UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
syJ^'^\J-u 
m BULLETIN No. 1056 
Contribution from the Bureau of Markets and 
Crop Estimates 
H. C. TAYLOR, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
April 5, 1922 
MARKETING COTTON SEED FOR PLANTING PURPOSES. 
By J. E. Babe, Investigator in Marketing Seeds. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Sources of supply 2 
Selection of seed stocks 3 
Preparation 4 
Ginning 4 
Delinting 5 
Recleaning and grading 12 
Sacking 16 
Storage __: 16 
Warehouse should be ventilated- 17 
Storing in sacks: : 17 
Stacking 18 
Germination 18 
Causes of low germination 19 
Making tests 19 
Page 
The shipping tag 20 
The lot number 20 
Selling 21 
Extravagant claims undesira- 
ble 21 
True names for varieties 22 
Renaming varieties 22 
Sales on basis of weight vs. 
measure 22 
Certified cotton seed__ 23 
Summary 23 
The area devoted to the production of cotton in the United States 
annually averages 35,000,000 acres. To plant this acreage requires 
approximately 500,000 tons or a billion pounds of seed, about one- 
tenth of the average total annual production. It has been estimated 
that normally 30 per cent of this total planting requirement is ob- 
tained by farmers from commercial sources, 70 per cent being pro- 
duced on the farm where used. 
The number of persons and concerns dealing in cotton seed for 
planting purposes and the total volume of their annual business have 
increased steadily. However, comparatively little effort has been 
made to improve the commercial and agricultural value of their 
stock. It is true that a limited number of growers and dealers are 
endeavoring to develop either new varieties or improved strains of 
standard varieties ; but the possibilities of enhancing the commercial 
and agricultural value of cotton seed by better methods of preparing, 
storing, and marketing have been oA^erlooked or neglected. As a 
83460—22 1 
