H. G. Hasti}i(^s Sr Co., Seed.<;v:eii. Atlantn. Georgia 
9 
A Scientific Cotton Expert’s Opinion 
No man in the United States Is better posted on cotton both from a scientlllc standpoint and that of an actual,practical cotton grower than is Prof. 
R. J. H. DeLoach, Professor of Cotton Industry lii the State College of Agriculture of Georgia. Professor DeLoaoh is no stranger to tens of thousands 
of Georgia farmers who have met him at Farmers’ Institutes all over Georgia during the last two years. Over one hundred thousand readers of the 
Southern Ruralist profited by his esceptl mally intaresting series of articles on cotton growing published during the spring of 1910. Personally we 
would rather take his opinion on cotton growing an 1 breeding than any man in this country. Our expert, in charge of our cotton breeding work, 
Mr. D. S. Starr, studied several years unier Prof. DeLoach at Athens. Prof. DeLoach has been very much interested in this cotton breeding work of 
ours an 1 frequently visits our farms, fie knows exactly what we are doing along the line of improvement of cotton seed and plant breeding. Fol¬ 
lowing his last visit to the Hastings’ Farms we received this letter from him; 
Letter From Prof. R. J. H. DeLoach, State College of Agriculture 
Athens, Ga., October 31st, 1910. 
Messrs. H. G. Hastings & Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
Gentlemen:—My last visit to your seed trial farm on October 11th impressed on me the possibilities of the great good that 
most result from the work you are doing, and for the encouragement of which I must give the impression it made upon me. 
These seed trials and demonstration experiments in coniection with the seed business is a new enterprise in <he 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 yonr stock. 
Most of the work I had the pleasure of looking over was the cotton breeding, showing the great necessity for careful selec¬ 
tion and cultivation as well as fertilization to keep up good strains of cotton. It would not be exaggerating to say you would aver¬ 
age two and a half to three bales per acre on some of your plats planted with yonr 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 selec¬ 
tions for special points of improvement. In order to offer cotton seed for sale, one should have first-hand knowledge of the varie¬ 
ties 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 bo impressed by the enthusiastic way in which your expert ia charge of the work (Mr. Starr) went about a study of these 
varieties. He showed me where he had planted one row each fro.m seed fro:n 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 fi.x a type of cotton. They do not nn- 
dcr.stand 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 ii fact most of the so-called varieties originated ia 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 selec¬ 
tion 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. 
I was particularly pleased with the arrangements of yonr new house for storing and ginning the many interesting samples of 
cotton now being collected from the field. Mr. Starr tells me that he intends to gin seed separately from as many as a thousand 
plants. Among these he showed me some with two hundred and fifty to three hundred bolls each. This part of the work looked 
very encouraging to me, as I have often told you that where the public is benefited everybody is benefited, and I am sure that 
yon are determined to got good results and share them with the public. Keep this np, and I feel sure you will experience the sub¬ 
stantial growth ia your business to which you are entitled. Very respectfully, K. J. II. DeLOACII, 
Professor of Cotton Industry, Georgia State College of Agriculture. 
How Many “Thief Plants” Do Yon Grow? 
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 
migh y 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 ju-t as much as a “pick-pocket” 
does, and what’s wor^e, the farmer lets these kind of plants steal his 
money and never knows it, or if he realizes it, don't take any steps to get 
the “thief plant’’off his place. He don't destroy these plants, the pick¬ 
ers go through, the seed c Uton from the.se “thief plants” goes in with the 
rest, is ginned together with the seed cotton and is planted again the fol¬ 
lowing spring to produce more “thief plants” in the next crop. 
H iw many seeds of “thief plants” have you gut in the seed set aside 
for ne.xtsnring’s pi inting? Do you know'? 
On a big boll ha is it takes about 18 to ?0 bolls per plant to make a 
bale per acre; from 25 t > 30 bolls per plant for the small boll varieties. The 
average yield per acre is around 190 pounds lint, less than 2-5 of a bale per 
acre. Making all all rwances for the slovenly, wasteful cultivation of the 
■■nigger and mule” system there are always some cotton plants in every 
average crop that “make” at the rate of a bale p'r 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 all be‘n “bred up” to the 
bale per acre or more class. It's because the crops are full of tho 2, 3, i or 
6 boll v>er plant stalks. We are seedsmen and make our living from sell- 
i’lg seeds, but this is not “hot air” talk just to sell seed,. 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 du¬ 
plicated 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, 
thero. 
We don’t know a farmer that would not be more than pleased to grow 
1}-^ to 2 bales per acre. The plant on the left is making around 2>^ bales 
per acre. It’s a question of right seed with prolific qualities bred in them. 
You may think that cultivation and plenty of fertilizer does it all. It 
don’t. Both these plants had exactly the same chance so far as land, 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 cotton and corn fields. You have profitable plants and you have 
“thief plants.” 
Tae State can’t very well kill off the useless or worse than useless men 
and women that are a drag on humanity, but you can get rid of the “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 tc 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 ns. We have 
been at this for years.’ -‘Thief plants” don't grow in our seed fields. 
