6 



BULLETIN 324, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



uniform water supply, Durango cotton possesses a high degree of 

 uniformity in length of staple. These qualities of yield and uni- 

 formity of the Durango variety have warranted its general extension 

 in the Imperial Valley, which has progressed rapidly since 1912. 



Table I shows the total cotton crop, in 500-pound bales, of the Im- 

 perial Valley for the years 1909 to 1914, inclusive, the different sorts 

 being specified. These figures are merely estimates, as no absolutely 

 accurate data are available. 



Table I. — Cotton crop of the Imperial Valley, 1909 to 191Jf, inclusive, in bales. 



Year. 



Short 

 staple. 



Long- 

 staple Up- 

 land. 



Egyptian. 



Total crop. 



1909 



350 

 4,000 

 8,997 

 6,950 

 15, 500 

 34,900 







350 



1910 







4,000 



1911 



3 

 150 



6,000 

 8,000 





9,000 

 7,200 



1912 



100 



1913 



21, 500 



1914 



100 



43, 000 







A number of other varieties of long-staple Upland cotton have been 

 tried, either experimentally or in field plantings, 1 but none of these 

 varieties has proved as well suited to the conditions as the Durango 

 cotton. Besides its superiority over other long-staple Upland vari- 

 eties in greater uniformity of fiber and in larger size of boll, Durango 

 cotton possesses cultural features which make it well adapted to irri- 

 gation farming in the Imperial Valley. 1 



ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF LONG-STAPLE COTTON. 



When properly grown, Durango cotton has been found to give bet- 

 ter net returns than short-staple cotton ; that is to say, in equal yields 

 of a bale or more per acre the Durango variety pays better than short- 

 staple cotton, and it may be further stated that it is economically 

 unsound practice, as well as unnecessary, to grow less than a bale of 

 cotton to the acre in the Imperial Valley. Of some 600 growers in 

 the Imperial Valley in 1914, probably 150 were growing Durango 

 cotton. 



PROGRESS DUE TO ORGANIZED EFFORT. 



The chief purpose of this paper, in showing as clearly as possible 

 how one community has been solving the problems of a developing 

 agricultural industry, can best be served by a rather detailed dis- 

 cussion of the history of the industry. It can be understood from 

 what has already been stated that community organization has been 

 largely responsible for the important advances made in the choice of 

 superior varieties and in the attempted elimination of inferior ones. 



This is an example of the practical application of the plan of 

 improving cotton production through community action. 



1 Cook, O. F. Op. cit. 



