456 



Clarke County, Ala. — Not nearly so prolific as our common native 

 cotton. 



Calhoun County, Al<i. — A failure here. Bolls small and few in number. 

 Too late. 



Lafayette County, Arh — The Egyptian cotton i>royes hardy, thrifty, 

 bolls well, resists drought, escapes the worms, and yields an abundani 

 staple, fine, long, and silky. 



Bastrop, La. — Opiuious differ in regard to the Tumel mold or Egyp- 

 tian cotton. It has not been fairly tested yet, and will be tried again 

 next year. Some of the seed was planted too late. The weed or stalk 

 grows large before it commences to make, but it makes rapidly, and 

 grows and makes in the dryest season, when other cotton ceases to grow 

 and sheds its bolls. It is also the last to be attacked by the cotton- 

 worm, and the caterpillar did not touch it this year for two weeks after 

 it had riddled the cotton fields. 1 have seen a small patch which will 

 yield at the rate of 1^ bales to the acre. If planted early it mast make 

 a fine crop. It requires a long season for fall maturity, however. There 

 is a stalk of this cotton near here 14 feet high and 22 feet across from 

 tip to tip of limb. Tliis variety would probably succeed better in the 

 more southern part of the State, where the season is longer. As a cot- 

 ton for hand-spinning it has no equal that we have ever known. It re- 

 quires no preparation ; the spinning goes on without the breaking of a 

 thread, even upon the old-time spinning-wheel. 



Rapides Parish, La. — The Egyptian cotton-seed, from the one trial, 

 seems to possess no real value. The growth was luxuriant, the leaves a 

 dark, rich green, the flowers yellow or a rich straw-color, but the forms 

 and bolls are too far apart, averaging 6 to 10 inches, whereas on Boyd, 

 Prolific, and Dixson, they are usually two to four inches, with the top 

 branches short, and hence less likely to break under the weight of bolls 

 during a storm. 



THE CHINESE COTTON. 



Laconia, Harrison County, Ind. — The quart of the China cotton-seed 

 received was divided with two neighbors, for the purpose of testing its 

 adaptability to difierent kinds of soil. My own portion was planted 

 May 13, on upland, dry soil, at an elevation of about 150 feet above the 

 Ohio liiver, and about one-fourth of a mile from it; elevation above the 

 sea, 500 feet ; soil, a clay loam, v.ith limestone formation. Only about 

 half the seed germinated, and scarcely a single stalk came to maturity. 

 The season was long enough, and the failure seemed to be due entirely 

 to local causes. I shall repeat the experiment. A neighbor was more 

 successful. His location and soil are similar to mine, though the soil 

 in the spring was not quite so dry. His crop matured fully. Stalks, 

 blossoms, and bolls very small. The yield per acre not one-half that of 

 ordinary Tennessee cotton. The fiber is short and rather inferior. He 

 has had experience in raising cottoh in Tennessee, and he is of opinion 

 that this variety could not be made j^rofitable, unless the yield should 

 be much better than given in this trial. 



OATS. 



Essex County, N. Y. — From one pound six ounces of Schonen oats, 

 received from the Department, I have raised 7f measured bushels on 12 

 square rods of ground. The land is river bottom, manured, and culti- 

 vated last year in corn. Iso fertilizer this year. Land prepared for 

 wheat in the spring. The ground was raked off with a hand-rake and 



