FIBER CROPS 333 



Cook, Commander, Moon, Peeler, Southern Hope, and Sunflower. 1 

 This Bureau distributed in 1903 the following varieties for 

 planting: short staple upland cotton; Parker, Jones Improved, 

 Excelsior and King: long staple upland cotton; Allen Improved 

 and Griffin : sea island ; Seabrook and Rivers. 2 The last va- 

 riety is considered resistant to the wilt disease. 



424. Desirable Variety Characters. The quantity and quality 

 of lint produced are the chief considerations in the raising of 

 cotton, yet with the present demand for the seed the yield of seed 

 cannot be ignored. The qualities to be sought in cotton, there- 

 fore, are yield of seed and of lint ; length, fineness, and strength 

 of staple as well as uniformity of length, the latter being an im- 

 portant commercial quality ; time of maturity ; and resistance 

 to diseases and to storms. (428) While certain character- 

 istics of the plant described below influence yield, the inherent 

 quality of productiveness as determined by weight of product 

 on a given area is of the first importance in making selections. 



The yield of lint depends on the percentage of lint to seed 

 cotton and the weight of seed cotton. Small seed is usually an 

 indication of high percentage of lint. The size of seed as a 

 variety characteristic does not seem to be related to the yield 

 of seed cotton, but the Alabama Station found that large seed 

 produced a heavier yield of seed cotton than small seed of the 

 same variety. 



The weight of seed cotton seems to be dependent, in general, 

 upon the size of the bolls, the number of bolls per plant, and the 

 number of plants per acre. In proportion to size, short jointed 

 plants will produce more bolls than long jointed ones. In gen- 

 eral, the total weight of seed cotton varies more according to 

 variety and environment than does the percentage of lint, hence 

 as a rule the amount of seed cotton rather than the percentage 

 of lint is the more important character; although, of course, of 



ilbid., p. 126. 



2 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. PI. Ind. Bui. No. 25, p. 47. 



