20 BULLETIN 60, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



rials, and a regular supply must be maintained or the whole indus- 

 trial and commercial structure falls. It may be too much to ask 

 manufacturers to miderstand the agricultural factors of production, 

 but at least the commercial factors might receive their attention, in 

 view of the important differences between cotton and other crops. 

 Unless the buyer represents the manufacturer to the extent of dis- 

 criminating in favor of the fiber that the manufacturer wants, the 

 farmer will also fail to discriminate; that is, he wiU neglect the pre- 

 cautions that are necessary to produce longer and more miiform 



fiber. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



The production of cotton of superior quality in the United States 

 is influenced by methods of buying, as well as by the prices paid for 

 the crop. Failure to use proper discrimination in buying encourages 

 careless or dishonest mixing of varieties on the farm or at the gin and 

 leads to deterioration and loss of miiformity, so that the market 

 value of the product is soon destroyed. Long-staple cotton of 

 superior quality could be grown to great advantage in many parts 

 of the American cotton belt if the necessary care were taken to 

 preserve the purity and imiformity of varieties. The natural condi- 

 tions are favorable fox the production . of such cotton, and almost 

 unhmited supphes. could be grown if precautions against contamina- 

 tion and degeneration were observed. 



Manufacturers have complained for many years that supplies of 

 long-staple cotton were inadequate and uncertain, and the boll-weevil 

 invasion has been supposed to jeopardize the very existence of the 

 long-staple industry. But these dangers no longer threaten. New 

 early-maturing varieties of long-staple cotton have been developed; 

 also improved cultural methods that make it possible to produce good 

 crops of long-staple cotton in many parts of the United States 

 despite the presence of the boll weevil. The problem now is to 

 induce the farmers to take the precautions that are necessary to 

 maintain the uniformity of varieties, and the manufacturers who use 

 the long-staple cottons have the key to this problem. 



The prices that have ruled for the last few years have been high 

 enough to stimulate the production of long-staple cotton, but the 

 methods of buying have been too indiscriminate to lead the farmer 

 to understand the necessity of maintaining the purity and uniformity 

 of varieties. Little of permanent benefit can come from the develop- 

 ment of superior varieties by the Department of Agriculture if the 

 fanner is not led to appreciate the necessity of preserving such 

 varieties after they are placed in his hands. As long as the buyers 

 take inferior mixed fiber and pay as much for it as for the best and 

 most uniform, the farmer can not be expected to observe the pre- 

 cautions that are necessary to maintain the purity and uniformity 



