310 SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



inherited the good quality of their parent plant, this fact 

 creating the presumption that they also are prepotent, 

 or able to transmit their good qualities to the next genera- 

 tion. 



Details of the plant-to-row method of cotton breeding. In the 

 best field of the desired variety select each year 100 plants, or as 

 many as can well be separately ginned and planted. Place a 

 tag bearing a number on each selected plant before picking. On 

 a large, strong, paper bag write a similar number. Whenever a 

 picking is made place the seed cotton from Plant No. 1 in Bag 

 No. 1, and so on for each selected plant. After weighing the seed 

 cotton from each plant, reject those that are far below the average 

 productiveness. For accurate work it is desirable to gin the seed 

 cotton of each plant separately, which is best done in a specially 

 constructed very small gin. 



If ginning is not practicable, selection must be made among the 

 picked plants merely on the basis of the weight of seed cotton ; 

 in this case the unginned cotton may be planted in hills at uni- 

 form distances apart, a lock or half a lock in a hill. When 

 thus planted extreme care must be taken to pack the moist soil 

 over each piece of seed cotton, otherwise the stand will be 

 poor. 



In the fall, first select the best plants on what seem to be the 

 best rows, and then weigh the remainder of the crop on each row 

 separately, so as to determine which rows are really the best, as 

 shown by the total yields. 



The second year, plant on very uniform land a similar planth 

 to-row patch, usually containing 20 to 100 rows, each planted with 

 the seed of one of the best plants from the few best rows of the 

 year before. Make all rows of uniform width and plant the field 

 in checks, so that every plant may have exactly the same amount 

 of space. The breeding-patch should always be on uniform land 

 and removed as far as possible from any other kind of cotton, so 

 as to avoid cross-fertilization. 



The following diagram (Fig. 144) shows the steps from year to 

 year : 



