MARKETING COTTON SEED FOR PLANTING PURPOSES. 5 
and preserving the varietal purity and identity of cotton seed to be 
used or sold for planting purposes. 
Xo attempt should be made to gin cotton that is " green " or that 
has become damp, as it is difficult to prevent the seed from such cot- 
ton from becoming " heated " in storage. An important precaution- 
ary measury which always should be kept in mind is the prevention 
of the admixture of varieties at the gin. Before changing from one 
variety to another the roll box should be emptied and, together with 
the flues, feeders, conveyers, bins, should be thoroughly cleaned. 
This factor has been discussed fully in a previous publication of the 
United States Department of Agriculture. 4 
DELINTING. 
Delinting is one of the most important factors essential to the 
preparation of the ideal planting cotton seed. It is evident that any 
process which removes the surplus lint without impairing the germi- 
nation is of prime importance in the improvement of cotton seed for 
planting purposes and the same interest should be manifested in de- 
linting as in maintaining the purity of variety, trueness to type, or 
other factors pertaining to the cotton from which the seed is selected. 
From a commercial point of view, delinting offers dealers an op- 
portunity to improve the quality and intrinsic value of their product 
and to maintain the grade of it at a higher level than the average 
farmer's stock or what is termed " gin-run " seed. 
AGKICTJLTURAL ADVANTAGES. 
The delinting process offers decided possibilities for bettering 
agricultural practice. It promotes a uniform stand of plants by en- 
abling the seed to germinate more quickly and with the aid of less 
moisture. In " gin-run " seed, regardless of variety or strain, there 
is usually a wide variation in the quantity of lint left on the in- 
dividual seeds, as is shown in figure 1, a and c. When planted, the 
seeds with the shortest lint on them come into closer contact with the 
soil moisture and germinate more quickly than those containing ex- 
cessive lint. The delinted seeds, containing a small, uniform quantity 
of very short lint or fuzz (see figure 1, h and d), germinate at prac- 
tically the same time and produce a more nearly perfect stand of 
plants at least two or three days earlier. This is of value in growing 
cotton in the presence of the boll weevil because every day gained 
in getting the plants above the ground increases the prospects of 
obtaining a profitable yield. Delinting materially assists in the 
emergence of cotton seedlings. In germinating the seed is forced up 
4 Saunders, D. A., and Cardon, P. V. : Custom Ginning as a Factor in Cottonseed De- 
terioration, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 288. 1915. 
