ONE-VARIETY COTTON COMMUNITIES. 43 
that the best stocks that were obtainable in commercial quantities 
in California in 1920 were from seed of an isolated planting in 
Fresno County that had come three years before from the Pecos 
Valley in Xew Mexico, where Durango cotton has been grown since 
1915 and care has been taken to maintain the selection of the variety 
in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. 
The complete deterioration of other stocks of Durango seed in Cali- 
fornia under the usual conditions affords a further demonstration 
of effects of the system of mixed-variety plantings, only somewhat 
more striking than usual on account of the admitted superiority of 
this variety under the southwestern conditions, where it had proved 
to be better adapted than any of the eastern Upland sorts that pro- 
duce staple of equal length. 1J inches under favorable conditions. 
Durango has been the principal variety in the Pecos Valley of 
Xew Mexico since 1917, because of precautions of continued selec- 
tion, isolation of seed stocks from other varieties, and separate gin- 
ning. This valley has been the source of supply for large quantities 
of good Durango seed for several years, but unfortunately has been 
invaded by the pink bollworm, so that seed is not available for ship- 
ment to other regions on account of the danger of spreading this 
dangerous pest. Nevertheless, the Pecos Valley growers are striving 
to complete a one-variety organization on the basis of Durango 
cotton. 
The Xew Mexico College of Agriculture is assisting the growers 
in this effort and reported very favorable results in 1919 : 
Both short-staple and Durango cotton have been tested out for a number 
of years, with the result that now by far the largest per cent of all cotton 
produced in that district is Durango ; and many forces are being brought to 
bear to eliminate the growing of any other variety. 
In that season Durango cotton brought from 20 to 25 cents a pound 
more than short-staple varieties. An average yield of 1.35 bales to 
the acre was also reported for the three years that the variety had 
been grown at the Xew Mexico Agricutlural Experiment Station. 9 
A Durango cotton community was established in 1920 in Cameron 
County, Tex., in the lower Rio Grande Valley, in the region about 
Harlingen. on the basis of a carload of seed from Carlsbad, X. M.. 
and a report has been published that includes the following state- 
ment: 
This seed was planted by a large number of farmers under all conditions 
to be met with in the Lower Rio Grande Valley during the season of 1920. 
Reports from the growers to the county agent's office show that the new variety 
averages $27.56 greater acre value than the varieties commonly planted and that 
8 Stewart, Rupert L. Cotton growing. N. Mex. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 120, 16 p., 4 figs. 
1919. 
