2 BULLETIN 742, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



is best adapted to the physical and economic conditions of the local- 

 ity. 1 In no other way is it possible to maintain a supply of pure 

 seed and to market ^year after year a uniform high-grade product. 

 These objects can be attained only by effective cooperation on the 

 part of the growers. The lesson taught by this successful applica- 

 tion of the community principle should make the present publication 

 interesting to many who are engaged in growing, selling, or manu- 

 facturing cotton, even though they may not be concerned with the 

 special subject of Egyptian-cotton production. 



SOURCES OF LONG-STAPLE COTTON. 



The three most important types of long-staple cotton are (1) Sea 

 Island cotton, (2) long-staple Upland cotton, and (3) Egyptian 

 cotton. 



Sea Island cotton is grown on the islands along the coasts of South 

 Carolina and Georgia and in certain counties on the mainland of 

 Georgia and Florida, as well as to a limited extent in portions of 

 the West Indies. During recent years the crop of Sea Island cot- 

 ton in the United States has ranged from 60,000 to 120,000 bales 2 per 

 annum. The staple of Sea Island cotton ranges from 1^ to If inches 

 in the Georgia and Florida product to 2 inches in the best qualities 

 grown on the Sea Islands proper. 3 



Long-staple Upland cotton has long been produced chiefly in the 

 so-called Delta region of western Mississippi. In recent years the 

 production of this type of cotton has been extended into eastern 

 Arkansas and northeastern Texas, and a small quantity has also been 

 grown in" the Carolinas. Still more recently the growing of long- 

 staple Upland cotton has been established on irrigated lands in the 

 Imperial Valley of California, the industry in that locality being 

 based on the Durango variety. The quantity of long-staple Upland 

 cotton produced annually in the United States is not definitely known. 

 A recent publication of the Bureau of Crop Estimates 4 places the 

 total for 1916 at slightly more than 1,000,000 bales of cotton having 

 a staple of L§ inches or longer. While a few varieties of long-staple 

 Upland cotton sometimes produce fiber having a staple of 1-| inches 

 or longer, the bulk of the crop is less than If inches in length. 



MJook, 0. F. Cotton improvement on a community' basis, In JJ. S. Dept. Agr. Year- 

 book, 1911, p. 397-410, 1912. See also Swingle, W. T., Tbe fundamentals of crop improve- 

 ment, in U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Oir. 116, pp.. 3-10, 1913. 



2 The Sea Island cotton bale averages in weight slightly less than 400 pounds. For 

 further information, see Meadows, W. R., Economic conditions in the Sea Island cotton 

 industry, U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 14G, 18 p., 1914. 



3 A small proportion of tbe Island product reaches a length of 21 and rarely even 2J 

 inches. 



4 Monthly Crop Report for June, 1917, p. 52. See also Taylor, Fred, and Sherman, 

 W. A., Spinning tests of Upland long-staple cottons, U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 121, 1914, p. 19. 



