ONE-VARIETY COTTON COMMUNITIES. 41 
also being organized, in order to secure to the farmers the full ad- 
vantages of producing better cotton and a higher quality of seed. 
A reason why the farmers did not better appreciate the need of 
maintaining their supplies of Meade seed is doubtless to be found in 
the local custom of renewing the stocks of Sea Island seed every two 
or three years from the South Carolina Sea Island plantations on 
the islands near Charleston. It was the general belief in the Georgia 
and Florida Sea Island districts that the quality of the fiber de- 
teriorated when grown on the mainland and was found to ;; run out." 
so that new seed must be purchased every few years. The reason for 
the deterioration of the quality of Sea Island cotton on the mainlan< I 
was not generally recognized, but was largely because the growers 
failed to isolate their Sea Island cotton from short-staple Upland 
cotton, which commonly was grown on the same farms and often in 
adjacent fields. Although the seed did not go to the same gins, 
crossing took place in the fields, and only a few seasons were needed 
to mongrelize the Sea Island crop. 
On the other hand the former growers of fine Sea Island cotton on 
the islands around Charleston, who supplied the new seed for the 
mainland districts, had a system of their own for maintaining the 
high quality and uniformity of their product. They grew only 
Sea Island cotton, selected their planting seed every year, and ginned 
their crop on their own private gins. This may be considered as the 
last genuine survival of the old plantation system of private gins. 
Although private plantation gins still exist in other districts, where 
Upland cotton is grown, they seem not to be utilized for maintaining 
supplies of pure seed. 
The islands around Charleston were also the last of the Sea Island 
districts to be invaded by the boll weevil, and to this fact is attrib- 
uted much of the difficulty of producing an adequate supply of pure 
Meade seed. The mainland growers had not been accustomed to 
maintain their own seed supplies and growers of seed on the islands 
around Charleston did not appreciate the necessity of substituting the 
Meade variety until their Sea Island cotton had been destroyed by 
the weevils. 
Xow that the boll weevil has invaded the islands better progress is 
being made with the Meade cotton, as evidenced by the number of 
former Sea Island growers who are planting it on a large scale this 
year. With favorable results there is every prospect that the essen- 
tials of community production may be met with the Meade cotton, at 
least to the extent of maintaining the seed supplies. 
The idea that the Sea Island or the Meade cotton might be grown 
in the Southwest instead of Egyptian cotton has naturally suggested 
itself, but neither of these long-fiber types has shown promise in the 
irrigated valleys where the Egyptian cotton thrives. The plants 
