districts it is important to have more definite knowledge of the 

 possibilities of improvement. The presence of the boll weevil intro- 

 duces a new element of uncertainty^ and requires many readjustments 

 that are not yet complete. New varieties and improved cultural 

 methods have been developed in recent years by the Department of 

 Agriculture and are likely to be useful in Louisiana, but they have 

 still to be tested and adapted to the local conditions. There are 

 problems of other kinds that remain to be solved. The selling of 

 the cotton must be considered, as well as the raising of it. The sub- 

 stitution of short fiber is now a more serious menace to the long- 

 staple industry than the boll weevil. 



Some of the factors that affect the cotton industry are of a general 

 nature and some are peculiar to Louisiana and adjacent districts. 

 To meet special conditions special measures may be required, and 

 some of these needs are already apparent. Thus, the need of com- 

 munity action is especially great in the Louisiana cotton industry, 

 for reasons that are easy to see when the local conditions are con- 



1 Issued June 21, 1913. 

 [Cir. 130] 3 



