OTHER FARM CROPS 557 



HOW TO BECOME ACQUAINTED WITH A VARIETY. 



Many farmers who have become quite skillful in detecting dif- 

 ferences in the lint and seed characters of cotton pay very little at- 

 tention to the plants themselves. They are in the condition of the 

 general public that recognizes differences between fruits of different 

 varieties of apples, but lacks the skill of the apple grower who sees 

 even more differences between the various kinds of trees than be- 

 tween the apples they produce. Doubtless there are many people who 

 can not learn to appreciate such differences, but most of those who 

 are willing to use a little time in training their eyes are surprised to 

 find that they can readily distinguish differences that they have pre- 

 viously overlooked entirely. The different kinds of cotton plants will 

 cease to look all alike and stand out as distinctly as different breeds 

 of poultry or other domestic animals. The differences of color that 

 often help to distinguish breeds of chickens are lacking, of course, 

 in the cotton, but it would not require a very skillful fancier to tell 

 a white cochin from a white leghorn or a white plymouth rock. 



The technical terms and elaborate measurements that are often 

 used in the scientific study of variations are calculated to give the 

 idea that it is a difficult matter to recognize the variations of plants 

 in the field. In reality it is not so difficult as to recognize differences 

 between individuals of the same variety of sheep or poultry, and this 

 most farmers do. The making of scientific descriptions and meas- 

 urements of variations is an entirely different problem from that of 

 recognizing them in the field. 



It is customary for breeders and seed growers to publish descrip- 

 tions and pictures of their varieties, but the farmer should not expect 

 to gain an adequate acquaintance with a variety from such sources. 

 It is hardly possible to describe the differences between closely re- 

 lated varieties of such a plant as cotton so that they can be seen at 

 once without skill and practice in observation. Indeed, many skill- 

 ful breeders do not themselves know what the differences are that 

 they use in selection, and are inclined to imagine themselves pos- 

 sessed of some special sense instead of a refinement of ordinary eye- 

 sight. 



Even a photograph of a plant is of relatively little value as a 

 guide or standard in the selection of cotton, for the plants of the same 

 variety differ greatly in different places and different seasons. The 

 familiarity that is needed for purposes of making selections has to be 

 gained in the field where the selection is to be carried on. Selection 

 is a matter of skill as well as of knowledge. The farmer must be 

 willing to give himself a little training in the field and not expect to 

 become fully qualified by anything he can read in a book. 



The more familiar with a variety one becomes the more evident 

 it will be that every field is likely to be different and may require to 

 be judged by a different standard. The training of the eye so that 

 it can carry the necessary standard is the secret of the art of selection. 

 It is this that determines the farmer's ability to select his own cotton 

 to the best advantage. 



