SEED SELECTION OF EGYPTIAN COTTON. 
time, as well as the plants which appear less productive than the aver- 
age. If this procedure is generally followed, especially by those 
who expect to sell seed for planting, it is probable that the stock 
can be grown for many years without deterioration. Its length of 
life will depend chiefly upon the skill and thoroughness with which 
the roguing is done. Roguing the fields will be found advantageous, 
even if none of the seed is to be used for future planting, for a much 
more uniform crop of fiber can be obtained if the undesirable plants 
are removed. 
In addition to removing the very inferior plants from his fields, 
every cotton grower should seek to improve his seed by the selection of 
the best plants. He should go over the field when the bolls begin to 
open and mark those plants which are most fruitful and have the 
largest bolls and the longest, strongest, and most abundant fiber. The 
seed cotton from these plants should be gathered before each general 
picking and ginned with every precaution to prevent contamination. 
The seed thus obtained should be planted in a special plat for in- 
crease, and in this way a large supply of extra good seed will be 
available for general field planting the second year after the selec- 
tions are made. By systematically following this method of " bulk 
selection " the grower can greatly improve both the quantity and the 
quality of his product. 
WHAT THE GROWERS' ASSOCIATIONS SHOULD UNDERTAKE. 
While every farmer should do his best to keep his seed pure, it is 
not likely that all will have the time or the training requisite to do 
this thoroughly. Consequently, the stock is likely to fall off gradu- 
ally unless special provision is made by the community for a supply 
of pure seed. The associations should pick out a few of the best 
growers who have uniform land and are sufficiently skillful in man- 
aging irrigation and cultivation to keep the plants in an even condi- 
tion of growth throughout the field. Trained persons who know how 
to recognize at a glance the off-type and inferior plants should be 
employed to visit these fields frequently and to aid the grower in 
roguing them thoroughly at the right time. The associations should 
purchase the seed from these fields at a price commensurate with the 
extra work involved for sale to their members at a price to be deter- 
mined by the cost of the purchase and handling and the pay of the 
experts employed to secure proper roguing. Thus, a constant supply 
of the purest possible seed would be available in the valley to replace 
the gradually deteriorating seed of the majority of growers. 
Experience has shown that one of the chief causes of the deteriora- 
tion of cotton varieties is mixing at the gins. No amount of selection 
and roguing in the field will insure pure seed unless every precaution 
is taken to prevent subsequent mixing. The associations should there- 
