COTTOX EBEEDING 307 



effected by the more painstaking method described in 

 paragrapli 278. 



275. Qualities needing improvement. — Selection or 

 breeding is capable of impro\'ing the cotton plant in every 

 desirable Cjuahty. Among those chrections in which im- 

 provement should be sought are the follo^^ing : — 



(1) Increase in the yield of Unt ; 



(2) Increased earliness; 



(3) Increase in size of boll ; 



(4) Greater length of hnt ; 



(5) More unifornhty in the length of hnt ; 



(6j Improvement in the form of plant or method of 

 branching ; 



(7) Increase in the percentage of lint of some varieties ; , 

 and 



(8) Greater resistance to diseases. 



276. Some antagonistic qualities. — Some of the cjuali- 

 ties just mentioned tend to exclude other desirable ones. 

 The ioUo\\'ing pairs of qualities are generally antagonistic; 

 that is, rarely, if ever, found in the same individual plant : — 



(1) Extreme earliness is opposed to extremelv large 

 bolls. 



(2) Extreme earliness is usually not associated mth the 

 highest yields of lint, except when the fruiting season is 

 shortened by early frost or by the presence of the boll- 

 weevil. 



(3) Great length of lint excludes the probability of a 

 high percentage of lint. 



(4) A high percentage of hnt is seldom found in varieties 

 or strains ha^^ng large seeds. 



As a rule, any progress 'nimpro^dng one of these characters 



