2 BULLETIN 60, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
also of better quality. These possibilities have had abundant demon- 
stration in many districts of the cotton belt, as well as in the newly 
settled irrigated regions of the Southwest. It now rests largely with 
the commercial world of manufacturers and the buyers to determine 
what kind of fiber the farmer shall produce. 
The fear that the boll weevil will put an end to the production of 
long-staple cotton in the United States may be dismissed. The de- 
velopment of new, early-maturing varieties and the discovery of 
improved cultural methods for shortening the growing season are 
making it possible to produce excellent crops of long-staple cotton 
in the presence of the boll weevil. Indeed, in the presence of the 
weevil there are additional reasons for growing long staples instead 
of short staples. The extra care and precautions that are required 
to protect the cotton against the weevil make it possible to produce 
a better staple. Thus the growing of long-staple cotton, to sell at 
a higher price, may be considered as a means of securing a return 
for the increased cost of production or the diminished yield that may 
be caused by the boll weevil. 1 
THE NEED OF DISCRIMINATION IN BUYING. 
With the solution of the biological and agricultural problems of 
cotton improvement, it has become evident that another class of 
problems must be solved before any complete development of our 
resources of cotton production can be expected. These problems 
may be approached from the commercial side, as they are closely 
involved with the handling and marketing of the crop, but they have 
also a very important agricultural bearing that needs to be recognized 
in planning improvements of commercial conditions. Greater dis- 
crimination must be used in the buying of cotton before the farmers 
will put forth their best efforts toward the development of a new long- 
staple industry in the United States. 
Discoveries that have been made in the investigation of problems 
of acclimatization and breeding can be applied in commerce as well 
as in agriculture. Indeed, the commercial applications are likely to 
determine the extent of the agricultural utilization of the superior 
varieties that have been developed by acclimatization and breeding. 
The selection, or "roguing," that is necessary to maintain the purity 
and uniformity of varieties can be done much more easily and effect- 
ively by taking out the inferior plants early in the season. This not 
only improves the quality of the seed but also renders the fiber more 
uniform and more valuable for manufacturing purposes. The same 
method of field inspection can be used by the buyer to determine the 
quality of cotton that any field will produce, not only before it is 
picked, but even before the bolls are set. If selection has been 
i Cook, O. F. Cotton improvement under weevil conditions. U. S. Departmentof Agriculture, Farmers' 
Bulletin 501, 22 p., 1912. 
