COTTON FIBRE 35 



of abundance of long or short-stapled cotton varies considerably, as 

 well as the fineness and general silkiness of the fibre. While all this 

 has been abundantly established, investigators who have examined 

 cotton fibre hitherto have often ignored these factors and have far too 

 frequently dealt with trade samples, assuming thereby that Sea Island, 

 Egyptian, American Upland, Indian, Brazilian, &c., are terms that 

 can be accepted as invariably denoting instantly recognisable 

 staples. 



I much regret that the time at my disposal has not hitherto 

 allowed of my accomplishing more than a cursory examination 

 of the cotton staples of the world, on the botanical standards of 

 the species, varieties, and races. I have seen enough, however, 

 to satisfy me fully that, when cotton improvement is seriously 

 embraced as a professional branch of operations in the world's 

 supply of this commodity, selection will have to be made, in the 

 first instance at least, on the basis of specific standards. It accord- 

 ingly becomes imperative that a series of investigations, sufficiently 

 comprehensive, should be conducted in the future, with a view to 

 establishing what might be spoken of as the standard measurements 

 and physical characteristics of each recognisable botanical type. 

 From some such record variability could readily be detected and 

 selection made with a view to preserve the stock and ensure 

 progression rather than retrogression. 



Let me repeat once again, selection by no means should be Per ' 



centage of 

 governed by the presence on a seed of a percentage of long hairs, long hairs. 



but infinitely rather by the high average manifested. That is to 

 say, a seed that contained, say, 70 to 80 per cent, of hairs uniformly 

 one inch in length and the balance shorter, would be of greater 

 value than a seed which contained 15 to 20 per cent, of a staple 

 1^ inches long and the balance considerably less than 1 inch. 

 These are but theoretical figures intended to enforce uniformity 

 in length as a better criterion than extreme length. 



There could not be a greater folly than the deliberate mixing 

 of a good staple with a bad. So also the growing of mixed grades, 

 from this point of view, is highly reprehensible. 



Standard Measurements. Speaking in general terms, it may be 

 said the known cotton staples range from less than one quarter of 

 an inch in length (in some of the wild species) to fully two inches, 

 in the higher-grade Sea Island cottons. It would occupy much 

 space and time to review, however briefly, the information that 



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