4 BULLETIN 324, XJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



during the crop year of 1911. The 1913 crop, however, was three 

 times as large as that of 1912. In 1914 approximately 43,000 bales 

 were produced on 66,000 acres. 



GINS, OIL MILLS, AND COMPRESSES. 



The ginning equipment has kept pace with the expansion of the 

 industry. The temporary equipment used for ginning the 1909 crop 

 was replaced in 1910 by a complete ginning plant at each of five 

 towns. By 1913 the number of gins had been increased to eight, and 

 in 1914 more than double this niunber had been erected, in order to 

 take care of the largely increased crop. The 19 gins now operated 

 are owned by three separate companies. This equipment was more 

 than sufficient to handle the 1914 crop. Half of these gins are lo- 

 cated at Calexico, the border town, in order to handle the Mexican 

 crop, which is all brought there for ginning. 



The first oil mill was erected at El Centro in 1911. In 1914 two 

 more mills were erected, at Calexico, one of them a cold-compress 

 mill. The capacity of the oil mills has been expanded somewhat 

 beyond the present requirements of the industry. 



VARIETIES GROWN. 



SHORT-STAPLE COTTON. 



Short-staple cotton was grown almost exclusively for the first 

 three years after the industry was started. Big-boiled varieties of 

 Texas cotton were most popular, the Triumph and Rowden varieties 

 predominating. The Triumph (Mebane's) cotton has now come to 

 be the short-staple variety usually planted. This is an indication 

 of the progressive development the industry has been undergoing 

 from the beginning, as Triumph cotton is an excellent variety for the 

 Imperial Valle}'' conditions. It yields well and produces uniform 

 fiber from 1 inch to 1 T V inches in length. 



A number of short-staple varieties with small bolls and ununiform 

 fiber, some of them quite inferior, have been tried on extensive acre- 

 ages. The use of these varieties has been, as a rule, soon abandoned, 

 but in crossing and mixing with seed stocks of good short-staple 

 varieties they have left a damaging impress. The Georgia cotton 

 introduced in 1909 and a variety called " World's Wonder " intro- 

 duced in 1910 are examples of such inferior .varieties. 



Many of the growers have acquired all their experience in cotton 

 growing in the Imperial Valley. These men have approached the 

 problem of cotton growing under irrigation with open minds, which 

 doubtless accounts in large measure for the success of the new 

 industry. If better varieties and better cultural and marketing 

 methods have become available, they have made use of them. It 

 was in this spirit that their growers' cooperative ginning company 



