BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTllY. 163 



is not only as early as most of the short-staple varieties, but yields 

 well and produces a fiber that is received on the markets on a par with 

 Sea Island cotton; in fact, many bales of Meade have commanded 

 a premium over Sea Island. The supply of pure seed for planting 

 purposes is being rapidly increased, due to the cooperation of many 

 growers who have appreciated the necessity .for isolation and clean 

 ginning. It has been found, hoAvever, that many growers and gin- 

 ners do not appreciate the necessity for pure seed, and quantities of 

 mixed seed ha^e been sold and planted. Should this process con- 

 tinue, the reputation of the Meade variety for uniformity may 

 suffer on account of the distribution of these mixed stocks. An 

 organization of Meade growers in cooperation with the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry is endeavoring to have all mixed stocks replaced with 

 pure seed, and with a definite recognition of the need of continued 

 selection and isolation to maintain the purity and uniformity of the 

 stock it is hoped that the necessary precautions may be taken. . 



The most striking example of introducing a new type of cotton, 

 establishing a new industry, and maintaining an adequate supply of 

 good seed is in connection with the Pima variety of Egyptian cotton 

 in the Salt River Valley of Arizona. Nearly iOO,000 acres of pure 

 Pima cotton were planted in the spring of 1919 in the irrigated dis- 

 tricts of the Southwestern States. This scale of production of su- 

 perior fiber has become possible through the establislimont of a cen- 

 tral supply of pure seed, 1,250 tons being furnished for planting in 

 1919 from afsingle community center around Tempe, Ariz., where no 

 other variety is grown. 



Cooperation with the Pima cotton growers in maintaining the 

 purity of their planting seed was continued by roguing the seed- 

 increase fields and removing the off -type plants. Ihis work gives 

 an exceptional opportunity for thorough study of the commercial 

 seed stock of this variety and for detecting the first indication of de- 

 terioration, if this should occur. No evidence has yet been obtained 

 of any loss of uniformity in this variety. The measures taken by 

 the Bureau of I^ant Industry, ably seconded by a growers' associa- 

 tion in the Salt River Valley, have successfully protected this ex- 

 ceptionally uniform cotton from mixing or crossing with any other 

 variety. 



Pima cotton is now the only very long staple variety (with fiber 

 l-J to 1| inches long) grown in the United States of which a largo 

 supply of even-running fiber is obtainable. Approximately 35,000 

 bales were produced in Arizona and California in the calendar year 

 1918. The demand for this variety since Sea Island cotton production 

 has been curtailed by the boll weevil has exceeded the supply. This 

 cotton is most extensively used in high-grade automobile-tire fabrics 

 and appears to be a satisfactory substitute for Sea Island in most 

 goods for which that cotton is used. 



A serious problem of cotton farming in dry regions or where dry 

 weather occurs at the planting season is to obtain regular germina- 

 tion of seed and ti full stand of plants in the rows. Germina- 

 tion may be prevented by dry soil or by planting too deep. Experi- 

 ments conducted in Arizona and Texas have shown that much better 

 stands can be secured by a lister attached to the shoo of the planter, 

 which makes it possible to place the seed in moist soil at a uniform 

 depth. 



