Sl'KKMATOCJKN'ESIB 



GOSSYPIUM 



IMPROVEMENT 

 OF STOCK 



Selection. 



ml.- that the character and habit of the future plant will be more like those of 



ili- parent, while the fruit, the boll and its content*, will be more like 



in- male parent." So again, " The tendency of the plant to vary from 



tlu typical mnii of any variety will be back towards iU original form rather 



i in any other direction." From these and such-like consideration* M doubt- 



less due the affirmation that, from one or two plants specially cultivated and as 



urn nt" can-fill selection of sports, it might be possible to produce all 



t h" chief t ypos of cultivated cottons. Hence it may be said that with few other 



cultivated plants is a more rigid selection of seed necessary than with cotton. 



over, there seems little doubt but that historically it can be shown that 

 . i,i i -a in in. .. in.-. iViiiiiiiii. .'. itifoimm and <>. barhatifHUf, as known to 

 us to-day, are themselves to a large extent hybrid stocks. It does not follow, 

 however, that all hybrids may be fertile, still less that they can be invariably 

 Hpiin further hybridised with fresh ancestral influences, according to the fancy 

 operator. To the neglect of this consideration may be due much of past 

 failure in hybridisation. 



One of the most valuable and interesting papers on this subject is that 

 writ ton by Austin Cannon, entitled Spermatogenena of Hybrid Cotton (in 

 Hull. Torrey Bot. Club, 1903, xxx., 133-72.) The cotton hybrid experi- 

 m.'ntodon was produced (so we are told) between Sea Island Cotton (Con- 

 .stolliition brand) and Upland Cotton (Klondike brand) (J. bnrtMiitm** x 

 a. hrrimrnini and the hybrids were found fertile. It is, however, just possible 

 that the plant spoken of as . itrrbneenm should have been called o. hi runt H in 

 or G. in*-., iriiiiniii, for until about 1896 Uplands were by American authors 

 mostly spoken of under the botanical name that more properly belongs to the 

 Mediterranean stock. All fuzzy-seeded cottons were often, in fact, regarded as 

 one and the same species. It follows that to secure uniformity and precision 

 in the laboratory and in the experimental farm, the foremost consideration must 

 be the ascertainment of the species botanically that it is intended to investigate. 

 Until such knowledge has been obtained it would be preferable to adopt some 

 arbitrary nomenclature such as a numerical system, e.g. the " K2 " of geographers, 

 rather than to employ a misleading jargon of botanical names. 



As a historic fact in Indian hybridisation it may be mentioned that in 1844 Indian Hybrids. 

 Mr. Alex. Burns of Broach crossed ft- o5fn**/f<iin. unr. iiii/iitinnn. with o. - 

 b i vii MI. He obtained a plant that had all the good points of both parents. 

 The leaves were those of nrboremn, only larger and more hairy, and the flowers 

 were red with a yellow ring in the throat. This interesting new form, an un- 

 doubted hybrid, yielded its crop within a period of two months, much as in Broach 

 deshi, and the floss was very silky. The Bombay Chamber of Commerce expressed 

 the opinion that the cross was an exceedingly valuable one. No further informa- 

 tion was, however, published regarding it, and the plant seems to have died out. 

 The circumstance is mentioned to show that crosses are possible. 



Under the orders of the Government of India much has been recently done Improvement of 

 to discover the soils suited for cotton generally, and many valuable experiments S^S 611008 

 have been conducted with exotic forms. What would appear the foremost con- 

 sideration has, however, until very recently been almost entirely neglected, namely 

 the attempt to improve the indigenous or long acclimatised stocks. Royle, for 

 example, repudiated with some warmth the opinion attributed to him, that 

 the greatest attention should be given to the cotton of the country (Cult, and 

 Comm. of Cotton in India, 1851, 544-5). For a good few years past I have 

 uniformly urged, and I repeat that recommendation, namely, to make real 

 progress it is imperative that an exhaustive and scientific investigation should 

 be conducted a sort of census taken of the existing stocks, not only of India 

 but of the world. The climatic and other causes which tend to preserve or destroy 

 good or bad properties have to be thoroughly established. The influences of 

 hybridisation have to be worked out on a scientific basis by testing the strength 

 of strain, from this species or that, best suited to environment, the tendencies 

 of cultivated forms recognised and systematic renewal of stock in each locality 

 accepted as a solemn obligation. 



A few years ago I drew attention to the establishment of steam ginning Effect of Steam 

 factories, all over India, as having created a new danger, namely degrading 

 equalisation of stock. Nowadays the cultivators over a wide area carry the produce 

 of their fields to these factories : all are mixed together, and seed returned to the 

 cult ivators that in many coses may be utterly unsuited to the fields on which it 

 has to be grown. The specialisation of centuries of natural selection is thus being 



593 38 



