Circular [Jan. 1920]

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Georgia

State Board of Entomology

A. C. LEWIS, State Entomologist , Atlanta. Ga .

CIRCULAR 29

JANUARY 1920

COTTON VARIETY TESTS
1919
By
A. C. LEWIS ,
State Entomologist
C. A. McLENDON,
Exp ert in Cotton Breeding

ATLANTA ,

GEORGIA

GEORGIA STATE BOARD OF ENTOMOLOGY.
ORGANIZATION AND STAFF.
HON. J . J. BROWN, Chair man, Commiss io ne r of Agricult ure , Atla n ta.
I-IO N. R. C. BERCKMA NS, Macon.
COL. W. D. HAl\E\IACK, Co le m a n .
A. C. LEWIS, State E ntomologist and Secretary of the Board, Atlanta.
W. W. CHASE, Assistant State En torno log tst, Cornelia .
W. V. REED, Ass istant Entomologist, Atlanta .
IRA \ V. \VILLIAl\I S, Cotton Specialist, T h om a sville.
(In Cha r ge of Va ldosta, Thom a sville a nd I3axle y Stati on s. )
C. A. McLENDON, Expert in Cotton Breeding, Atlanta.
W. F. T UR NER , Ass istant Entomologist, Atlanta.
D. C. WAR R EN, Assistant Entomologist, Va ldosta.
D. C. NEAL, P lant Pathologi st, Thomasville.
B . l\L GADDIS, Superintendent Vald osta Station, Va ldosta.
W. H . LIDO NARD, Supe ri ntendent Thomasv ille Station, Thoma sville.
J . C. MANE SS, Fi eld Ag ent, Atlan ta.
J . M. MALLOY, Fi eld Age nt , Ma con.
J. H . PRESSLEY, Field Agent, Va ldosta.

COTTON VARIETY TESTS 1919
By
A. C. LEWIS, State Entomologist C. A. McLENDON, Expert in Cotton Breeding

The main objec ts of this Circula r are to give the farmers of Georgia a sum mary of the results of the cotton variety t est s co nduc t ed in 1819 by the State Board of Entomology in co-o peration wit h the farmers in different sections of the State, a nd from the results secured during this and previous years, t o offer suggestio ns a s to the va rieties of cotton that can be m ost successfully gro wn under present boll weevil a nd dis ea se co nditio ns in Georgia .
In ID1D the a ut ho rs co nduc te d va riety tests in seven counti es as fo llows : On the farms of
.J ohn M. Counc il, Ame ricus , Sumter County; J. P. Humber, Lumpkin , Stew art Cou nty ; I-lowell Pl antation , Vienna, Dooly Coun ty ; E. E. Cha nce, 'Waynesb oro, Burke County; William vVynn e, Jr., Washin gton, Wilkes County; H . C. Ba gley, Austen , Dougla s County; VV. D. H unter , Cor ne lia , H ab ersham County. In each of th ese variety t ests from t en to twenty-two varieti es wer e planted. The following varieties were included in the t ests conducted in 1919 :

Lewis 63 Coun cil-To ole Petty-Tool e Dixie Improved Covington-T oole DeS oto Dixie Triumph (South
Carolina ) T oole (T oole) Coo k 's Improved Cook 307-6 College No.1 Cleve la n d (Wanamaker
a nd othe r strains ) Kin g

Bank Accou nt Bro adwell Trice Simpkins H oop er Meadows Half and Half Dillon Poulnot Mod ella Dix- Afifi Webber No. 49 Express Big Boll Express Meade

At Ame ricus, Vienna and Lumpkin the variety tests have been conducted for five years on the sam e farms and the re commendation s give n in this Circula r are based upon the re sults obtained from the expe riment s conducted co vering

this period. The variety tests at Waynesboro have be en conducted for four years; at Cornelia and 'Washingt on for two years, and at Austell one year.
The total yield of ea ch variety in the different t ests will not be given in this Circula r -me re ly a s um ma r y of the results se cure d with ge ne ral s uggestions.
Summary of Variety Tests Conducted in
South Georgia
At Vienna th e yield of the two leading varieti es, CouncilTo ole a nd Lewis 63, wa s 1,222 pounds a nd 1,196 pounds seed cotton per acre , r esp ecti vely. The Mead e produced the lowest yield, 600 po unds seed co tton per acre, a nd the Webb er N o. 4fl nex t to the low est yield, 654 pounds seed cotton per a cre.
In th e variety test at Ame r icus the two lea ding varieties were Counc il-Toole and Lewis 63 wh ich yield ed 1,170 and 1,150 pounds of seed cotton per a cre, and the lowest yield was mad e by t he Mead e, 330 pou nds seed cotto n per a cre.
At Lumpkin the lea ding varieties we re the Lewi s 63 and Council-T oole, t he yield bei ng 1,050 an d 1,025 pounds se ed cotton per a cre. Here a gain th e Meade cotton made the lowest yield, 350 pounds seed cotton per a cre.
Th ese three variety t ests were plan ted on land that was on ly sligh tly infect ed ,,"ith th e wilt disea se. The only ordinary varieti es of co tton to stiffer any ve ry great loss from th e wilt dis ea se were t he Kin g , Trice , Dank Acco unt a nd Mead e. It will be noti ced that even tin der these co nditi ons th e wilt resistant va r ieties ga ve t he largest yield a nd al so the gre a test t ota l m on ey va lue pel' acre. Th ese results a gree in a ge ne ra l way with the previou s t ests conducted at th ese places.
In the three va riety t ests ju st men ti on ed the yield per a cre was lower in 1!)l!) tha n in a ny previou s year cove re d by our ex pe r ime nts, due to the wea th er co nd itio ns and the r avages of th e boll weevil.
Summary of Varie ty Tests Conducted in
East and North Georgia
In th e va r iety t est at Wayn esb oro th e highest yields were mad e by the varieties, suc h as the Wanamaker-Cleveland and Coo k's Improved . T he Wanamaker -Cleveland yield ed 1,87 2 pounds seed cotto n per acre. The low est yield was made by the Broadwell , 1,170 pounds seed cotton per acre.

In t he variety test at Washington the hi ghest yield wa s 3,186 pounds of seed cotton per acre mad e by th e Wanamaker-Cleveland, and the lowest yield wa s 3,016 pounds of seed cotton per acre mad e by the Express.
In the variety test at Austell t he 'Wa na ma ker-Clevela nd yielded 3,26 3 po unds seed cotton per acre. In this test other varieties, suc h as Hooper and College No.1, made a lm ost a s good a yie ld. The low est yield was made by the Broadwell, 2,106 po unds se ed cotton per acre .
In the va ri ety test at Cornelia the yield of so me of the varieties were as fo llows :
\Vanamaker- Clevela nd-1,820 pou nds seed cotton per acre .
Trice- 1,664 po unds seed co tton per acre. Big Boll E xpress-1,404 po unds of seed cotton per acre.
Summary and Hecommendations
In maklng recommendatio ns a s to t he best varieties' that can be most profitably 'grown in Geo rgia under the pres ent boll weevil, wilt and othe r disea se conditions, the followin g , qu ali ti es have been g iven ca reful consideration : Such as ear liness for bo ll weevil conditions , r esist a n ce to wilt and other diseases, fr uiti ng habit s, len gth, stre ngt h a nd percen ta ge of lin t , size of bolls a nd den sity of folia ge , etc. E arlin ess for boll weevil co nditio ns co ns ists n ot only in early bloom s a nd open bolls, but a lso in rapid a nd co nti nuous bloomi n g and fr uiting un til fro st, with th e greatest yield of cotton. Resistance to wilt is po sses sed in a h igh degree by on ly a few varieties and the best of these will be re com mend ed fo r planting wher e this disease is present .
From th e res ults secured in our variety t ests co nducted in So uth Geo rgia a nd cover in g fr om fou r to six yea rs our r ecommend ati ons as t o the best varieti es to pla nt areas follow s': In South Geor gia wh erever t he wilt oc curs t o a ny extent none but the very best and earliest wilt r esistant vari eties of cotton sh ould be grown. From ou r experiments a nd ob servati on s th e two lea ding varieti es of wilt r esis tant cotton a r e th e Lew is 63 a nd Coun cil-Toole. In so me sec tio ns the De Soto a nd P etty-To ole ha ve a lso g ive n good r esults . We wish t o stress the fa ct th at und er boll w eevil and wilt co nditions it is folly t o plant ot he r than wilt r esis tant varieties of cotton . In sections of Sou th Georgia wher e th e wil t disea se do es not occur pure strains of Wana maker-Cleve land , T oole, Cook's Improved, College No. 1 a nd other im pr oved varieties of sim ila r type will do well.
In North Geo rgia, that is, all that a rea of t he State n orth of a line fr om Aug usta, t h ro ugh Ma con , to Colum bus , wh ere

the big-balled va rieties usually pro duce the best crop, a nd where t he wilt disease is not present, the earliest and purest strains of Cleveland Big Boll, Cook's Improved, College No.1, a nd other imp roved va r ieties of similar typ e are recom me nded, a nd where t he med ium or small-balled varieties thrive best, improved seed of the "early" or !'King" types sho uld be planted. On the lowlands a nd in the mountainou s sections of North Geo rgia on ly these very early-maturing varieties will, as a r ule, mature a profitable crop, the growing season usually being so short. The Trice cotton is a new and promising variety for the extreme no rthern section of the State, it having produced this season very g00l1 yields in the northern part of the State.
CLUSTER AND SEM I-CLUSTEIR TYPES OF COTTON.
It may be of value to the cotton growers of t he State t o ca ll attention to the fact th a t from t he results secure d in our va riety tests conducted und er boll weevil co nditio ns cer tain types of cotton do not give the best results. We have fou nd in every case that under boll weevil conditions the cluster and semi-c luster types of cotton give the poorest yields. By cluster and semi-c luster types of cotton we mean varieties, such as the Dillon, Upright, Poulnot, etc. For instance, in the variety test conducted in 1919, the Dillon cotton at Vienna yie lded 990 pounds; at Lumpkin, 500 pounds; at Americus, 625 pounds seed cotton per acre. T he Council-Toole at Vienna yielde d 1,222 po unds; at Lumpkin t he Lewis 63 yielded 1,050 pounds ; at Americus the CouncilToole yie lded 1,170 pounds seed cotton per acre .
The ideal cotton stalk to grow un der boll weevil con ditions sho uld begin fruiting close to t he ground early in the season a nd have long fruiting branches at the base t hat continue to grow throughout the season. The fr uiting spurs of the cluster and the short fru iting branches of the semicluster typ es of cotton do not continue to grow throughout the season. Under boll weevil conditions the more cotto n that is produced on the lowe r half of the plant, the la rger will be the yield per acre.
LONG-STAPLE UPLAND COTTON.
In our variety tests we have pla nted for th e last several years the following long- sta ple upland varieties : Dix Afifi, Express, Webber 49 a nd Meade. In South Georgia where the wilt disease is present, the Dix-Afifi has given the best results; 'where the wilt disease is not present, the Webber has yielded fairly well. In the northern part of the State where the wilt disease does not exist the Big Boll Express

has given very goo d re sults. The Meade cotton ha s been t ested only two years. This variety will be m entioned m ore in detail in another paragraph.
The dem and fo r u pland lon g- sta ple cotton is steadily incr ea sing a nd on acco unt of the premium that its sta ple is commanding on th e marke t m or e of it is lik ely to be planted in Georgia in th e fut ure. In growing, handling a nd marketing this co tton specia l requirem ents of the industry are abso lute ly essential. For the information of the farmer s who a re not familiar with t he staple co tto ns the foll owing suggestions as to th e necessary requir em ents in growin g this cotto n successfully are offere d.
In growing thi s cotto n only th e bes t availa ble land should be used a nd only pedi greed see d suite d t o th e local co nditions planted . The cotto n sho uld be pick ed as clean a nd rapidly as possible and prop erly stored a nd gin ne d t o preven t deterioration in th e qua lity of t he staple. This cotton can be ginned on th e regula r saw gins, if th e spee d of the saws is n ot more th an 400 revo lutions per minute for 10 in ch saws or 333 r evolution s per minut e for 12-inc h saws and the feed is so a dj us te d th at th e roll will always r em ain loose. At present t he ge neral market con ditions for st aple cotton are very unsatisfa ct ory, but with the in creas ed produ ction of this cotton and the gro wing dem and for it , adequ ate market fa cilities will prob ably soon be ava ilable in all sectio ns of th e State. In the m eantime, this Depar tme nt expects t o be in position t o a dvise the farmers a s to the relative value of their staple cotton and h ow and where it can be marketed t o the best a dvantage.
Farmers who are not familiar with the staple cottons should tak e every ph a se of the proposition of growing, handlin g a nd mark eting it in t o cons iderat ion before attempting to grow it exte ns ively. At fir st, only a small a rea should be planted in this cotto n, and unless all th e precautions m ention ed a bove a re t aken , it will not pay t o gro w it in preference t o the best sho rt -s taple va rie ties , eve n on a sma ll scal e. Perso nal attentio n in t he growing, h andling and marketing of t his cotton is ab so lutely essential to success in th e undertaking. There seems t o be great pos sibilities in Georgia in growing staple cotto n, but th ey sho uld not be gro wn ex te nsively until the industry is better understood a nd goo d markets fo r it a re es tablishe d. Further informati on on t he subjec t is a lways availa ble through corrresponden ce with this Department.
MEADE.
The Mead e cotton ha s been planted in our variety tests in South Geo rgia for the la st t wo ye ars. This cotton ea ch

year ha s prod uce d a very low yield of lint cotton per acre. In 1918 in th e variety test at Vien na, Doo ly County, the Meade pro duced 340 pounds of lint per acre, wh ile the leading va riety, the Lewis u3, produced 689 pounds of lint per acre. At Lumpkin, Stew art County, the Meade pro duced 320 pounds of lint per a cre, while the leading variety, Lewis 63, produced 689 pounds of lint per a cre. At Ame ricus, Sumter County, th e Meade produced 197 pounds of lint pe r ac re, while th e lead ing va riety, Lewis 63, produ ced 579 po unds of lin t per ac re .
In the 191 9 variety t est at Vien na, Doo ly County, the Meade cotton produced 168 pounds of lint per acre, while the lea ding variety, Counc il-To ole, produced 464 pounds of lint per acre . At Lumpkin, Stewart County, th e Meade yielded fl8 pounds of lint per a cre, while th e leading variety, Counc il-Toole, yield ed ~flO pounds of lint per a cre. At Ame ricus , Sumter County, the Mea de cotton produced 93 po un ds of lin t per acre, while t he lead ing variety, Council-Toole, produ ced 445 pounds of lint per acre.
From th e above fa ct s it will be seen that even if the Mead e cotton wa s sold for twice as much per po und as the ordinary cotton it would not produce as much money val ue per a cre as the other varieti es. The Meade cotton is not any earlier that the Webber or Dix-Aflfl. It is not wilt resistant, for each year in our tests at lea st 15 to 25 per ce nt of th e stalks ha ve died from t he wilt disea se. At Ca iro in 1fl ] fl about 50 per cent of t he Meade cotton died fr om the wilt disea se an d mo st of th e remaining stalks were very much stunte d on ac count of th e wilt disease and the nematode worm. The Mead e cott on has longer lin t than any of t he oth er upland lon g-staple varieties we have t ested a nd it ha s been sold in some cases for the same price as the Sea Island . It s ho uld be r emembered, however, tha t t o secure t his high price for the lint th e cotton must be ginned on a roller gin and there are not many roller gins in the State at present.
BOLL WEEVIL CONDITIONS.
T he co tt on boll weevil is now pr esent in every county in Geo rg ia , except the follow ing nin e co un ti es: Fannin, Gilmer , Da wso n, Lumpkin, Union, T own s, Whit e, Habersha m a nd Stephe ns . The cotton wilt disea se is a lso present in m any co unties in South Geo rgia and in a few others in the central secti on of the State, hence in most of the countie s of Georgia the cotton growers now have the boll weevil and t he wilt disea se to conten d with in growing cotton, One of the many im por ta nt factors in growing cotton u nder boll weevil conditio ns is t o grow a variety of cotto n a dapted

to your so il and climate; having selected the variety you a re go ing to plant, secure the best im proved see d of that va riety. By improved seed, we mean t hat t he see d ha s been developed by both individual and mass selections for a specific purpose, s uc h as in creased yield, earliness and resista nce to disease, et c. If you do not care to im prove your own cotton seed by this method, we believe it will pay yo u every two or three yea rs to buy yo ur seed fro m so me one who h a s a private gin and who ha s im proved his cotton by th e method above described .
F or the last two years the Georgia State Board of Entomo logy has been conducting ex periments on du sting cotton for th e contro l of th e boll weevil. The r es ults secured fr om t hese expe rime nts will be publish ed shortly in a bulletin. We will not attempt in this Cir cula r to go into the details, or g ive th e results secured from these experiment s. Parties des iring- this Bu lleti n. as we ll a s othe r lit erature on th e control of the boll weevil, or t he im pr ovement of cotton by the best s cienti fic breed ing methods, should write to t he State Board of Entomology, Atlanta, Georgia.
LIST OF CO-OPERATIVE COTTON GROWERS AND
PARTIES FROM WHOM COTTON SEED OF THE
VARIETIES INDICATED MAY BE PURCHASED.
WILT RESISTANT VARIETIES.
LmvIS G3 AND COUNCIL-TOOLE.
M. B. Council, Ame ricus, Ga ., J. 1". Humber, Lumpkin, Ga ., J . D. H end ley, Vien na, Ga ., J. ' V. Clopt on, Leslie, Ga ., Dr . William Rawlings, Sandersville, Ga ., (Write t o I-I. C. Carter, Sandersville, Ga .)
COUNCIL-TOO LE.
E. E. Cha nce, Waynesboro, Ga., J . W. Williams, Statesboro, Ga., Geo rg e 1\1. Sewell, Newnan, Ga.
COVIN GT O N- T O O L E.
,V. 1". Covington, Montgomery, Ala .

PETTY-TOOLE.
H. A. Petty, Dawson, Ga .
DIX -AFIFI. J . B. Wight , Cairo, Ga., B. IvI. Gadd is, Valdosta, Ga .
NON -WILT RESISTANT VARIETIES. WANAM AKER-CLEVELAND. J . W. Burnette, Douglasville, Ga. E . E . Chance, Waynesboro, Ga ., C. R. Fitzpatrick, Warrenton, Ga. , H. A. Wood, Pinehurst, Ga ., Lee J . Wil liams, Carrollton, Ga ., R. D. T a tum , Palmetto, Ga .
COOK 'S IMPROVED. J. R. Cook, E llaville, Ga., Lee J . Williams, Carro llton, Ga., Wi lliam Wyn ne, J r ., Washington, Ga.
COLLEGE NO. 1. College of Agriculture, Athens, Ga., _J . T. Dennis, Jr. , E lberton, Ga.
KING. H . G. Hastings Company, At lanta, Ga.
BANK ACCOUNT. H. G. Hastings Company, Atlanta, Ga.
SIMPKINS. H. G. Hastings Company, Atlanta, Ga.
SIMPKINS IDEAL. W. A. SIMPKINS, Raleigh, N. C.
TRICE. W. W. Chase, Cornelia, Ga . J . F. Bridger, Be lls, T enn .

T OOLE. J. W. Matthews, Dawson , Ga .
PET'VAY. H .A. P etway, Eastman, Ga.
I-IALF-AND - H A LF. J . J . L. .Phillip s , Tifton, Ga .
PO ULNOT. S. P. Kissick, Cusseta, Ga ., J . 1<J. Bradbury, Athe ns, Ga .
WE BBE R NO. 49. Pedigreed Seed Company, Har tsville, S. C.
1<JXPRESS. T . F. Tho m a s, La vonia , Ga., F eli x ' Villiams, Villa Ri ca, Ga .
BIG BOLL E XP H.I<:;SS. W . 13. Hu nter, Cornelia, Ga., J . 13. Alle n, Port Gibson, Miss.
EXPRESS 350 . Miss's sippi Expe r iment Station, Ag ricu lt ural Co llege, Mis s .
l\mADE. 'William Cr umbley, Brooklet, Ga ., J. W . Williams, Statesb or o, Ga., Bureau of P la nt Indust ry, U. S. Dep artment of Ag ric u lt ure, Wa shing ton, D. C.

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