10 BULLETIN 1030, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



WORK WITH MEADE COTTON IN 1919. 



Though adequate supplies of pure seed "vrere not available for 

 general planting in 1919, the stock was sufficient for a wide distri- 

 bution of small experimental quantities of seed, besides a number of 

 additional larger plantings in other sections of tlie Sea Island belt. 



On account of the failure of many of the Meade cotton growers 

 of 1918 to avoid the contamination of their seed at the gins, it 

 was anticipated that a large quantity of alleged Meade seed that 

 contained a mixture of the Sea Island seed would be sold and planted 

 in 1919. In view of the danger that the reputation for uniformity 

 of the variety might suffer, efforts were made to determine the 

 extent of mixture that actually occurred. Accordingly the names 

 of those farmers who had purchased large quantities of Meade seed 

 Avere learned, in order that their fields might be inspected. 



A visit to a number of these fields in the early season confirmed 

 the suspicion that a mixture of seed had taken place at the gins, for 

 it was found that with only one or two exceptions they contained a 

 large percentage of pure Sea Island plants and practically no 

 hybrids. These farmers were warned that their stock was not pure, 

 that their crop would be a mixture of Sea Island and Meade cotton, 

 and they were advised that, unless all the Sea Island plants were 

 pulled up before flowering, they should dispose of their seed to oil 

 mills at the end of the season. 



In striking contrast to these mixed fields was a planting of about 

 100 acres of Meade cotton near Sylvester, Ga., where the 1918 crop 

 had been ginned on a clean gin. Not a single pure Sea Island plant 

 and not more than a dozen hybrid plants were found in the roguing 

 of the entire acreage. The field was extremel;^ uniform and demon- 

 strated in a most satisfactory manner the possibilities of the va- 

 riety under conditions of isolation and careful handling. 



Table 2.— Yields of Meade and Sea Island, cottons in oomparaMe fields of 12 

 acres each on Little Edisto Island, S. C, in 1919. 



Pickings. 



Meade cotton. 



Date. 



Yield 

 (pounds). 



Sea Island cotton. 



Date. 



Yield 

 (pounds). 



First picking . . . 

 Second picking. 

 Third picking. . 

 Fourth pickiiag. 

 Fifth picking... 

 Sixth picking . . 



Total. 



Aug. 22 

 Aug. 30 

 Sept. 7 

 Sept. 17 

 Oct. 7 

 Oct. 31 



302 

 1,040 

 1,253 



1,487 

 2,657 

 1,200 



Aug. 25 

 Sept. 5 

 Sept. 15 

 Sept. 29 

 Oct. 3 

 Oct. 31 



190 

 607 

 733 

 349 

 769 

 100 



7,939 



On Little Edisto Island, S. C, two fields of cotton, each of 12 

 acres, were planted. One of the fields was planted to Meade and 



