AN AUTHORITATIVE STATEMENT ON COTTON WILT 
Because of the growing seriousness of the Fusa- 
rium Wilt problem and its threat to economic cotton 
production in many new areas, we have asked Dr. 
H. D. Barker, Principal Pathologist and Cotton 
Disease Expert, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. 
Department of Agriculture, to give us an author- 
itative statement which we could reprint in our 
1949 catalog. His statement follows: 
_ “Fusarium Wilt affects many thousands of acres 
in all of the principal cotton growing states east of 
New Mexico. In the irrigated Southwest the condi- 
tions that are conducive to development of very 
serious Verticillium wilt damage apparently are 
unfavorable to the spread and development of 
Fusarium wilt. Even in the Texas-Oklahoma and 
Mid-South areas where the two wilts rather com- 
monly overlap they usually, but by no means in- 
variably, occur in different fields or different parts 
of the field. In the southeastern states where Fusa- 
rium wilt is one of the very serious hazards to 
cotton production, Verticillium wilt occurs so 
rarely that the finding of isolated instances of the 
disease is of local interest to Plant Pathologists... 
The general importance and distribution of wilt 
has been fairly well determined in the South- 
eastern United States by various Federal and State 
pathologists who have been interested in cotton 
wilt. Our observations confirmed the enormous 
economic importance of wilt in the entire Coastal 
Plain area. A distinct impression was gained that 
wilt is becoming of increasing importance in local 
areas of the Piedmont and Upland regions. This it 
is felt may represent an actual spread of wilt, or it 
may represent an increased consciousness of wilt... 

Fortunately, we now have wilt-resistant varieties 
that have such good agronomic and spinning prop- 
erties that the farmer is desirous of growing them 
regardless of whether or not his fields are affected 
by wilt. One rather good important change is the 
increasing attention growers are now giving to the 
findings that adequate potash to prevent deficiency 
symptoms will aid in reducing wilt damage. This is 
important even with wilt-resistant varieties.” 
IMPORTANT NOTE 
Fusarium wilt is widely distributed throughout the 
cotton belt from Texas and Oklahoma eastward, and 
is particularly severe in the sandy or light, acid soils 
of the Coastal Plain that are especially deficient in 
potash. Diseased plants may be recognized by the 
stunted, yellow appearance accompanied by dying of 
the leaves which usually starts toward the top and 
continues downward. A brownish discoloration is 
observed when the bark of diseased plants is peeled 
back, and dark streaks are seen in the woody part 
throughout root and stem. 
Verticillium wilt usually prefers alkaline soils, and 
its damage is more in evidence during and immedi- 
ately following a cool, rainy season. Field symptoms 
are similar to those of Fusarium wilt, and labora- 
tory study is usually necessary to differentiate the 
two. 
Our Coker 100 Wilt Resistant cotton has been bred 
to produce maximum yields on soils affected by 
Fusarium wilt, and it has some tolerance for Verti- 
cillium wilt. However, due to the development of 
apparently new races of wilt, complicated by ad- 
verse seasonal conditions, improper fertilization and 
the presence in many instances of nematodes, no con- 
scientious breeder can guarantee any wilt resistant 
cotton to survive 100% on any wilt infested soils. 
These soils which have been planted to cotton for more than 100 years are heavily infested with Fusarium wilt and other 
diseases, and give us an ideal proving ground for our wilt resistant cottons. The early season view shows vigorous, healthy 
row of Coker 100 Wilt on left, while center and right hand rows of non-resistant cottons are badly wilted. Right hand photo 
taken when cotton was mature shows severe wilting of check row on left, and disease resistance and production of Coker 100 
Wilt on right. 

