The Work of Improving the Crop—Success of American Varieties by Mr. J. B. Griffing mow and is expanding his area this year.
American cotton at Shanghai and Nantungchow was not a success and these districts can probably best be served by an improvement of Chinese cotton combined with a crusade against the pink boll worm.
Cutnese Corton IMPROVEMENT.
In Chinese cotton improvement we have been successful in creating new and superior variety of Chinese cotton with lint from 1 in. to-1$ in, of fine quality and colon: ud heavy yield. Of this selection there were but plants but the seed from these has planted between two and three mow which will give a commercial sample of lint this year and seed for more than 100 mow next year.
Three other improved strains of Chinese cotton are also being pro-parated for maximum multiplication in a pure state.
Sevection Worx.
During the autumn, 6,000 selections were made of the American cotton in the acclimatization work, and 15,000 selections were made in Chinese cotton fields. These samples were all given careful laboratory study throughout the winter and the best saved for propagation.
It is only by a combination of field selection, careful laboratory selection and roguing that success may be attained in acclimatizing American cotton.
The average quality, per cent. lint, index, etc. of the American cotton was lower than in America, but the specimens finally selected for planting were superior to the average in America.
The policy of roguing the cotton grown on the lands of ce-operators did not prove very satisfactory and it will be advisable greatly to expand the area grown directly by the University. At the same time it is necessary to carry on a campaign of education in order that a pure supply of seed so established may be properly spread and maintained.
Mernops or CutTurs, A number of investigations were made in methods of culture and production costs and five different machines have been devised and used experimentally in cotton cultivation. We are now ready to recommend the use of a machine of a type which can be made locally at a cost of not over and which can cover 20 times the area in a day which a man can hoe An_ investigation was made of the insect pest of the Pootung district and a general study of the pink boll worm situation. The former insect may possibly be kept in check by the use of a certain poisonous dust (calcium arsenate) applied by hand dust guns. The pink boll worm can be checked by fumigation of seed. It will not' practical to fumigate all the cotton seed planted in China, but the pink boll worm can be checked in all areas where seed contro] is established. That is, by developing improved seed areas on a community basis, and by controlling the seed supply the improved seed can be fumigated and the pink boll worm be reduced to a minimum all areas under such control.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.