BULLETIN OF THE 



No. 121 



Joint Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, William A. Taylor, 



Chief; and the Office of Markets, Charles J. Brand, Chief. 



June 24, 1914. 



SPINNING TESTS OF UPLAND LONG-STAPLE. 



COTTONS. 1 



By Feed Taylor, Cotton Technologist ; and Wells A. Sheeman, Assistant in 



Market Surveys. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Only three years ago the long-staple cotton situation as it then 

 existed in the United States was considered acute by spinners. The 

 Mississippi Delta and the lowlands of Louisiana, which for a genera- 

 tion had been the principal source of supply for cottons ranging from 

 1-J to 1^ inches in length, had been invaded by the boll weevil with 

 disastrous results. So complete was the destruction that considerable 

 areas in Louisiana entirely abandoned the production of cotton. 

 Throughout southern Mississippi and the lower half of the Delta 

 region, early maturing, short-staple varieties were being rapidly in- 

 troduced because they were found to be more profitable under weevil 

 conditions than were the long-staple varieties then in cultivation. 

 The spinners besought the Department of Agriculture to assist in 

 an effort to maintain the staple industry in the Mississippi Delta. 

 They also raised funds to be expended under their direction in experi- 

 mental work with the hope of developing new varieties of Delta staple 

 cotton which could be produced profitably in the presence of the 

 weevil. 



Those engaged in the breeding work of the Department of Agri- 

 culture were already satisfied that excellent Upland cottons of 11-inch 

 staple could be produced on the Atlantic slope, but the experiences 



1 The work discussed in this bulletin was carried on as a part of the work of the 

 Office of Cotton Handling and Marketing Investigations conducted jointly by the Bureau 

 of Plant Industry and the Office of Markets. The tests were conducted and supervised 

 in detail by Mr. Fred Taylor, Cotton Technologist, Department of Agriculture, who re- 

 ceived every possible courtesy and assistance from the faculty of the New Bedford 

 Textile School. Managing Director W. E. Hatch and Principal William Smith, in charge 

 of the carding and spinning department, rendered special assistance. The facilities of 

 the school were generously placed at the disposal of the department for the purposes of 

 tbese tests, and due acknowledgment is made of the material assistance thus rendered the 

 investigational work. 



Note. — This bulletin is a report of tests of Upland long-staple cotton as compared with 

 Deltas of the 1912 crop. Of interest to spinners and growers of Upland cotton on the 

 Atlantic slope. 



46676°— 14 1 



