LESSONS ON COTTON FOE EURAL COMMON SCHOOLS. 5 



A blooming cotton plant: 

 Root: Fibrous or taprooted? 



Stem: Shape of stem, color of bark, color of wood. 

 Leaves: Alternate or opposite ? Shape. Number of lobes. Make 

 drawing showing veins. 

 Calyx: Size, shape. 

 Corolla: Color, shape, size. 

 Petals: Number separate or coalescent. 



Stamens and pistils: Number of each. Make drawings of sta- 

 mens and pistils. 

 Exercises. — Bring a sufficient number of cotton stalks into the 

 schoolroom, or better still, go with the class to a held of standing 

 cotton. Make notes of your observations in answer to questions on 

 Topics for Study. 



References. — Bureau of Plant Industry Circ. 109, pp. 11-16; 

 Bureau of Plant Industry Buls. 221, 222, 249; Textbooks on ele- 

 mentary agriculture ; Office of Experiment Stations Bui. 33, pp. 67-80. 



LESSON III. 



Subject. — Judging cotton. 



Topics for study. — Object of cotton judging. Meaning of expres- 

 sion cotton "runs out." Four reasons for depreciation in productive- 

 ness and quality. Crossing versus selection as a means of improving 

 cotton. Simplest method of selection. Principal qualities desired in 

 the plant. 



Exercises. — With the. use of the score card and directions for 

 judging cotton given below, determine the best plant selected by the 

 pupils. 



DIRECTIONS FOR JUDGING COTTON.i 



1. The Plant. 



On the score card as suggested the ideal plant is given a rating of 

 25 points. In judging the exhibits in contests, cuts should be made 

 more severe as the plant departs farther from the standard. 



For plants departing only slightly from the variety standard as to 

 size, a cut of 1 to 1^ points should be made. If this departure is 

 very marked a cut of 3 points may be made. 



For excessively long joints and poorly placed and developed 

 branches cut a maximum of 2 to 5. For slight defects in these 

 respects cut from 2\ to 3 points. 



For a plant which develops a single central stem bearing numerous 

 horizontal fruiting branches allow five points as the perfect score. 



1 Adapted from directions published by the Georgia State College of Agriculture. 



