14 BULLETIN 332, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
has made it practicable to maintain thus far a satisfactory degree 
of uniformity in the variety. 
SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION. 
As the work of establishing the new industry progressed it became 
apparent that the economic and agricultural problems could best be 
met by enlisting the cooperation of several men representing differ- 
ent lines of experimental work in the Department of Agriculture, 
each of whom was able to contribute special knowledge and experi- 
ence. The cooperation was at first informal, but later, as the re- 
sponsibilities increased, it was thought advisable to create a special 
committee to carry on this work. A " Committee on Southwestern 
Cotton Culture " was therefore appointed in 1910 by the Chief of the 
Bureau of Plant Industry. 1 
It has been the policy of the committee since its organization to 
avoid a sharp segregation of the different fields of investigation. 
As a result, each member has felt free to offer suggestions and even 
to assume responsibility beyond the limits of his own field, while 
the more important issues which have successively arisen in connec- 
tion with the establishment of the industry have been decided by 
the whole committee. It is believed that this committee coopera- 
tion has been of the greatest importance in the successful establish- 
ment of the industry, since it has resulted in focusing upon the 
problems the different points of view and different mental equipment 
and training of several independent investigators. 
1 The following is the personnel of the committee : 
C. S. Scofield, Agriculturist in Charge of Western Irrigation Agriculture. Mr. Scofield 
is chairman of the committee, and in addition has charge of those phases of the work 
which involve cooperation with the United States Reclamation Service. He has also 
conducted certain investigations of market conditions in the United States and in 
Europe. 
W. T. Swingle, Physiologist in Charge of Crop Physiology and Breeding Investigations. 
Mr. Swingle has charge of those phases of the work which involve cooperation with the 
Office of Indian Affairs, including the arrangements for securing Indian labor. The Co- 
operative Testing and Demonstration Garden at Sacaton, Ariz., where plant-breeding work 
with cotton is now centered, is under Mr. Swingle's direction. Mr. E. W. Hudson, 
superintendent of this garden, has taken a very active part in the establishment of the 
industry and has been in constant touch with the growers in the Salt River Valley. 
O. F. Cook, Bionomist in Charge of Crop-Acclimatization and Cotton-Breeding Investi- 
gations. Mr. Cook conducts investigations of the factors involved in the acclimatization 
of different types of cotton in the Southwest and of the relation of these factors to cul- 
tural methods. He has also taken the lead in developing the idea of community cotton 
growing as a means to the maintenance of uniform varieties. 
T. H. Kearney, Physiologist in Charge of Alkali and Drought Resistant Plant Investiga- 
tions. Mr. Kearney has charge of the breeding work with Egyptian cotton and of the 
investigations of the effect of alkali and other soil conditions upon the production of 
this crop. 
C. J. Brand, Chief of the Office of Markets and Rural Organization. In 1912, when 
the problem of marketing the first commercial crop became acute, Mr. Brand, at that 
time in charge of the cooperative cotton handling and marketing investigations of the 
Bureau of Plant Industry, became a member of the committee. Mr. Brand has charge 
of the investigations in classing, marketing, and transportation. 
