The Improvement op Cotton by Seed Selection. 



515 



The cliaracters of flowers are also sometimes useful in assisting 

 the farmer to detect undesirable plants or impure strains. Pure strains 

 of cotton have definite flower colours. The Egyptian flower ranges 

 from a lemon to a yellow colour, with rich crimson spots at the base 

 of the petals. The Upland flowers are white or creamy with no spots 

 at the base of the petals. If the colour and spots are not as described 

 above, then the strain is not considered pure. 



In some of the small-boiled types, like King, we sometimes find 

 the yellow flower with purple or pink spots at the base of the petal, 

 but these should not appear in the big-boiled Upland type. And yet 

 we very often find these characters in^^our big-boUed Upland types, 

 which shows that through the distribution of a great many varieties 

 of seed a good deal of crossing has taken place. It will be an easy 

 matter to discover such plants and discard them. 



Coilou Leaves taken fiom different varieties. 



(1) Egyptian ; (2) Improved Bancroft ; (3) Green-seeded Bancroft ; (4) Union ; 

 (5) King ; (6) Fima. Observe relau>ife sizes and shapes. 



How to Pick Selected Seed Cotton. — When about 25 to 30 per 

 cent, of the bolls are open, and just before picking commences, the 

 grower must go through his field, marking all the selected plants with 

 labels or tying a piece of white cloth, easily seen, to the tops of such 

 plants. These plants are then picked separately, and the seed saved 

 for the main crop. 



If any plants of outstanding merit are found, they are labelled 

 and numbered. The seed cotton from each plant is picked and kept in 

 a separate paper bag. The seeds from such plants are used for the 

 individual row tests. Only about half of the seed from each plant 

 is planted out in a separate row in order to compare it with the other 

 specially selected plants. By having these plants alongside of one 

 another a good comparison can be made as to the merits of each 

 individual plant. The seeds from these plants are not used again, 

 but should any row prove to be outstanding, the grower can fall back 



