6 BULLETIN 146, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The refusal of the Carolina planters to sell their seed to Georgia 

 and Florida growers has likewise resulted in a general deterioration 

 in the quality of the Sea Island cotton grown in those States, which 

 is, in reality, 90 to 95 per cent of the Sea Island crop of the United 

 States. It has been the custom for years for the farmers of this sec- 

 tion to renew at least once in three years their planting seed with 

 fresh stock from Carolina. They seemingly did not rely on a seed 

 selection from their own fields to keep up or to improve the quality 

 of their cotton, and it is even now commonly believed that "Sea 

 Island runs out when planted in the interior or away from the islands 

 of Carolina." There can be no question about the deterioration of 

 Sea Island cotton when left alone under usual farm conditions or 

 when no seed selections are made; but this deterioration is just about 

 as marked on the islands of South Carolina when seed selection is 

 neglected as it is in Georgia or Florida. Soil and climate, of course, 

 influence the kind and amount of lint, but it seems that the chief 

 element in determining the character of the product is the kind of 

 seed planted. 1 The great difference in status between the Carolina 

 planters on the one hand and those of Georgia and Florida on the 

 other is primarily due to the fact that the former have practiced 

 intelligent seed selection for many years, whereas the latter have been 

 content to buy the best planting seed that was obtainable. About 

 four or five years ago, when the Georgia and Florida growers found 

 that they could no longer obtain fresh seed from Carolina a few of 

 them began to make their own seed selections, with very gratifying 

 results, as is shown by the fact that in 1912 one Florida farmer sold 

 his cotton at 47 cents per pound, which surpasses the price paid for 

 some of the extra fancy cottons marketed at Charleston. 



But the great mass of Georgia and Florida farmers continued to 

 plant such seed as they had or else the seed which they bought was 

 of inferior quality, and the result has been a gradual reduction in the 

 length, uniformity, and strength of the staple. Climatic conditions 

 during the growing season of 1912 were adverse, and the quality of 

 the cotton was still further lowered. To the New England spinner 

 these are altogether undesirable qualities in cotton. They have meant 

 to him a depreciated value for the home product and, as has been 

 already shown, have rendered the introduction and substitution of 

 Sakellaridis a matter easily accomplished. 



(4) Change in styles and enforced economy of production. — " Troubles 

 never come singly," and certainly this was true with the Sea Island 

 trade during the year 1912-13. Aside from the troubles already 

 enumerated, but possibly growing out of unsettled business condi- 

 tions, there was another the influence of which it is hard to overesti- 

 mate. This was the question of style, coupled with that of economy. 



1 Cook, O. F. The Relation of Cotton Buying to Cotton Growing, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Bulletin 60, p. 12. 



