16 BULLETIN 1467, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 
bale of Acala followed a bale of another variety. In addition to 
this obvious source of mixture, Acala from fields that had grown 
other varieties in previous years might contain cotton from ratoon 
or volunteer plants of the other variety, and where Acala fields were 
near fields of other varieties some mixture would have occurred 
through cross-pollination. Though the danger at the gin from this 
source is much less than from the ginning of cotton of another 
variety, it is nevertheless a tangible source of mixture. Conse- 
quently, the gin machinery was thoroughly cleaned whenever a bale 
of Acala from which the seed was to be saved for planting purposes 
followed a bale of Acala from which the seed could not be saved. 
Only 59.4 per cent of the valley cotton acreage consisted of Acala 
planted on clean isolated land so that the seed could be saved for 
planting purposes. Thus, seed from 40.6 per cent of the acreage was 
to go to the oil mill, though only 14.9 per cent of the acreage con- 
sisted of varieties other than Acala. 
The grower usually finds it necessary to gin promptly after a load 
of seed cotton has been picked, as he is likely to need his wagons 
to continue the picking operation. For this reason it was not prac- 
ticable to set aside special days for ginning varieties other than 
Acala. The other varieties constituted such a small part of the 
acreage that in order to devote a full day's ginning to. them the days 
would have had to be too far apart for the grower to hold over his 
cotton. 
Since it was also necessary to clean the gin machinery between 
bales of Acala, when seed to be saved for planting purposes followed 
seed to go to the oil mill, it was decided that there would be less 
time lost if the cotton were allowed to come to the gin indiscrimi- 
nately, and the gin machinery were thoroughly cleaned whenever a 
bale of Acala from which the seed was to be saved for planting pur- 
poses followed a bale that was not of the same character. 
There were only two gins in the valley, and as the association was 
able to make the same arrangements for taking care of the seed at 
both of them it allowed its members to take their cotton to either 
gin. Both gins agreed to do the ginning at the regular price. One 
of them, a two-story plant, had not previously handled association 
ginning, and in order to keep the association seed separate the bottom 
on the seed auger was hinged so that it could be quickly and thor- 
oughly cleaned. Bins for receiving the association Acala seed were 
provided at both gins. 
The gins were furnished with a list of all the valley cotton 
growers, designating the variety, acreage, and disposition of the 
seed. Seed from the Acala bales was designated as either oil-mill 
or planting seed. The gins agreed to clean thoroughly the cleaner, 
feeder, roll box, screw conveyor, and any other part where seed 
might lodge, whenever a bale designated as Acala planting seed 
followed a bale not so designated. Since the cotton frequently 
reached the gin in groups of like seed, it was not necessary to clean 
the gin machinery as often as might be supposed. 
A total of 990 bales was ginned from the 1922 crop, 850 bales of 
which were Acala, 130 Durango, and only 10 Mebane. The figures 
for 1921 were 219 bales of Acala, 216 Durango, and 292 Mebane, 
