H. G. Hastings & Co., Seedsmen, Atlanta, Georgia. 
9 
How Many “Thief Plants” Do You G row? 
On the opposite page (8) are reproductions from two photographs 
taken of plants in our variety tests. Same variety and the two plants 
grew within five or six feet of each other In the same row. They are an 
object lesson and the worst of It is that just such differences are shown in 
practically every cotton field In the South. The plant on the left Is a 
mighty profitable plant for any cotton grower, and the other Is a ' loser” 
from the start. We call plants like the one on the right ‘‘thief plants.” 
They steal the cotton grower’s money just as much as a •‘plek-pocket” 
does, and what's worse, the farmer lets these kind of plants steal his 
money and never knows it, or If he realizes It, never takes any steps to get 
the “thief plant” off his place. He don't destroy these plants, the pick¬ 
ers go through, the seed cotton from these “thief plants” goes In with 
the rest, is ginned together with the seed cotton and Is planted again the 
following spring to produce more “thief plants” In the next crop. 
How many seeds of “thief plants” have you got in the seed set aside 
for next spring’s planting? Do you know? 
On a big boll basis it takes about 18 to 20 bolls per plant to make a 
bale per acre; from 25 to 80 bolls per plant for the small boll varieties. The 
average yield per acre Is around 190 pounds of lint, less than 2-5 of a bale 
per acre. Making all allowances for the slovenly, wasteful cultivation iff 
the “nigger and mule” system, there are alwayssome plantsln every aver¬ 
age crop that “make” at the rate of a bale per acre. If one does it, why 
don’t the rest of them do It under exactly the same conditions? We will 
tell you. It’s because the seed has not been ‘ bred up” to the bale per acre 
or more class. It’s because the crops are full of the 2, 4 or 6 boll per plant 
stalks. We are seedsmen and make our living fiom selling seeds, but this 
is not “hot air” talk just to sell seeds. In our plant-breeding work we get 
rid of these “thief plants” that steal from us all. You know that what we 
say and what these two photographs show Is duplicated in your fields of 
cotton every year. If you don’t realize It now just go through your fields 
next August and September and see how many 2 to 8 boll plants you find 
and how mighty few 20 to 60 boll plants are there. 
We don’t know a farmer that would not be more than pleased to grow 
IH to 2 bales per acre. The plant on the left Is making fully 2 bales per 
acre. It’s a question of right seed with prolific qualities bred in them. 
Y'ou may thlux that cultivation and plenty of fertilizer does it all. It 
don’t. Both these plants had exactly the same chance so far as lend, cul¬ 
tivation and fertilizer goes. One plant had prolific blood, the other 
didn’t, and if we had put on a ton of high grade fertilizer per acre It 
would have made mighty little difference to the plant on the right. It 
simply did not have the “breeding” to make a paying crop of cotton. 
When we talk about a man that belongs to some prominent family 
that has done something of note, has distinguished himself in some way. 
It Is so often said, “It’s in the blood.” That’s exactly correct. It’s In the 
blood, and the same natural law that makes one man a useful citizen and 
the other a‘no account,” worthless specimen of humanity runs through 
your cottra and corn fields. You have profitable plants and you have 
“thief p’ants.” 
The State can’t very well kill off the useless or worse than useless men 
and women thatare a drag on humanity, but you can get rid ofthe“thief 
plants” in your fields. We have seed that is not full of “thief plants.” 
Our careful, painstaking seed breeding, selection and careful seed grow¬ 
ing cleans them out. It’s our business to do this kind of work. You are 
frequently advised by agents of your State and the United States Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture to select your own seed. That’s mighty good advice 
but why take the several years necessary to bring up your seed when you 
can reach the quality you want In one season buying from us? We have 
been at this for years. “Thief plants” don’t grow In our seed fields. 
A Scientific Cotton Expert’s Opinion 
No man in the United States is better posted on cotton both from a scientific standpoint and that of an actual, practical cotton grower than Is Prof. 
R. J. H. DeLoach, Professor of Cotton Industry in the State College of Agriculture of Georgia. Professor DeLoach is no stranger to tens of thousands 
of Georgia farmers who have met him at Farmers’ Institutes all over Georgia during the last three years. Over one hundred thousand readers of the 
! Southern Ruralist profited by his exceptionally interesting series of articles on cotton growing published during the spring of 1910. Personally we 
i would rather take his opinion on cotton growing and breeding than any man in this country. Our expert in charge of our cotton breeding work, Mr. 
I D. S. Starr, studied several years under Prof. DeLoach at Athens. Prof. DeLoach has been very much Interested In this cotton breeding work of ours 
and frequently visits our farms. He knows exactly what we are doing along the line of improvement of cotton seed and plant breeding. Following 
his last visit in 19i0 to the Hastings’ Farms we received this letter from him: 
Letters From Prof. R. J. H. DeLoach, State College of Agriculture 
Messrs. H. G. Hastings & Co., Atlanta, Ga. Athens, Ga., October 31, 1910. 
Gentlemen:—My last visit to your seed trial farm on October 14th impressed on me the possibilities of the 
great good that must result from the work you are doing, and for the encouragement of which I must give the im¬ 
pression it made upon me. 
These seed trials and demonstration experiments in connection with the seed business is a new enterprise in 
the South, and it strikes me as being the only possible way to make a close study of what you offer for sale In the 
way of farm crops and garden seeds. I thoroughly enjoyed going over the three thousand acres of land in Troup 
County now set aside to grow special seed from your stock. 
Most of the work I had the pleasure of looking over was the cotton breeding, showing the great necessity for 
careful selection and cultivation as well as fertilization to keep up good strains of cotton. It would not be exagger¬ 
ating to say you would average two and a half to three bales per acre on some of your plots planted with your 
specially selected seed. This shows that in order to get the best producing plants in a field you must go to the 
field with a knowledge of the plant and make intelligent selections for special points of improvements. In order to 
offer cotton seed for sale, one should have first-hand knowledge of the varieties and their rank. I counted the 
forty-two separate varieties in your trial grounds as they grew side by side, and could not help but be impressed 
by the enthusiastic way in which your expert in charge of the work (Mr. Starr) went about a study of these 
varieties. He showed me where he had planted one row each from seed from ten different plants selected from 
one of the best varieties and had gotten ten distinct types of cotton from the one variety. I looked carefully over 
this and could hardly believe it was possible to get such results. But this is just why the average cotton growers 
cannot fix a type of cotton. They do not understand the importance of showing how much variation there is in a 
given variety and then getting the average and working to fix that. The “one plant selection,” or the making of 
a new type from one plant selected out of a given variety, has been done for many years, and in fact most of the 
so-called varieties originated in this way. But that is not sufficient to fix your type. The progeny of the selected 
plant should be tested by the "plant to row” method till the desired type has been fixed, and rigid selection kept 
up. Here is where you have the great advantage of the farmer, viz: in having a man to do this special work; an 
expert who does nothing else. 
Very respectfully, R. J. H. DeLOACH, 
Professor of Cotton Industry, Georgia State Co lege of Agriculture. 
Prof. DeLoach, following his custom, kept in touch with Mr. Starr’s work during 191', and in reply to an in¬ 
quiry from us last fall, wrote us on Nov. 6th, 1911, as follows: 
“Replying to your favor of the 4th inst., I can only say that Mr. Starr’s work on your cotton breeding this year 
impressed me as being fully up to the standard that you have set for this work. He is at present thoroughly in 
line with the work and becomes each year more efficient, and in this meets my expectations. The way he has 
planned his work to follow up the progeny of his plant-to-row tests of last year are exceedingly interesting and I 
think ought to give some valuable results. I am also impressed with the way he is keeping his records of the work 
he is doing. This is half the battle in successful breeding and should be stressed always. 
“Very truly yours, R. J. H. DeLOACH.” 
