BULLETIN 294, U. S. DEPARTTME'N'T'CiF ^GMGULTUEE.: 
Score card for the cotton plant. ' " .'_ z? " ' " : 
The cotton plant. 
Score. 
Per- 
fect. 
Stu- 
dent's. 
.Cor- 
rected. 
Plant, vigorous, stocky, 25 points: 
Size, medium to large as influenced by soil, location, season, and variety 
Form, symmetrical, spreading, conical, height, and spread according to soil, 
etc 
Stalk, minimum amount of wood in proportion to fruit 
Branches, springing from base, strong, vigorous, in pairs short-jointed, in- 
clined upward : 
Head, well branched and filled, fruited uniformly 
Fruiting, 24 points: 
Bolls, large, abundant, uniformly developed, plump, sound, firm, well- 
rounded, apex obtuse, singly or m clusters. 
Number of bolls, according to" variety, soil, and season ... 
Bolls per plant, thin uplands, 10-20; fertile uplands, 20-25; "bottoms/' 
50-100; special selection, 100-500 . . 
Bolls p2r pound of seed cotton, large, 40-60; medium, 60-75; small, 80-110. . . 
Character of bolls, number of locks 3 to 5; kind of sepals: retention' of cotton. 
Opening of bolls, uniform including top crop, classify as good, medium, poor. 
Yield— standard 1 bale per acre, 30 points: 
Seed cotton, estimated by average plant, distance of planting, per cent of 
stand, plants per acre; thin uplands, 10.000; fertile uplands, 6,500; "bot- 
toms," 4,500; distance of plants 3| by li feet, 4^ by 1J feet, 4| by 2 feet, re- 
spectively .' 
Per cent lint, not less than 30, standard 33 to 35 .' 
Seeds, 30-50 per boll, large, plump, easily delinted, color, according to variety; 
germination not less than 95 per cent 
Quality and character of lint, 21 points: 
Strength, tensile strain good, even throughout length . . .. : 
Length, common standards for upland, short f to 1 inch, premium l^ to 
l^.inches: long staple, 1-& inches and better --.---■ 
Fineness, fibers soft, silky, and pliable, responsive to touch 
Uniformity, all fibers of equal length, strength, fineness 
Purity, color dead white; fiber free from stain, dirt, and trash. : : 
No. of plant 
Type 
Remarks on plant. 
Date 
Source. 
19. 
Name of student. 
When the head is full, on account of superabundance of long 
upright branches, cut a rnaximuni of three points. As these faults 
are less pronounced, reduce the cuts until for slight defects on these 
accounts a minimum cut of one-half point should be given, 
2. Prolificacy. 
In considering the fruitfuhiess of a plant or set of plants the term 
prolificacy can be used only in a relative sense. The plant possessing 
the greatest number and best-formed bolls should be given a rating of 
24, or perfect in this respect, while others should be cut more or less 
severely as the number of bolls they bear falls below that of the 
standard. The single or cluster arrangement of bolls should vary 
with the typical habit of the variety; some varieties are cluster 
bearers while others are noted for bearing bolls singly. Uniformity 
in which the bolls are arranged on any exhibit should be made the 
standard. Give an exhibit absolutely uniform in this respect 4 
points. As others are more or less irregular in this respect cut from 
1 to 1? points on the score card. 
