FIBER CROPS 



185 



233. Harvesting. The most expensive and tedious part of 

 the production of cotton is the harvesting, which has to be done 

 by hand (Fig. 90). Picking machines of moderate efficiency 

 have been invented, but they are too expensive to be within the 

 reach of the average cotton grower. Picking cotton is an im- 

 portant problem in the economic development of the South. 

 If machinery could be used for thinning cotton to the proper 



FIG. 90. The usual method of harvesting cotton 



A fortune awaits the person who supplies a machine which will pick cotton efficiently 

 and economically 



stand and a machine were available for picking the crop, cotton 

 production would immediately be revolutionized. 



234. Increasing the yield by seed selection. The work that 

 has been done in improving strains of cotton or in adapting them 

 to special conditions indicates that the plant yields readily to 

 intelligent selection and breeding. The average farmer cannot 

 go into systematic breeding ; that must be left to the specialist, 

 but most farmers should practice field selection of seed. Atten- 

 tion to this matter will return a good profit. The best time to 

 select plants from which to obtain seed is during the second 



