Jan. 1908.] 



13 



FIBRES. 



COTTON SEED SELECTION, 1906-7. 



The great importance of seed selection, in the cultivation of Sea Island 

 cotton has, for a long time been recognized, and even in the cultivation of the 

 ordinary qualities of cotton, seed-selection is assuming a very prominent position. 

 It has long been known that wherever a large number of plants of the same variety 

 are grown together, slight variations are always to be found, and that is parti- 

 cularly noticeable in a cotton field. Usually the variations are not of a very pro- 

 nounced nature, but when each year those plants are selected which show a desir- 

 able variation, however slight it may be, the ultimate result will be an improve- 

 ment in the produce as a whole. Such has been the case with the Sea Island cotton 

 seed selection experiments that have been carried on from year to year in the 

 Sea-Island cotton-growing districts of America. The cause of the variations which 

 take place in the plants of the same species grown together cannot definitely be 

 stated, but probably a number of different factors are responsible for them. The 

 tendency to produce variation, as shown by Sea Island cotton, however, demands 

 attention for two reasons : First, since it is of great service in affording material 

 for developing special varieties of plants and desirable qualities of cotton ; and 

 secondly, because— owing to this varying character of the individual plants— unless 

 seed for planting purposes is specially selected from individual plants, the cotton 

 will become less uniform in quality in each year, and so of less value. The method 

 adopted in these experiments has been frequently referred to in the pages of the 

 Agricultural News ; and in the "West Indian Bulletin (Vol. VII. p. 153) this method 

 has been described at some length. Briefly, it is as follows : Each plant in the 

 field is carefully examined as regards its general growth, freedom from disease, 

 prolificness, and quality of cotton produced, and those plants which are most 

 satisfactory in these characters are carefully marked. The seed-cotton from these 

 plants is then picked separately, and subjected to a very critical examination ; 

 the best samples are determined, and from these the seed is obtained. The next 

 season, this seed is planted in a nursery in order to produce enough for general 

 planting purposes. All the remaining samples are discarded. When these experi- 

 ments are conducted on any estate for the first time, each field must be very care- 

 fully examined for specially good plants ; but when the experiments have been 

 carried on during the previous season, the plants in the nursery only are examined. 

 The number of plants which are examined on an estate where the experiments are 

 being carried on for the first time is naturally very large. Since about 4,000 plants 

 is the number usually grown per acre, this means that if 20 acres of cotton are 

 gone over, it will necessitate the consideration of many as 8C,000 plants. The 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture has been very active in taking this work in 

 hand, for, from the first it was realised that if the industry was to be successful, 

 it would be necessary to start experiments, and to supply seed of the highest 

 Possible quality. In the season of 1905-6, seed-selection experiments were com- 

 menced in Barbados ; and during that year they were conducted on seven estates. 

 In the season 1906-7 the work was extended to ten estates in this island. During 

 this season experiments were also started on five estates in St. Vincent, and a few 

 plants have been selected at the experiment stations in Antigua, St. Kitt's, and 

 Montserrat. In Barbados during the season of 1905-6, the number of plants selected 

 in the field were 264, but as a result of the final examination, seed was selected 

 from only fourteen of these. In 1906-7, 224 plants were selected in the field, and 

 from these, twenty-six were finally selected for seed purposes. During this same 

 season in St. Vincent, 102 plants were selected in the field, seed being obtained 



