2 BULLETIN 1056, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
continue to be more or less skeptical regarding it, on the basis of the 
increased prices usually asked. On the other hand, if commercial 
cottonseed for planting possesses superior qualities and honest efforts 
are made to prove its superiority, skepticism regarding its true value 
will not long remain in the minds of farmers. There is rarely, if 
ever, an oversupply of really superior seed, and no effort should be 
spared by commercial agencies and others to make the term " plant- 
ing cottonseed " stand for something of much greater agricultural 
value than the average cottonseed now used for planting, and thereby 
to render a distinct service to the cotton-growing industry. 
Ideal planting cottonseed may be described as seed selected from 
cotton that is true to type and pure of variety; well matured; free 
from disease and insects or insect injury; delinted; recleaned and 
graded; and with a minimum germination of 88 per cent. By 
pointing out some of the fundamental points in selecting, improved 
methods of preparing and storing, and ways of overcoming or elimi- 
nating some of the existing unfair and unscrupulous practices in sell- 
ing planting cottonseed, all classes of dealers may be aided in making 
their product approach more closely the ideal and farmers may be 
guided in determining its intrinsic value when making purchases. 
COMMERCIAL SEED SUPPLY 
The percentage of the total planting requirement of cottonseed 
that is sold commercially varies from year to year and is influenced 
largely by one or more of the following factors: (1) Extent of boll 
weevil and pink bollworm injury and expansion of the area in- 
fested, which creates an abnormal demand for seed of early maturing 
varieties grown in noninfested territory; (2) excessive and contin- 
ued rains during the harvest period, adversely affecting the germina- 
tion; (3) unfavorable weather conditions during the planting sea- 
son, necessitating more or less replanting ; (4) general prosperity of 
the cotton farmer; and (5) spasmodic changes in the acreage. The 
percentage obtained by farmers from commercial sources also varies 
greatly in the several cotton-producing States, as shown in Table 1 : 
Table 1. — Total quantity of cottonseed required for planting and estimated 
normal percentage and- quantity ootained from various sources 
State 
Virginia 
North Carolina 
South Carolina 
Georgia 
Florida 
Missouri 
Tennessee 
Alabama 
Mississippi 
Louisiana 
Texas 
Oklahoma 
Arkansas 
New Mexico 
Arizona 
California 
All other 
United States 
Total quantity 
required for 
planting 
Pounds 
4, 815, 000 
75, 564, 000 
87, 185, 000 
102, 267, 000 
2, 132, 000 
16, 768, 000 
36, 576, 000 
102, 762, 000 
100, 881, 000 
58, 310, 000 
442, 650, 000 
96, 528, 000 
111, 055, 000 
2, 520, 000 
3,660,000 
2, 600, 000 
1, 380, 000 
1, 247, 653, 000 
Produced on farm 
where used 
P.ct. 
47 
Pounds 
2, 263, 000 
52, 139, 000 
69, 748, 000 
81, 813, 000 
725,000 
3, 856, 000 
25, 603, 000 
78, 099, 000 
80, 705, 000 
44, 315, 000 
247, 884, 000 
44, 403, 000 
77, 738, 000 
756,000 
988,000 
234,000 
897,000 
176, 858, 000 
Obtained from other 
farmers 
P.ct. 
16 
17 
13 
12 
15 
13 
13 
11 
10 
13 
13 
20 
23 
10 
11 
6 
15 
Pounds 
770,000 
12, 846, 000 
11, 334, 000 
12, 272, 000 
320,000 
2, 180, 000 
4, 755, 000 
11, 304, 000 
10, 088, 000 
7,580,000 
57, 544, 000 
19, 305, 000 
25, 543, 000 
252,000 
402,000 
156,000 
207,000 
Obtained from 
dealers 
176, 918, 000 
P.ct. 
37 
14 
Pounds 
1, 782, 000 
10, 579, 000 
6, 103, 000 
8, 182, 000 
1, 087, 000 
10, 732, 000 
6, 218, 000 
13, 359, 000 
10, 088, 000 
6, 415, 000 
137, 222, 000 
32, 820, 000 
7, 774, 000 
1,512,000 
2, 270, 000 
2, 210, 000 
276,000 
258, 629, 000 
