56 FIELD CROPS, FOR THE COTTON-BELT 



Department of Agriculture has demonstrated that disease 

 resistant varieties, of cotton can be produced by selection. 



(6) The plants shpuld yield"as large a percentage of lint 

 as possible. From 38 to 40 per cent is considered a high 

 percentage of lint. Most varieties produce a much smaller 

 percentage. 



Plants that have a tendency to produce excessive leaf 

 growth or to produce a large percentage of their bolls 

 near the top of the plant or on the outer ends of the 

 branches should be discarded. Such plants are late and 

 unproductive. 



62. Characters that determine quality. — It is not 

 suflBcient to increase the yield of seed cotton to the acre. 

 Profits are determined by the price received as well as by 

 the yield per acre. The quality of the fiber is an im- 

 'portant factor in the determination of its value. The 

 following characters are important in deternjiining quality: 



(1) Length of fiber. — Cotton fiber should be at least an 

 inch in length. This length of fiber is in greatest demand 

 as it supplies the needs of the general purpose market. For 

 the manufactiure of high grade fabrics, longer staple, such 

 as is produced by Sea Island or upland long-staple cotton 

 is required. However, the quantity called for is relatively 

 small as copipared with the requirement for 1-inch staple. 

 A plant producing fiber of less than one inch in length 

 should be discarded. 



(2) Uniformity in length of Uber. — Uniformity has a 

 direct commercial value in cotton. An intermixture of 

 short and long fiber has the effect of greatly reducing- the 

 value of the entire lot. It results in an xmdue amount of 

 waste in manufacturing. The length of the fiber not only 

 varies greatly as between the individual plants of an un- 

 improved variety, but different lengths of lint are often 



