APPENDIX.
essential, and (2) others they consider advisable if staff permits.
They might also discuss the question of how far the entomologist and
mycologist can co-operate in regard to crop pests.
(9) SEED IMPROVEMENT: METHODS OF INVESTIGATING
THE POSSIBILITIES OF NEW VARIETIES OF COTTON.
(Note by Mr. H. C. Sampson of the British Empire Cotton Growing
Corporation.—T.C.(C)Cot.5.)
By new varieties it is taken to mean introduced varieties from
other countries. It is presumed that everyone will agree that, in the
first instance, investigation must be confined to agricultural stations,
until such varieties have become acclimatised. These cannot be
considered as merely comparative tests for yield. It is necessary to
study in close detail such varieties: to find out whether these are
true to a type: to find out the flowering habit and rate of flowering: to
find out the amount of shedding; to ascertain the degree of immunity
which these have from insect or fungoid diseases, ete., etc.; to note
variations from the type, which sometimes show themselves when
cultivated varieties of cotton are grown in a new environment, and, if
necessary, to make selections with a view to obtaining strains which
may prove more suitable to the conditions which prevail. In addition
to this, there is the exarn‘nation of the harvested cotton.
Then there is the question of the extension of this work in future
years. It is more than probable that numerous selections will have
to be made from any promising varieties, and in all probability it will
be to these that one must look to produce strains suitable to the needs
of the country. Here the question of selfing will come in.
It appears necessary that this matter should be fully gone into,
in order to form an opinion as to what work should be started with
the staff available for carrying it out.
(10) METHODS ADOPTED TO SECURE THE PURITY OF
SEED DISTRIBUTED FOR SOWING PURPOSES.
(Note by Mr. H. C. Sampson of the British Empire Cotton Growing
Corporation.—T.C.(C)Cot. 6).
The regulations which are in force to secure the seed supply are
mentioned in T.C.(C)Cot. 1, and there is no need to repeat them here.
No other information is available as to the actual steps which are
taken under these rules, and it is suggested that the Directors of
Agriculture concerned might each prepare a note on the subject for
circulation to delegates at the Conference.
This, however, is not merely a question of maintaining the
purity of the general seed supply to the country. Where botanists
and plant breeders are employed for the improvement of the cotton
crop there must come a time, if it has not already arrived, when it
will be necessary to take adequate steps to keep this supply of seed
derived from the plant breeders’ work pure and unmixed with the
general seed of the country.

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