COTTON BREEDING 61 



of the original plants have, to the greatest degree, trans- 

 mitted their good qualities, such as yield, uniformity, 

 length and strength of lint, to their progeny. The progeny 

 row or rows that are found to be superior as regards the ' 

 good points for which the plants were selected should be 

 marked for second generation selections. 



69. Making the second generation selections. Hav- 

 ing determined which are the best progenies in the test- 

 plot, the breeder should immediately examine in detail 

 each plant in the superior progenies, marking those which 

 are nearest ideal. These good plants should be numbered 

 as selected. The following method of numbering these 

 second generation selections is recommended by H. J. 

 Webber. 1 "If one of the best progenies is from the orig- 

 inal selection No. 2, label the selection in this row 2-1, 

 2-2, 2-3, 2-4, 2-5, and so on, the second number after 

 the dash being the number of the individual selected 

 in this generation, while the first number, 2, is the number 

 of the original selection. In the same way, if progeny 51 

 is one of the best, the selections made from this would be 

 numbered 51-1, 51-2, 51-3, and so on. When the third- 

 generation selections are made, they should be numbered 

 in the same way, separating the generation by a dash. For 

 example, the selections made from progeny of 51-1 would 

 be labeled 51-1-1, 51-1-2, 51-1-3." When the second- 

 generation selections are made and numbered, each selec- 

 tion should be picked separately into a paper bag which 

 bears the same number as the plant. These selections 

 are to be used for planting the breeding plot the third year. 



70. The multiplication plot. Seed from the best 

 plants left in the test-plot after the second-generation 

 selections have been made should be used for planting 



1 Bailey's " Cyclo. of Amer. Agr., Vol. 2," page 256. 



