UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 1056 i 



^jjJj^^^^p^Ty Contribution from the Bureau of Markets and mJ 



Sl&^&mTU 



Crop Estimates 

 H. C. TAYLOR, Chief 



jjwSP^swt. 



Washington, D. C. 



April 5, 1922 



MARKETING COTTON SEED FOR PLANTING PURPOSES. 



By J. E. Bakb, Investigator in Marketing Seeds. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Sources of supply 2 



Selection of seed stocks 3 



Preparation 4 



Ginning 4 



Delinting 5 



Recleaning and grading 12 



Sacking 16 



Storage 16 



Warehouse should be ventilated- 17 



Storing in sacks 17 



Stacking IS 



Germination 18 



Causes of low germination 19 



Making tests 19 



Page 



The shipping tag_. 20 



The lot number 20 



Selling 21 



Extravagant claims undesira- 

 ble 21 



True names for varieties 22 



Renaming varieties 22 



Sales on basis of weight vs. 



measure 22 



Certified cotton seed 23 



Summary 23 



The area devoted to the production of cotton in the United States 

 annually averages 35,000,000 acres. To plant this acreage requires 

 approximately 500,000 tons or a billion pounds of seed, about one- 

 tenth of the average total annual production. It has been estimated 

 that normally 30 per cent of this total planting requirement is ob- 

 tained by farmers from commercial sources, 70 per cent being pro- 

 duced on the farm where used. 



The number of persons and concerns dealing in cotton seed for 

 planting purposes and the total volume of their annual business have 

 increased steadily. However, comparatively little effort has been 

 made to improve the commercial and agricultural value of their 

 stock. It is true that a limited number of growers and dealers are 

 endeavoring to develop either new varieties or improved strains of 



tandard varieties; bul the possibilities of enhancing the commercial 

 and agricultural value of cotton seed by better methods of preparing, 



toring, and marketing have been overlooked or neglected. As a 



B8460— 22 1 



