EXTENSION OF COTTON PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA. 7 



established and well organized on the basis of other crops. Farmers 

 who are familiar with the local conditions and have only to learn 

 the requirements of the new crop are likely to make better progress 

 than those who have everything to learn, as in communities formed 

 of new settlers, some of them with no agricultural experience and 

 others persisting in the use of methods to which they have been ac- 

 customed in other regions, but which are not adapted to the special 

 conditions and requirements of the irrigated districts. 



NATURAL CONDITIONS FAVORABLE. 



That natural conditions of soil and climate very favorable for 

 cotton culture are to be found in the interior valleys of California 

 has been shown again in recent years by the behavior of series of 

 different kinds of cotton that have been grown and studied at several 

 points representing the general range of climatic conditions — Red 

 Bluff, Chico, Marysville, Davis, Stockton, Dos Palos, Visalia, Exeter, 

 Semitropic, and Bakersfield. 



The general result of these experimental plantings has been to 

 leave no doubt that cotton is able to make normal growth and mature 

 good crops in the warmer districts of the interior valleys ; that is, in 

 the northern part of the Sacramento Valley and the southern part of 

 the San Joaquin Valley. The most successful plantings have been 

 those at Bakersfield and Semitropic in Kern County, and at Dos 

 Palos in Merced County, where the plants were extremely well 

 grown and productive, with bolls of very large size and lint of ex- 

 cellent quality, results that are obtained only under conditions 

 thoroughly favorable for the development of the plants. 



Much more extensive experiments would be necessary to determine 

 how far cotton culture might be carried toward the cooler climate of 

 the Bay districts in the central part of the State by using early short- 

 season varieties or selecting for adaptation to the local conditions, 

 but no special difficulties seem likely to be encountered in the warmer 

 parts of the valleys. The cotton plant is able to thrive on a great 

 variety of soils, a moderate but regular supply of moisture being the 

 chief requirement. While the plants are able to survive drought, the 

 crop is likely to be injured by any extreme condition that checks or 

 forces the growth of the plants. 



It has to be expected that any undertakings with a new crop, 

 wherever the beginnings may be made, must pass through an experi- 

 mental period, in order to test fully the possibilities of the soil and 

 local climatic conditions and determine the methods that can be ap- 

 plied to the greatest advantage. The most that can be said at present 

 is that practical experiments with cotton are likely to be justified in 

 any of the warmer districts where soils of reasonable fertility and 

 adequate supplies of water are available. 



