CHAPTER VI 

 COTTON BREEDING 



It has been only within recent years that the farmers' 

 interest in cotton breeding has been stimulated. Eiveq. 

 now the great mass of cotton farmers rely almost wholly 

 upon better methods of tillage, fertilization, and drainage 

 for increased yields. "Good seed" is the least appreciated 

 of the important factors in cotton production. 



There is probably 'no field crop more easily modified by 

 breeding methods or by environment than is cotton. 

 The first great triumph in securing a desirable modification 

 of the cotton plant was the production of annual crops 

 from the perennial tree-cottons. This permitted cotton 

 cultivation to be carried beyond the natural geographical 

 area of the genus, thus vastly increasing the possibility of 

 its production. 



57. Reasons for breeding cotton. — The object of 

 cotton breeding is the production of strains or varieties 

 that are better adapted to specific conditions or require- 

 ments. The ultimate benefits are increased yield and 

 better quahty. The mere production of new kinds of 

 cotton without regard to merit is not cotton breeding in 

 its truest sense. 



58. Need of improvement in cotton. — The great 

 number of cotton farmers use any cotton seed without 

 regard to variety and witl^out practicing any selectidn. 

 This seed as taken from the gin is, in most cases, badly 

 mixed and of very low quahty. Much of it has been ob- 



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