BuBEAu OF Agbiculttjee. 201 



to discover tlie cause and to apply the remedy; and to- 

 day Syd L. Dodds is the biggest grower and shipper of 

 cotton in the State of Kentucky. The story of his suc- 

 cess in growing cotton is interesting, and proves that 

 his wonderful crops are the result of careful' study and 

 thorough investigation, rather than the discovery that 

 certain, lands in his county would grow cotton. 



Something over twenty years ago Mr. Dodds wetit 

 from his home in Hickman to the Delta of Mississippi, 

 where he engaged in the lumber and live stock busi- 

 ness, and later the cotton business. He and his brother, 

 K. E. Dodds, compared the low lands of Fulton county, 

 Kentucky, with the lands surrounding the little town in 

 Mississippi, which was name "Doddsville" after Syd 

 L. Dodds went there to live, and found a marked simi- 

 larity. They then decided to give cotton a try-out in 

 Kentucky, and at once procured the best seed to be 

 had in Mississippi, and planted it in the lowlands be- 

 tween Hickman and Eeelfoot Lake. The new crop 

 started in a way that was very gratifying to its spon- 

 sors. The growth was strong and healthy, and exceed- 

 ingly well-fruited, but it developed that it would not 

 "open" early enough in the northern climate to escape 

 the frost, and the result was disastrous. It then oc- 

 curred to Syd L. Dodds that if he could acclimate the 

 southern crop to new conditions, he could make it a suc- 

 cess. He accordingly planted again the next season, 

 and had seed carefully selected from the earliest ma- 

 turing cotton, which was not damaged by the frost, for 

 the next season's planting; and while the yield from his 

 cotton was small, he had now a supply of seed which he 

 beileved would grow quicker maturing cotton than 

 those secured from southern cotton, and his surmise was 

 correct. The next year, long before frost came, snowy 

 fields of long-staple cotton w^s a reality in Kentucky, 

 and later Syd L. Dodds sold to one planter in Missis- 

 sippi, at one time, $10,000 worth of cotton seed, because 

 Kentucky cotton matured earlier than Mississippi 

 cotton. 



As soon as it was found that they could successfully 

 grow cotton at hoiae, the Dodds brothers built a small 



