THE TEXTILE PLANTS 55 



productivity, resistance to disease, and other 

 qualities. 



This variation is quite as notable among cotton 

 plants even of the most fixed varieties, as among 

 most other cultivated plants. 



The practical method employed by the most 

 intelligent cotton raisers is to send trusted em- 

 ployees through the fields to select the plants the 

 product of which is to be saved for seed. The 

 seed cotton thus obtained is ginned separately, 

 and the owner who has taken this trouble is sure 

 to be repaid by the improved average quality of 

 his crop the ensuing season. 



The United States Bureau of Industry has 

 published details as to a method of selective 

 breeding that has been practiced for several 

 years by some growers of Sea Island cotton, 

 through which the staple has been increased from 

 1.75 to 2.5 inches in length. The method re- 

 quires four years of selection to secure enough 

 seed for general planting. 



The first year five or more plants are selected 

 as the best in the field. It is urged that it is 

 important to take the seed of at least five plants, 

 not merely of one, because an individual plant of 

 fine appearance may fail to transmit its charac- 

 teristics. Yet my own experience with a wide 

 range of plants would lead me to have much 



