ACALA COTTON IN CALIFORNIA 19 
particularly desirable precaution in irrigated districts, where some- 
thing might happen to the water supply. 
During the summer these fields were rogued carefully by depart- 
ment representatives and produced 47 bales, an average yield of 
slightly more than a bale to the acre. From each 500-pound bale 
of lint ginned there is approximately 1,000 pounds of seed, so these 
fields produced about 24 tons of seed which represented four suc- 
cessive years of roguing. Since only 1,259 acres of cotton were 
grown in the valley during 1922 and the 46 acres rogued produced 
enough seed to plant 2,400 acres, it was thought that the supply of 
rogued seed would be ample to plant the 1923 acreage, even though 
an increase was expected. 
The production of more rogued seed than is needed in the com- 
munity is not worth while or desirable. For the roguing operation 
to be effective the work must be done by those who are familiar with 
the variety and t}^pe and skillful in detecting slight differences among 
the plants. Unless the seed is to be planted in a one-variety com- 
munity, any effect of roguing will be lost in the next season, since 
the stocks are likely to be exposed to cross-pollination in the field 
and to mixture at the gin, unless special precautions are taken. 
In ginning cotton from the rogued fields, precautions were taken 
to prevent mixing the seed with that from other fields of Acala. 
Before the rogued cotton was ginned the machinery was thoroughly 
cleaned, and when several bales had been picked arrangements were 
made to get them to the gin together. The rogued cotton was usually 
ginned early in the morning in order to avoid holding up the regular 
ginning during the cleaning process, which takes tAvo hours or more. 
The seed was caught on the floor in front of the gin stands, sacked as 
ginned, and hauled to safe storage. 
The effort to improve the Acala seed stock, started in 1921 by the 
importation of five increase progenies from Texas, was continued in 
1922. A small breeding block of about seven-eighths of an acre was 
planted on the United States Experiment Date Garden. This block 
consisted only of seed produced in 1921 by the best one of the in- 
crease progenies (P-12-1 9-1-3) brought from Texas. Ten individ- 
ual plants had been selected from this row, and seed from each of 
these plants 'was planted in a row by itself. Such rows are referred 
to as progeny rows. Seed from the other plants in the row were 
picked together and used in planting the rest of the 1922 block. 
This block was carefully rogued during the growing season. Ad- 
ditional individual plants, or progenies, were selected in the fall, 
and the best one of the progeny rows was picked by itself. When 
seed from a progeny row is saved by itself it is referred to as an 
increase progeny. These progenies and the increase progeny saved 
were the best and most typical plants of the 1922 breeding block 
and were to be used for planting the 1923 breeding block. 
The cotton from the rest of the 1922 block was picked together, 
and the seed was to be used in planting the fields for roguing in 
1923, which fields were to furnish seed for planting the entire 
Coachella Valley in 1924. Cotton from the breeding block was, of 
course,- ginned only after the gin machiner}?- had been thoroughly 
cleaned. The seed was caught on the floor in front of the gin stands, 
