UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Washington, D. C. 



▼ 



September 6, 1918 



LENGTH OF COTTON LINT, CROPS 1916 AND 1917. 



By W. L. Peyoe, Cotton-Crop Specialist. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Distribution of varieties produced 1 



Damage to crop from weather and insects 2 



Sea Island cotton 3 



Qualities required for spinning 4 



Differences in classification of cotton accord- 



ing to length of staple. 



Egyptian and Durango cotton 5 



Location of areas of the principal production 



of extra-length cotton 6 



Average price received by growers 6 



Yield per acre 6 



4 Cotton varieties commonly grown. 



DISTRIBUTION OF VARIETIES PRODUCED. 



The data from which figures relating to long-staple cotton and 

 the comments which follow are the result of an inquiry made in 

 December, 1917. Reports were obtained from the regular crop 

 reporters of the Bureau of Crop Estimates, including the aids of 

 the field agents and of the cotton-crop specialist of the bureau in the 

 following States: Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, South 

 Carolina, Louisiana, Arizona, and California. This information was 

 supplemented by special reports from buyers, exporters, and dealers, 

 from seed breeders and from special investigations of several field 

 agents and the cotton-crop specialist of the Bureau of Crop Esti- 

 mates. In many sections of several States reporters were unable to 

 obtain definite data, for only in districts where the growth of staple 

 cotton has been recognized for several years is attention paid to the 

 length of lint. In recognized staple-producing sections, cotton is 

 ordinarily bought and sold on -types showing quality of staple, 

 color, and trash content. Elsewhere many buyers make no effort to 

 determine length and character of the staple. Where the latter 

 custom obtains, it is not to be wondered at that the farmer knows but 

 little of the length of lint grown on his plantation. Neither is it 

 strange, where the price for all cotton, regardless of the length of 

 fiber, is approximately the same, that farmers grow varieties which 

 produce the most lint. It is for this reason that the notorious " half- 

 and-half" cotton and other short-lint varieties are being largely 

 planted in many sections. West of the Mississippi River this very 



71158°— Bull. 733—18 



