UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
q BULLETIN No. 946 
m 
Contribution from the Bureau of Markets 
GEORGE LIVINGSTON, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER 
February 21, 1921 
COMPARATIVE SPINNING TESTS OF MEADE AND 
SEA ISLAND COTTONS. 
By Wm. R. Meadows, Cotton Technologist, and W, G. Blair, Assistant in Cotton 
Testing. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Introduction 1 
Purpose of the spinning tests 2 
Grade and staple of cotton 2 
Mechanical conditions 3 
Page. 
Percentages of waste 3 
Breaking strength of yarns 4 
Summary 5 
The ravages of the boll weevil have reduced the annual production 
of Sea Island cotton in the United States from 92,619 bales in 1917 
to 6,916 in 1919, and the prospect for the crop of 1920 indicates an 
even lower figure. From present indications it is feared that the 
entire industry may be destroyed within the next few years. How- 
ever, the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United States Department 
of Agriculture has developed a new variety of cotton which promises 
to replace the rapidly diminishing Sea Island crop. This new va- 
riety is known as " Meade." 
The introduction of new varieties of cotton is usually attended with 
many difficulties because growers and manufacturers are reluctant 
to change from a well-known variety which has given satisfactory 
results for many years to another variety that is in the experimental 
stage of development. Such was the condition which prevailed at 
the time that the Meade cotton was first introduced in the Sea Island 
districts. The principal reason for experimenting with this new 
variety was to prepare for the damage that was expected would re- 
sult to Sea Island cotton if the boll weevil should reach this region. 
It is thought that Meade has now been established on a commercial 
basis and that its future production is assured. 
The Meade cotton was developed during 1912 and subsequent years 
from what was known locally as " Blackseed " or " Black Rattler " 
Note. — This bulletin is of interest to the growers, cotton merchants, dealers, and 
manufacturers of Meade and Sea Island cottons. 
27917° — 21 
