14 BULLETIN 332, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



has made it practicable to maintain thus far a satisfactory degree 

 of uniformity in the variety. 



SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION. 



As the work of establishing the new industry progressed it became 

 appafrent that the economic and agricultural problems could best be 

 met by enlisting the cooperation of several men representing differ- 

 ent lines of experimental work in the Department of Agriculture, 

 each of whom was able to contribute special knowledge and experi- 

 ence. The cooperation was at first informal, but later, as the re- 

 sponsibilities increased, it was thought advisable to create a special 

 committee to carry on this work. A " Committee on Southwestern 

 Cotton Culture " was therefore appointed in 1910 by the Chief of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry. 1 



It has been the policy of the committee since its organization to 

 avoid a sharp segregation of the different fields of investigation. 

 As a result, each member has felt free to offer suggestions and even 

 to assume responsibility beyond the limits of his own field, while 

 the more important issues which have successively arisen in connec- 

 tion with the establishment of the industry have been decided by 

 the whole committee. It is believed that this committee coopera- 

 tion has been of the greatest importance in the successful establish- 

 ment of the industry, since it has resulted in focusing upon the 

 problems the different points of view and different mental equipment 

 and training of several independent investigators. 



1 The following is the personnel of the committee : 



C. S. Scofield, Agriculturist in Charge of Western Irrigation Agriculture. Mr. Scofield 

 is chairman of the committee, and in addition has charge of those phases of the work 

 which involve cooperation with the United States Reclamation Service. He has also 

 conducted certain investigations of market conditions in the United States and in 

 Europe. 



W. T. Swingle, Physiologist in Charge of Crop Physiology and Breeding Investigations. 

 Mr. Swingle has charge of those phases of the work which involve cooperation with the 

 Office of Indian Affairs, including the arrangements for securing Indian labor. The Co- 

 operative Testing and Demonstration Garden at Sacaton, Ariz., where plant-breeding work 

 with cotton is now centered, is under Mr. Swingle's direction. Mr. E. W. Hudson, 

 superintendent of this garden, has taken a very active part in the establishment of the 

 industry and has been in constant touch with the growers in the Salt River Valley. 



O. F. Cook, Bionomist in Charge of Crop-Acclimatization and Cotton-Breeding Investi- 

 gations. Mr. Cook conducts investigations of the factors involved in the acclimatization 

 of different types of cotton in the Southwest and of the relation of these factors to cul- 

 tural methods. He has also taken the lead in developing the idea of community cotton 

 growing as a means to the maintenance of uniform varieties. 



T. H. Kearney, Physiologist in Charge of Alkali and Drought Resistant Plant Investiga- 

 tions. Mr. Kearney has charge of the breeding work with Egyptian cotton and of the 

 investigations of the effect of alkali and other soil conditions upon the production of 

 this crop. 



C. J. Brand, Chief of the Office of Markets and Rural Organization. In 1912, when 

 the problem of marketing the first commercial crop became acute, Mr. Brand, at that 

 time in charge of the cooperative cotton handling and marketing investigations of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, became a member of the committee. Mr. Brand has charge 

 of the investigations in classing, marketing, and transportation. 



