Long Staple Upland.—The long staple upland cotton such as Allen, Peeler and benders, until recent years was produced al most exclusively in the Mississippi Delta. The advent of the boll weevil which was found to be particularly destructive to this variety, on account of its late maturity, has induced the cultivation of the early maturing varieties of uplands, and the long staples for which there is always a great demand have been introduced in other sections of the cotton belt not infested with the weevil. Before the weevil spread over the Delta lands the total annual production of long staple was between 300000 and 400,000 bales.' At the present time the production in this section has been reduced fully one-half. In addition to the Delta lands in western Mis sissippi, eastern Arkansas, northeastern Louisi ana and western Tennessee which produce long staple, in recentyears this variety has been cultivated on the Red River or its tributaries in southwestern Arkansas and northeastern Texas, and in the counties of Darlington, Ches terfield and Marlboro in South Carolina, and a few sections in North Carolina, and a group of counties lying along the Savannah River in Georgia and South Carolina and a few isolated localities in The total production in all sections in 1914 was a little in excess of 400,000 bales. The yield per acre of long staple is somewhat less than that of upland and the cost of production is greater, but this is more than offset by the price which is three to five cents higher than ordinary Another variety of long staple cotton is cultivated in the Salt River Valley of Arizona from imported Egyptian seed. The staple is PA inches or more and is said to be superior to most of the Egyptian cotton used in this country.
Linters.— The increase in production of linters during recent years is noteworthy. From i 114,544 bales in 1899, the output of this product increased to 1,300,163 bales in 1916. The 1915 linter product even exceeded that of the pre ceding year by nearly 112,239 bales, although the cotton crop of 1915 was very much smaller than that of 1914. This increase in linter pro duction is due to some extent to closer delinting of the seed for the better sejaration of the meat from the hulls, but more especially to the high prices obtained for the fibre, which is used extensively in the manufacture of gun cotton and smokeless powder. Many mills now obtain considerably more than 100 pounds of linters per ton of seed treated, whereas in earlier years 50 pounds per ton was a high yield.
The total quantity of bleached cotton fibre consumed in the United States during the calendar year 1915 in the manufacture of ex plosives was 121,331,385 pounds, •equivalent to 244,003 bales of 500 pounds each net weight. During the three months ending 31 March 1916 there were consumed in this industry 144,988 bales and during the three months end 30 June 1916 142,725 bales, The increased use of cotton fibre in this industry is striking, the quantity consumed during the first half of 1916 being considerably in excess of the total for 1915. The quantity of prepared cotton held on 30 June 1910 by the manufacturers of ex plosives was 11,447,422 pounds, equivalent to 22,895 bales of 500 pounds each. This quantity
compares with 28,933 bales on 31 March 1916 and 30,483 bales on 31 Dec. 1915. The loss in bleaching cotton for nitrating purposes varies considerably, depending on the condition of the raw fibre, some stock being quite clean and some very trashy. From the information at band it would appear that the loss in preparing linters from the wrapped and iron bound bales to the purified fibre as used in nitration is from 30 to 40 per cent. Based on an average loss of 35 per cent the gross weight of cotton fibre used in the manufacture of explosives was 375,000 equivalent 500 pound bales in 1915, 223,000 bales for the first and 220,000 for the second quarter of 1916.
Sea-island cotton, of which 91,844 running. bales were ginned in 1915, represented in that year less than 1 per cent of the total cotton produced. All this cotton was grown in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, the first named State producing 57,572 bales, or more than three-fifths of the total.
Although cotton is grown in 18 States, the combined product of four — Texas, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama —represented nearly two-thirds of the total crop of 1915.
Texas alone produced 3,227,480 bales, or more than one-fourth of the total crop of 1915, The next greatest production was that of Georgia, 1,908,673 bales, or more than one sixth of the total. Other States producing large crops were South Carolina, with 1,133,919 bales; Alabama, 1,020,839 bales; Mississippi, 953,965 bales; Arkansas, 816,002 bales; North Carolina, 699,494 bales; and Oklahoma, 639,626 bales.
' Production by States.— The amount of cotton ginned in each State for the past 10 years, according to the United States census, is as follows, the running bales or the weights of bales as they are turned out at the gin being reduced to bales of the uniform gross
of 500 pounds to the bale: Bibliography.— True,