MEADE COTTON REPLACING SEA ISLAND. 7 



SMALL ACREAGE OF PURE SEED IN 1918. 



While not more than 250 acres, all told, of the Meade plantings 

 in 1918 had been sufficiently separated from other kinds of cotton 

 to insure their freedom from possible hybridization, it was thouoht 

 that with careful handling sufficient seed of good quality would be 

 available for a large acreage in 1919. With the assistance of the 

 farmers these fields were carefully inspected and all hybrids and 

 off-type plants were destroyed. 



Though familiarit}'^ with Meade cotton is usually necessary to dis- 

 tinguish some of the off-type plants, the hybrids betw^een the Sea 

 Island and Meade cottons are easily recognized by their larger and 

 deeper cut leaves, in which they resemble the true Sea Island. Once 

 these plants are pointed out and their contrasting features noted they 

 are easily recognized, even by those who have not done any special 

 breeding work. (Pis. IV and V.) 



SELECTION WORK CONTINUED IN THE HARVEST SEASON. 



During the harvest season the plantings that had been sufficiently 

 isolated were again visited for the purpose of instructing the farm- 

 ers in the methods of seed selection for breeding stocks. From 100 

 to 200 plants that conformed to the Meade type were selected from 

 each of the isolated fields for separate picking and ginning, the seed 

 of which was to be used for a seed-increase block the following sea- 

 son. In addition to this bulk selection, a number of especially desir- 

 able plants were selected for progeny-row planting at each point. 



The bulk of the Meade crop was to be ginned on the regular com- 

 mercial Sea Island gins most convenient to the plantings, except in 

 an experiment near Sylvester, Ga., where a new roller gin had been 

 installed for ginning only Meade cotton. The farmers were warned 

 against the danger of the Meade seed becoming mixed with that of 

 the Sea Island at the gins unless special care were taken to have the 

 gins thoroughly cleaned before the Meade cotton was put through. 



GINNING COMPLAINTS FROM MEADE GROWERS. 



During the ginning season complaints were received from some 

 of the Meade cotton growers that the Sea Island ginners were ob- 

 jecting to Meade cotton on account of the large size of the seed, 

 which failed to pass through the seed grids (manufactured especially 

 for the small Sea Island seed) as rapidly as the seed of the Sea 

 Island and consequently slowing down the ginning process.' 



^ This difficulty in ginning was subsequently met by one of the manufacturers of 

 roller gins, who put a new seed board or grid upon the marfeet designed especially for 

 ginning Meade cotton. (PI. VI.) This seed board has fingers instead of ribs, doing 

 away with the edge that formerly prevented the passage of seed near the stripper or 

 hacker bar. The fingers are also farther apart than the ribs in the seed board used 

 for Sea Island ginning. It has since been ascertained that moving the ordinary seed 

 grid back from the stripper bar from one-half to three-quarters of an inch permits the 

 Meade seed to fall through without difficulty. 



