THE RELATION OF COTTON BUYING TO COTTON GROWING. 3 



neglected or admixture with other varieties has taken place, the 

 inferior plants can be seen and counted, and different fields can be 

 graded on a percentage basis. Bujdng cotton in the bale is a mere 

 game of chance compared with what buyers might do in the way of 

 accurate classification if they began with the cotton in the field. 



Of course, a system of judging cotton in the field would be very 

 difficult to apply to the cotton industry in its present unorganized 

 condition, with each farmer of a neighborhood likely to grow a differ- 

 ent kind of cotton. One of the chief objects to be gained by better 

 methods of buying would be to develop a better system of produc- 

 tion, in which the same kind of cotton would be grown throughout a 

 whole community or district. Many advantages, commercial and 

 agricultural alike, would be gained if cotton production were organ- 

 ized on a community basis.^ 



That the present system of buying is seriously defective is now 

 widely recognized, and radical reforms are being sought through legis- 

 lation and otherwise. But it is highly desirable that reforms in the 

 commercial world be considered in their relation to the improvement 

 of the quality of the crop and not merely to secure higher prices for 

 inferior cotton. There is no prospect that such prices can be main- 

 tained by any action that may be taken in the United States. The 

 only secure basis for our cotton industry is in the improvement of the 

 product. Otherwise, we remain exposed to the danger of foreign 

 competition. It is much more important to improve the quality of 

 our cotton crop than to secure high prices without such improvement, 

 since high prices for inferior cotton will only stimulate the rapidly 

 increasing production of low-grade cotton in other parts of the world. 



VARIETIES DETERIORATE BY LOSING UNIFORMITY. 



The fundamental agricultural improvement that requires com- 

 mercial cooperation is the preservation of superior varieties, so that 

 a uniform product can be obtained. For manufacturing purposes, 

 uniformity is an even more important quality than length of staple 

 and one that must be guarded continually in the production of long- 

 staple cotton. It is much easier to breed new varieties than it is to 

 keep them pure and uniform after they have passed out of the hands 

 of the breeder into the field of commercial production. 



The causes of deterioration must be understood before we can 

 appreciate the precautions that have to be taken to preserve superior 

 varieties. There is a misleading popular idea that varieties of cotton 

 are bound to deteriorate and that new seed must be planted every 

 few years in order to maintain the crop. Before the art of antiseptic 

 surgery was known, inflammation and suppuration of wounds were 



1 Cook, O. F. Cotton improvement on a community basis. Yearbook, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 1911, p. 397-410. 1912. 



Brand, C. J. Improved methods of handling and marketing cotton. Yearbook, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, 1912, p. 443-462, pi. 5S-56. 1913. 



