6 BULLETIN 324, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
uniform water supply, Durango cotton possesses a high degree of 
uniformity in length of staple. These qualities of yield and uni- 
formity of the Durango variety have warranted its general extension 
in the Imperial Valley, which has progressed rapidly since 1912. 
Table I shows the total cotton crop, in 500-pound bales, of the Im- 
perial Valley for the years 1909 to 1914, inclusive, the different sorts 
being specified. These figures are merely estimates, as no absolutely 
accurate data are available. 
TABLE I.—Cotton crop of the Imperial Valley, 1909 to 1914, inclusive, in bales. 
: Short BUDS me! 
Year. staple. epee p- | Egyptian. | Total crop. 
AQUOS. * 2 ato tee See ie eet se eee ee 5 CR eeeee Pesan =a se 350 
1910S OAS A CCR PP SCRAPS Seee Ree 40004232 4 ee eee 4,000 
LLY bi RE A eae ens he cf cm eae Oe Me Oe iN eis 8, 997 BD lecenspacnsen 9,000 
1QUD eos he ce Rd Be ee Base tees ee 6, 950 150 100 7, 200 
AOI ee ew os Sen ee Ra SIRS Sees See ea CROs 15, 500 6; 000) 152-2225 6-2 21,500 
AQTAR Sek S25 SE es See eet Be ee ee oe 34, 900 8, 000 100 43,000 
A number of other varieties of long-staple Upland cotton have been 
tried, either experimentally or in field plantings, but none of these 
varieties has proved as well suited to the conditions as the Durango 
cotton. Besides its superiority over other long-staple Upland vari- 
eties in greater uniformity of fiber and in larger size of boll, Durango 
cotton possesses cultural features which make it well adapted to irri- 
gation farming in the Imperial Valley.t 
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF LONG-STAPLE COTTON. 
When properly grown, Durango cotton has been found to give bet- 
ter net returns than short-staple cotton; that is to say, in equal yields 
of a bale or more per acre the Durango variety pays better than short- 
staple cotton, and it may be further stated that it is economically 
unsound practice, as well as unnecessary, to grow less than a bale of 
cotton to the acre in the Imperial Valley. Of some 600 growers in 
the Imperial Valley in 1914, probably 150 were growing Durango 
cotton. 
PROGRESS DUE TO ORGANIZED EFFORT. 
The chief purpose of this paper, in showing as clearly as possible 
how one community has been solving the problems of a developing 
agricultural industry, can best be served by a rather detailed dis- 
cussion of the history of the industry. It can be understood from 
what has already been stated that community organization has been 
largely responsible for the important advances made in the choice of 
superior varieties and in the attempted elimination of inferior ones. 
This is an example of the practical application of the plan of 
improving cotton production through community action. 
1Cook, O. F. Op. cit. 
