Cottonless Cotton

Nature put soft tufts of fibre on cotton seeds so that the wind would carry them away from the plant to take root. Man came to attach more importance to the fibre than to the seeds, cultivated cotton for more fibre. The U. S. now raises too much cotton lint, not enough cottonseed.* But there is no economic reason for not raising cotton as a seed crop, since cottonseed oil makes oleomargarine, shortening, soap, and the cottonseed cake which remains after the oil is squeezed out makes good fodder for cattle.

Some time ago plant scientists at Texas' Agricultural and Mechanical College started trying to develop a cotton plant whose bolls would contain plenty of seeds but little or no fibre. Last week they announced that, by patient crossbreeding of natural "mutants" or freaks, they had succeeded. They even had photographs of the process (see cuts).

One difficulty remains. When the seed-filled bolls open, the seeds, having no lint to hold them, fall out and are lost. Texas A. & M.'s next step, therefore, is to keep the bolls from opening by further crossbreeding. Since nonopening types of cotton already exist, the scientists believe they can soon turn the trick. Such a plant should be in great demand among smart cotton planters because: 1) instead of having to be ginned, it could be cheaply threshed and harvested like any small grain; 2) there would be no cotton fibre to swell the two-year glut already on hand.

-Imports of cottonseed oil rose from zero in 1909 to about 200,000,000 Ib. in 1936.

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