Bales. 
1919 6. 916 
1920 1, 868 
2 BULLETIN" 1030, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
fiber under favorable conditions l^J inches long, of fine texture and 
quality, and remarkably like the Sea Island cotton. Moreover, on 
account of its nearly smooth seeds Meade cotton can be handled on 
the regular Sea Island gins. 
DECLINE OF THE SEA ISLAND INDUSTRY. 
The spread of the boll weevil to include the entire Sea Island sec- 
tion of the Southeastern States was foreseen several years ago, and 
it was generally conceded that the rank-growing, late-fruiting habits 
of the Sea Island cotton would make it particularly susceptible to 
injury from this pest. That this prediction is being rapidly fulfilled 
and that the complete destruction of the Sea Island industry is 
threatened are indicated by the rapid decline in the production of 
this fiber, as follows : 
Bales. 
1916 111, 559 
1917 92, 619 
3918 - 52, 208 
With the increasing demand for high-grade fiber for war purposes 
the situation became acute, and efforts to preserve the industry were 
made by the United States Department of Agriculture in coopera- 
tion with the State agricultural experiment stations in the Sea Island 
belt. Only two avenues of approach seemed open — either the devel- 
opment of an early strain of Sea Island cotton, from which profitable 
crops could be grown in the presence of the boll weevil, or the substi- 
tution of an Upland variety that combined the superior cultural 
features of this type with a fiber comparable in length and fineness to 
the Sea Island. 
VALUE OF MEADE COTTON AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR SEA ISLAND 
DEMONSTRATED. 
The favorable results from the first experimental plantings in 
1916 with Meade cotton on the Sea Islands around Charleston, S. C, 
led to small commercial plantings the following season at several 
points in Georgia. Since 1917 the area devoted to Meade cotton has 
been steadily increasing, but not so rapidly as was at first expected, 
owing to the failure of many farmers to appreciate the necessity 
of separating the fields of Meade from other cotton and ginning 
the crop on a clean gin. The consequent mixing and loss of purity 
of the stock have prevented the rapid increase in supplies of pure 
seed that would have been possible if the necessary precautions had 
been taken. 
During the five years that Meade cotton has been grown in the 
Southeastern States it has continued to demonstrate its value as a 
substitute for the Sea Island. Where definite comparisons have been 
possible it has produced at least twice as much as the Sea Island 
