2 BULLETIN 332, LT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The principle of community action in cotton production implies 

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

 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 

 1 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 cotton in 

 the United States has amounted to 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 been for many years 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 grow- 

 ing of long-staple Upland cotton has been established on irrigated 

 lands in the Imperial Valley of California, the industry in that local- 

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

 Upland cotton produced annually in the United States is not defi- 

 nitely known. A recent publication of the Bureau of Crop Esti- 

 mates 4 places the total at slightly more than 400,000 bales, although 



1 Cook, O. F. Cotton improvement on a community basis. In U. S. Dept. Agr. Year- 

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

 ment, in U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Cir. 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. 146, 18 p., 1914. 



3 A small proportion of the island product reaches a length of 2 J and rarely even 2 J 

 inches. 



* The Agricultural Outlook. U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bull. 651, p. 13, 1915. See also 

 Taylor, Fred, and Sherman, W. A., Spinning tests of Upland long-staple cottons, U. S. 

 Dept. Agr. Bui. 121, 20 p., 1914. 



