Page Two 
BREEDING PROGRAM 
ADJUSTED TO MEET 
CHANGING DEMANDS 
Competition has become keen in all fields—only 
those institutions which keep a step ahead of the 
times are able to survive. People are trained to ex- 
pect and do demand constant improvement in all 
products. This is especially true in the line of plant 
breeding. Our breeding program must of necessity 
be very extensive to meet these increasing demands 
from growers, manufacturers and consumers, 
whether for new strains of proven superiority: for 
the introduction of some new character; or possibly 
a distinctly new type to meet some special condition. 
We have had to keep a corps of well trained research 
breeders constantly on the job. 
39 Years of Plant Breeding 
Our company has been engaged in scientific plant 
breeding for the past 39 years. During this time we 
have tried to anticipate new demands by breeding 
strains that would fill whatever requirements might 
arise. The field has been thoroughly studied and 
every avenue of approach used to breed strains that 
combined desired characters. Heritable variations 
already occurring in standard varieties have been 
used and where all such characters could not be found 
hybridization has been employed. 
Varieties Bred to Fill Specific Needs 
Varieties are often bred to fill a specific need, as 
in our first work with cotton. Mr. D. R. Coker, our 
late president, saw the need for a long staple upland. 
So from Jones Big Boll was bred the Hartsville 
series. He saw the approach of the boll weevil and 
the need for earlier maturing long staple so from 
Columbia was bred the Webber and from this, the 
Webber 49, 82 and Deltatype Webber. In order to 
increase earliness, fluffiness, picking qualities and 
lint characters, Lightning Express was crossed on 
Increase field of Coker 100 wilt resistant cotton to be offered in 
the fall of 1941. In 1940, thirty-two acres produced 25,066 pounds 
of lint. 
COKER 100 
BLOCK 39-5 
the Deltatype-Webber and from this was bred the 
Coker-Wilds long staple series—the highest 
standard in upland long cotton. 
Full Length Short Varieties 
Foreseeing the need for full length short cottons, 
an intensive and extensive breeding program was 
instituted concentrating on 144. to 1% lengths. This 
resulted in such cottons as the Coker Cleveland 5, 
Cleveland 884 and Farm Relief strains, all of which 
were later replaced by the Coker 100 cottons. 
Breeding for Wilt Resistance 
Noting the rapid spread of fusarium wilt and 
anticipating the time when wilt would become a na- 
tional problem, a very extensive wilt program was 
started in 1918. We were fortunate in having within 
a radius of sixty miles of Hartsville soils heavily 
infested with the most virulent races of this disease 
and have used these plots to breed such as our 
Clevewilt and 4-in-1 cottons. 
In the meantime by continuous selecting, breeding 
and testing on such soils we have endeavored to 
breed wilt resistant strains of our standard and 
popular varieties, notably Coker 100 and Wilds. We 
are glad to announce that we will have to offer for 
1942 planting a wilt resistant strain which we are 
naming “Coker 100 Wilt.” We hope within a few 
years to have a wilt resistant strain of Wilds to 
offer. 
Thousands of Plants Selected and Tested Annually 
Each year we select between 40 and 50 thousand 
striking plants, have about 4,000 in plant-to-row 
tests; 200 to 300 new strains in one-half acre increase 
and test; 20 to 380 strains in fifteen to thirty-five 
acre increase fields, main and strain tests and from 
3 to 5 strains in 500 to 1,000 acre increase for sale. 
This method is both extensive and expensive, but 
we believe the results attained more than justify 
such outlay of effort and money. We find that the 
larger the number of individual plant selections 
a breeder can test, the greater his opportunity of 
finding worthwhile new plant families and strains. 
Crops for Diversified Farming 
Today as never before, diversification is being 
practiced by the Southern farmer. To diversify has 
always been wise, today it has become a necessity. 
Our new Stanton oat—excellent for grain, grazing 
and forage, comes from this breeding stock. 

