MEADE COTTON REPLACING SEA ISLAND. 11 
the other to Sea Island cotton, and the conditions under which the 
plantings were made were as nearly alike as possible. The 1919 
season was marked by almost continuous rains in this section during 
July and August, accompanied by a heavy infestation of boll 
weevils. The yields from these plantings are shown in Table 2. 
The relative earliness of the Meade can be seen by a comparison of 
the yields on the several picking dates. 
RESULTS FROM 1919 PLANTINGS. 
While something like 3,000 acres had been planted to Meade cotton 
in 1919, not more than 500 acres had been given the required isolation 
to prevent possible hybridization with other varieties in adjacent 
fields. With such a small acreage for the production of pure seed 
it was evident that the expectations of developing a large supply 
for the 1920 plantings were not to be realized. It was also expected 
that from the remaining 2,500 acres of this cotton a large quantity 
of mixed fiber and seed would appear on the market and that the 
fiber and the seed as well might be sold as Meade, with further damage 
to the reputation for uniformity of the variety. To prevent this as 
far as possible brief statements were issued by the United States 
Department of Agriculture, summarizing the work that had been 
done with Meade cotton and advising buyers and manufacturers of 
the existence of the mixed stocks, so that the variety might not be 
condemned unjustly if mixed fiber was encountered (10). 
While the net results from the 1919 plantings were again disap- 
pointing from the standpoint of producing a large increase in the 
supplies of pure seed, the behavior of the crop continued to demon- 
strate the practicability of the use of Meade cotton as a substitute 
for the Sea Island variety under boll-weevil conditions. The prob- 
lem of replacing Sea Island with Meade cotton was dependent, how- 
ever, upon the extent of cooperation that could be developed among 
the farmers and ginners to provide the necessary facilities for pro- 
ducing and maintaining an adequate supply of pure seed. 
EXTENDING THE CULTIVATION OF MEADE COTTON IN 1920. 
With the supply of pure seed still small, the distribution of small 
lots for experimental plantings was discontinued in 1920. Seed 
was sent out only to those localities in the Sea Island belt where 
good results had already been secured and to responsible farmers 
who could guarantee isolation for planting and the clean ginning 
of the crop. 
In addition to these precautions, most of the successful coopera- 
tors of 1919 agreed to confine as far as possible the sale of their 
seed to their own immediate locality and to those farmers who could 
