COTTON 



COTTON 



255 



out at a glance. When good plants 

 are observed, examine them care- 

 fully, and if they are up to what 

 is considered the highest stand- 

 ard, mark them by tying a strip 

 of white rag to one of the upper 

 limbs where it will show plainly. 

 The problem is to select from a 

 large field possibly about one hun- 

 dred of the best plants. In mark- 

 ing the plants the first time, prob- 

 ably two or three hundred will 

 be chosen. After this first pre- 

 liminary examination, the field 

 should be gone over a second time, 

 and the marks removed from 

 any plants which are not truly 

 superior plants, reducing the 

 total number probably to one 

 hundred marked plants. 



In this second examination, 

 attention should be given to 

 the amount of lint on the seed, 

 as this in general determines 

 the lint turn-out, and is im- 

 portant. The breeder should 

 be provided with a small 

 aluminum pocket-comb, about 

 four inches long, which can be 

 used to separate and straighten 

 out the fibers on the seed, so 

 that the covering or amount 

 of fibers becomes plainly visi- 

 ble, as well as the length of 

 the fiber. Every cotton-grower 

 should learn this method of 

 cotton-combing, as it is essen- 

 tial to the careful judging of 

 cotton. By using the fingers, 

 the cotton can be separated or 

 parted down the middle of 

 the seed; and then carefully 

 using the comb, holding the 

 fibers at their base meanwhile 

 to prevent their being torn oflf 

 the seed, the fibers can be 

 combed out straight, as shown 

 in Fig. 366. In this way, the 

 amount of lint on the seed, and 

 the length and uniformity of 

 length, become clearly visible 

 and easy to judge. The pro- 

 cess of combing requires some 

 practice before it can be' done 

 successfully, but it will well 

 repay the time spent in learn- 

 ing. As one goes over the 

 plants either the first or the 

 second time, several seeds 

 from different bolls on each 

 plant should be combed out, 

 and any plants discarded in 

 which the seeds are not well 

 covered with lint of good 

 length. In ordinary short- 



^-^ 



Fig. 366. Improvement in length and abun- 

 dance of lint pioduced by selection. A, Im- 

 ported Egyptian cotton; B, iirst - genera- 

 tion selection; C, second-generation selec- 

 tion. 



staple cotton, no plant should be 

 taken for seed which does not pro- 

 duce lint of at least one inch in 

 length. In the long-staple uplands, 

 the standard of length will neces- 

 sarily depend on the variety grown, 

 as some sorts produce l|-inch lint, 

 while others produce as high as 

 If-inch lint. 



In going over the select plants 

 the second time, take all these im- 

 portant points into consideration, 

 and retain only those which are 

 the very best plants and which 

 represent the highest ideal type. 

 These plants should be plainly 

 labeled and numbered, and the 

 product of each plant should 

 be picked separately in a paper 

 bag numbered to correspond 

 with the number on the plant. 

 The best bags to be used in 

 picking and preserving sepa- 

 rately the product of each of 

 the select plants are the ordi- 

 nary manila paperbags of about 

 eight -pound size, which can 

 ordinarily be purchased in any 

 grocery store. The first pick 

 can be made in these numbered 

 bags and preserved, and the 

 same bags can be taken to the 

 field and the second or later 

 picks placed in them, compar- 

 ing the numbers on the plants 

 and bags each time, to see that 

 the product of each plant is 

 kept together. 



Ginning the select plants.^- 

 At the close of the season 

 some special arrangement 

 should be made so that a 

 single gin can be disconnected 

 from the stand of gins and 

 used to gin these select plants. 

 The gin should be arranged so 

 that the seed cotton of a single 

 plant can be fed in and ginned. 

 After the product of each plant 

 is ginned, the seed should be 

 carefully collected and placed 

 back in its numbered bag. It 

 is highly important that the 

 seed from each select plant be 

 kept separate and free from 

 mixture with other seeds. 



Keeping records. — It is very 

 important, if the breeder is to 

 know what advance is being 

 made, that records be pre- 

 served showing the weight of 

 seed cotton and the lint pro- 

 duced by each select plant. 

 With these weights, the per- 

 centage of lint can, be deter- 



