UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 742 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 



s&y&su 



Washington, D. C. 



January 15, 1919 



PRODUCTION OF AMERICAN EGYPTIAN COTTON. 



By C. S. Scofield, T. H. Keaeney, C. J. Brand, O. F. Cook, and W. T. Swingle. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Community production of cotton 1 



Sources of long-staple cotton 2 



Character and supply of Egyptian cotton 3 



American consumption of Egyptian cotton. . 4 



Production of Egyptian cotton in America. . . 5 



Future possibilities of the industry 7 



Comparison of American and Egyptian condi- 

 tions 8 



Early attempts to establish Egyptian-cotton 



growing in the United States 10 



Beginning of experiments in the Southwest. . 10 



Unsatisfactory character of the original stocks 11 



Development of more uniform varieties 12 



Solving the problems of commercial produc- 

 tion 13 



Cooperative organization of the growers 14 



Page. 



Labor for picking 15 



Community credit for financing the crop 17 



Ginning in relation to production 17 



Grading the crop 18 



Marketing the crop , 19 



Maintenance of the seed supply 19 



Agricultural relationships of the crop 21 



Tillage methods 22 



Late thinning and close spacing 22 



Undesirability of ratooning Egyptian cotton. 24 



Enemies of the crop 24 



Conditions of successful Egyptian cotton pro- 

 duction 25 



Conclusion 26 



List of publications bearing on Egyptian cot- 

 ton growing in the Southwestern States 28 



COMMUNITY PRODUCTION OF COTTON. 



The purposes of this bulletin are to tell how Egyptian-cotton pro- 

 duction became established in the Southwest as a result of community 

 action, to describe the present status of the industry, and to give the 

 reasons for encouraging the growing of this type of cotton in the 

 United States. Attention is also directed to the conditions which 

 appear to be indispensable to successful commercial production 

 in this country. It is believed that Egyptian cotton can not be 

 profitably grown except under irrigation and in the absence of the 

 boll weevil. This would exclude it from consideration in any por- 

 tion of what is generally known as the cotton belt. 



The principle of community action in cotton production implies 

 the growing of only one variety, the variety selected being that which 



1 This bulletin is largely a revision of Department Bulletin No. 332, entitled " Com- 

 munity Production of Egyptian Cotton in the United States," by C. S. Scofield, T. H. Kear- 

 ney, C. J. Brand, 0. P. Cook, and W. T. Swingle, issued on January 13, 1916. 

 77714°— 19 1 



