COTTON BREEDING 313 



Methods of separating large and small or heavy and light seed. — 

 As cotton seed come from the gin, covered with a coat of fuzz, 

 they tend to cling together in masses. This renders it difficult, 

 without previous treatment of the seed, to separate the largest 

 from the others. 



Webber and Boykin recommend (U. 8. Dept. Agr., Farmer's 

 Bui. No. 285) the following treatment of the seed : A thin flour 

 paste is poured on the seed, which are then stirred or otherwise 

 agitated until every seed is covered. The fuzz is thus pasted 

 down to the huE.. After drying, the seed are in condition to be 

 easily separated in a fanning machine especially constructed so as 

 to blow out the lighter seed. Those which have been treated 

 with paste can be planted more thinly than otherwise, which is an 

 advantage in the subsequent thinning of the plant. 



The delinting of the seed, which consists in reginning them, as 

 is commonly done by oil mills, also makes it somewhat easier to 

 separate the individual seeds. 



LABORATORY EXERCISES 



1. If practicable, make a number of crosses, preferably among 

 varieties having easily recognizable features ; pupils who are es- 

 pecially interested may wish to plant the' resulting seeds and to 

 note the diversity among the plants. 



2. Students should copy the score-card below and by its aid 

 score the plants, — preferably by pairs, '^ — of several varieties. 

 This exercise needs frequent repetition, not so much to familiarize 

 the pupils with the score-card (which may be considerably 

 modified for special objects), but for the purpose (1) of directing 

 more careful attention to the characteristics of the different 

 varieties or strains, and (2) to train the eye and the mind to the 

 prompt recognition of the defects and valuable characteristics of 

 any cotton plant observed. 



SCOEE-CABD FOE COTTON 



The following is the score-card devised for the use of 

 students of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute : — 



