MEADE COTTON REPLACING SEA ISLAND. 11 



the other to Sea Island -cotton, and the conditions under which the 

 plantings were made were as nearly alike as possible. The 1919 

 season was marked by almost continuous rains in this section during- 

 July and August, accompanied by a heavy infestation of boll 

 weevils. The yields from these plantings are shown in Table 2. 



The relative earliness of the Meacle can be seen by a comparison of 

 the yields on the several picking elates. 



RESULTS FROM 1919 PLANTINGS. 



While something like 3,000 acres had been planted to Meade cotton 

 in 1919, not more than 500 acres had been given the required isolation 

 to prevent possible hybridization with other varieties in adjacent 

 fields. With such a small acreage for the production of pure seed 

 it was evident that the expectations of developing a large supply 

 for the 1920 plantings were not to be realized. It was also expected 

 that from the remaining 2,500 acres of this cotton a large quantity 

 of mixed fiber and seed would appear on the market and that the 

 fiber and the seed as well might be sold as Meade, with further damage 

 to the reputation for uniformity of the variety. To prevent this as 

 far as possible brief statements were issued by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, summarizing the work that had been 

 done with Meade cotton and advising buyers and manufacturers of 

 the existence of the mixed stocks, so that the variety might not be 

 condemned unjustly if mixed fiber was encountered {10). 



"^Yliile the net results from the 1919 plantings were again disap- 

 pointing from the standpoint of producing a large increase in the 

 supplies of pure seed, the behavior of the crop continued to demon- 

 strate the practicability of the use of Meade cotton as a substitute 

 for the Sea Island variety under boll-weevil conditions. The prob- 

 lem of replacing Sea Island with Meade cotton was dependent, how- 

 ever, upon the extent of cooperation that could be developed among 

 the farmers and ginners to provide the necessary facilities for pro- 

 ducing and maintaining an adequate supply of pure seed. 



EXTENDING THE CULTIVATION OF MEADE COTTON IN 1920. 



With the supply of pure seed still small, the distribution of small 

 lots for experimental plantings was discontinued in 1920. Seed 

 was sent out only to those localities in the Sea Island belt where 

 good results had already been secured and to responsible farmers 

 who could guarantee isolation for planting and the clean ginning 

 of the crop. 



In addition to these precautions, most of the successful coopera- 

 tors of 1919 agreed to confine as far as possible the sale of their 

 seed to their own immediate locality and to those farmers who could 



