SPINNING TESTS OF UPLAND LONG-STAPLE COTTONS. 3 
not be drawn until corresj^onding tests can be made from the crops 
of other years and on samples of the same varieties grown under 
different conditions. 
In order to determine how the best strains of the new varieties 
actually compared in spinning value with Delta cottons, arrange- 
ments were made in the fall of 1912 for conducting a series of spin- 
ning tests in cooperation with the New Bedford Textile School, New 
Bedford, Mass. Owing to the miscarriage of two bales in transit, the 
tests, which were made in May, 1913, included only five bales. These 
represented four different varieties or strains grown in three entirely 
distinct regions of production. Two of the bales are of similar origin 
and represent an early and a late picking, with different methods of 
handling the seed cotton. The tests showed these Upland cottons to 
be of such high quality that publication of the results was withheld 
with the intention of making similar tests on a much larger number 
of samples and varieties from the crop of 1913. Such tests should 
show whether the exceptional quality of some of the bales in the first 
experiments was due in any degree to seasonal conditions. 
A very serious situation, however, now confronts the long-staple 
cotton growers in the Southeast, in view of the fact that the crop 
the Delta suffered comparatively little from weevil injury during the 
past season. The prejudice of the spinners still persists against Up- 
land staple from the Southeast, the movement of the crop of 1913 
has been exceedingly slow, and during the latter part of the picking 
season prices were very little above those of short cottons. There 
is a serious disposition to abandon the long-staple industry just as 
it is becoming well established on a thoroughly sound basis in the 
new territory. These conditions make it advisable that both spin- 
ners and growers be given all the information in the possession of 
the department concerning the value of the new Upland staples. The 
results of the spinning tests thus far made are accordingly presented 
herewith. 
THE VARIETIES TESTED. 
The five bales of cotton actually tested were : One bale of Durango, 
grown on the Brazos bottoms near Waco, Tex. ; one bale of Colum- 
bia, grown by C. H. Carpenter, near Easley, S. C ; one bale of Lewis, 
grown by E. P. Lewis, of Gastonia, N. C. ; two bales of Webber, 
grown by E. W. Evans, Bennettsville, S. C, from highly-bred seed 
produced by J. L. Coker & Co., Hartsville, S. C. Of these two bales, 
Webber No. 1 was from cotton ginned in November immediately 
after picking, and Webber No. 2 was from a pile of about 0.000 
pounds of seed cotton picked about October 1 and stored six weeks 
before ginning. 1 
1 For history of this storage experiment see : Brand, C. J., and Sherman, W. A., Be- 
havior of seed cotton in farm storage. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant 
Industry, Circular 123-B. 1913. 
