Historic, Archive Document
Do not assume content reflects current
scientific knowledge, policies, or practices.
SPKMG
lagi
peoienuo seGOcoMPAw
OPEMTi'nI m PEOIUEED SEE! BREEDME UB EXPERIMEBTU FIRMS
DAVID R. COKER, President HERBERT J. WEBBER, General Manaqer
HARTSVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA
V
•/.
COPYRIGHT 1921
BY
PEDIGREED SEED COMPANY
HARTSVILLE. SOUTH CAROLINA
MAR 25 1921
- "K
©C1A612263
Page One
1921
Pedigreed Seed Company
Hartsville, South Carolina
OFFICERS
PLANT-BREEDING STAFF
David R. Coker, President
J. J. Lawton, Vice-President
A. L. M. Wiggins, Sec. & Treas.
Herbert J. Webber, Gen. Mgr.
Geo. j. Wilds, Production Mgr.
J. F. Clyburn, Farm Mgr.
E. M. Chappell, Sales Mgr.
Ralph Sharpe, Warehouse Mgr.
David R. Coker, B. A,
Herbert J. Webber, M. A.; PhD.; D. Agr.
Geo. j. Wilds, B. A.; M. A.
J. B. Norton, B. S.; M. S.
J. F. Clyburn
D. R. Hopkins, B. S.
Curtis L. Vogler, B. A.
J. S. Brown, B. S.
BRANCH OFFICE, JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI
W. S. ATKINSON, Manager
-Sk.
Page Two
ANNOUNCEMENT-FOR YOUR PROTECTION
The increased demand for our highly bred pedigreed seed has made it necessary this year for us to
greatly enlarge our staff of scientific workers. We believe that we now have the strongest staff of trained
plant-breeders of any seed company in the United States or possibly in the
world. (See statement regarding our staff on page 11.)
We do not expect ever to produce cheap seed. We aim to produce the
best seed available anywhere of the varieties we breed. To produce the
best seed costs money and the prices of our seed stocks must necessarily
be high. We do not expect to compete with seedsmen handling ordinary
seeds. We are in an entirely different class.
Our patrons have given us their enthusiastic support in the past and we
hope to merit their approval in the future. We are now prepared to offer
a higher grade of service than ever before. What the world demands is ser-
vice, and we are doing our best to measure up to this demand. We believe
that in supplying highly bred seed we are fulfilling an important function
and rendering a real service.
Coker’s Pedigreed Seeds are sold only under our registered trade mark
and official 0. K. as here reproduced. This Company has been in operation
seven years but the pedigrees of nearly all of our special strains and varieties
date back to the original breeding work conducted by our President for many
years before the formation of this Company. The pedigree of the Webber cot-
tons is really continuous with that of the Columbia cotton bred by our Dr.
Webber while in the service of the National Department of Agriculture more
than twenty years ago.
ydM^L con£a4/?iad.M/n^i^
AoA. ?n£^
0:/C. 07^
jdLeJLysi <3Ji/%nyyLyyi/Ut/'(S0/(£RS
T>£DlGr?eED
(Signed) ^^.Ccrii/iyv^ Pres I DENT,
PEDIGREED SEED COMPANY
Our success has stimulated the formation of numerous other companies
that claim to supply pedigreed seed. To all these who are doing honest
scientific work and distributing seed with genuine pedigrees we wish success.
We have been unable thus far to meet the southern demand for our seeds
and believe that legitimate competition is the life of trade. An ample sup-
ply of pure pedigreed seeds and the accumulation of adequate and accurate agricultural knowledge by careful
experimentation are absolute essentials to the success of agriculture.
J* HIS TRADE-MARK,
■*’ which is registered in
the United States Patent
Office, appears on every
bag of genuine “COK-
ER’S PEDIGREED
SEED” sent out by the
Pedigreed Seed Com-
pany. Look for this trade-
mark and protect your-
self against inferior imi-
tations.
PEDIGREED SEED CO.,
Hartsville, S. C.
Some companies, however, are selling what is claimed to be pedigreed
seed of the varieties we have originated. Some are using names, trade marks,
and literature which are more or less similar to our own and which have
caused confusion in the minds of some of our customers. We think that most
of our customers will detect any efforts to capitalize on our reputation and
will unanimously condemn any practices which do not conform to the highest
ethics of trade.
We call especial attention to the fact that the new strains of our varieties,
such as Webber 49 and Webber 82, are put out each year under advanced
numbers indicating new strains and progress in breeding. Our competitors
offering Webber and other seeds originated by us are of course selling
stocks from our older strains which do not equal our newer strains in pedi^ee
or performance record and which, even if raised under the best conditions
have begun to deteriorate in some of their characters. You can only secure
the latest and best fruits of our scientific work by buying each year some
seed of our newest strains.
Our seed is all sent out in bags labeled Coker s Pedigreed Seeds and!
bearing our registered trade mark. All of our Pedigreed seeds also bear the
0. K. tag of our President and General Manager and are officially sealed be-
fore leaving our warehouse. No seed is genuine “Coker’s Pedigreed Seed”
unless it bears our official 0. K. under seal and our registered trade mark.
Do not be deceived. Insist on having genuine Coker’s Pedigreed Seed.
PEDIGREED SEED COMPAY,
January 1st., 1921. Hartsville, South Carolina.
Page Three
Every bag of our
Pedigreed Seed bears
this trade-mark. It
is your guarantee of
superior quality.
The Pedigreed
Company is the Pio-
neer Seed Breeding
Company of the South.
We are the origi-
nators and introducers
of all strains of Web-
ber 49, Webber 82,
Deltatype Webber and
Hartsville series of
staple cottons. We
are originators, not
imitators. We lead
usually, but will fol-
low where common
sense dictates.
YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE
Every planter is interested in his financial future and we are equally interested in
the financial future of our planter customers and of Southern agriculture generally. We
are operating a seed breeding farm and selling highly bred seeds of the principal crops
grown in the South. Our operations must be financially successful if this business is to be
maintained. We, however, did not take up this business primarily as a money making
proposition but mainly because the conditions of Southern agriculture demanded that
more attention be given to the improvement of agriculture through the breeding and in-
troduction of better varieties of our staple crops and the maintenance of a reliable
source of highly bred seeds. We saw in this field of activity a great opportunity for
public service of the highest grade. When our work was started in 1902, no other work
of similar kind had been started in the South. JF e are the Pioneer Pedigreed Seed Breeding Company of
the South. That the work has proven important and valuable is demonstrated by the rather numerous com-
panies that have recently been organized, presumably to do similar work.
Is this work in any way related to your financial future? Unhesitatingly we assert that it is. The use
of highly bred, productive seed, true to type and variety, is of the highest importance to every planter. Cot-
ton is the dominant money crop of the South and yet an examination of cotton fields in any section will
demonstrate that almost universally mixed seed is being used. Nowhere is this mix-
ture more evident or more serious than in the long staple sections of Mississippi, Ar-
kansas and Louisiana. Three agents of this Company in an inspection trip last fall
through these states found abundant evidence of the very general use of poor seed. The
very general mixture of different types of cotton in the fields was shown usually at a
glance by the varying heights of the different plants. In the great majority of fields this
variation in height is striking even to a layman in cotton culture. If this observation is
followed up by an examination of the fiber, one discovers immediately that plants with
different lengths of staple are growing togther and will be harvested and ginned to-
gether. Frequently one finds short staple plants mixed in varying proportions with plants
producing 1% inch staple and intermediate lengths. A serious mixture of different
lengths of staple in the bale lowers the value of the bale at least to that of the shortest
staple in the bale and such mixed cotton, which is pretty certain to be detected by the
classer or buyer, may render the bale almost useless for any purpose.
This mixture of seed is mainly due to the carelessness or ignorance of the grower.
Very commonly planting seed is obtained from a gin where no attempt is made to keep different lots pure.
Rarely can any fit planting seed be obtained in this way. It is of unknown variety, is certainly mixed, and no
attention has been taken to cure it properly to insure good vitality. If a planter gets good seed one year, un-
less he practices careful selection, it soon deteriorates by gin mixing, by crossing with other varieties, and
through the reversions and variations that normally occur in all
types of cotton. It soon becomes worthless seed, yet much seed is
sold on the basis that the planter at one time purchased good
seed of a certain variety.
Many fields in the Mississippi Delta supposed to be of our Web-
ber 49 cotton were examined by our agents in which only an occas-
ional typical plant could be found. Such fields had been planted
with seed too far removed from the pedigreed type and had become
so mixed and degenerated as to be unrecognizable as Webber cotton.
The production of good seed is expensive and growers are
prone to think it a saving to plant cheap seed. This is a mistake.
It means money in the pocket of the grower to use highly bred,
pure seed, of known standard type.
What has been said regarding cotton refers equally well to
other crops such as oats, corn and the like. Watermelon growers
of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida lost many thousands of
dollars last year by using mixed seed that produced fruit of differ-
ent types, many of them being worthless, unsaleable fruits.
The ordinary seedsman does not often grow his own seed but
usually buys in the open market from farmers and growers, tak-
ing the word of the grower as to the purity and productiveness
of the crop. They usually emphatically disclaim any guarantee as
to the purity of variety and type.
We are not ordinary seedsmen. We are Plant Breeders. We
breed and grow all the seed we sell as Coker’s Pedigreed and
guarantee it true to type and vital. It is not merely good, vital
seed, nor merely true to type. It is pedigreed seed. True pedi-
greed seed produces plants highly uniform as to type and length
of lint and of high productivity. It pays to grow crops from seed ^ gAG OF COKER’S PEDIGREED COTTON
with a real pedigree. It will pay you to do so. SEED READY FOR SHIPMENT.
Page Four
WHAT IS PEDIGREED SEED?
Everyone understands the value of pedigreed animals, horses, cattle or hogs, and are willing to pay fabu-
lous prices for single superior individuals. Many, however, do not understand what is meant by pedigreed
seed of plants and why it should have superior value.
The only fundamental difference between pedigreed breeding in plants and in animals is in the method of
handling the pro'duct. In animals where the individual is large and valuable and reproduces but slowly, we
deal in individuals and register the pedigree of each selected animal. In plants where the individual is of little
value and where we must handle millions of them, we deal in families from individuals or what might be
termed pure bred herds, all of which would be eligible for registration if their very great numbers did not
preclude registration. A good cow can only average about one offspring per year. A fairly good cotton plant
having fifty bolls, will give about sixteen hundred seeds and with care will give a progeny of over one thous-
and plants.
The plant breeder in conducting his work of producing a pedigreed strain deals with individuals the
same as does the stock breeder and certain individuals selected may be potentially of as great or greater value
than the finest animals ever sold, as their value is reckoned only in their after effect on an industry. What,
for instance, would have been the monetary value of the original selected plant that gave rise to any one of our
important varieties of cotton or corn.?
As an illustration let us assume that we desire to produce a new pedigreed strain of a certain cotton. What
should be our procedure? We would first secure a quantity of seed of the variety known to be pure and
true to type, and grow a good representative field of it. This field should not be adjacent to any other
cotton and should be thinned to one plant in a hill and the hills should be of a uniform distance apart in
order to give each plant an equal opportunity to develop. When the cotton of this field is well open, the
field should be examined to see that in general it is true to type and variety and if so the breeder would then
proceed to choose from among the large number of individuals a considerable number of specially good plants.
In making this choice the breeder should carefully consider all fundamental characteristics, such as type of
plant, size of boll, earliness, yield of seed cotton, percentage of lint, and length, uniformity, strength and quali-
ty of lint. In beginning the foundation of a pedigreed strain he should select not less than 200 superior plants.
His problem is to find the best single individual in the field, but to find this best one he must test many.
Each of the selected individuals must be harvested separately and ginned separately in order to keep the seed
of each individual separate and also in order to get the record of lint percentage for each individual.
The 200 plants selected from the general field are tested the next year by the plant-to-row method in or-
der to determine which plant produces the best and most uniform progeny. The plants are thus numbered
in sequence and at least one row of a hundred or more plants are grown from each individual. The selected
plant believed to be the superior individual may not produce a good progeny. The determination of which
plant is the superior one can only be judged by its progeny. It is what we term the performance record
that counts, exactly the same as it is in animal breeding. If we are breeding Holstein cattle, we do not choose
a bull because he is a fine show animal but we judge his value by the milk record of his daughters.
When the different progeny rows from the 200 selected plants mature they are carefully compared in all
important characteristics and all of the rows discarded except possibly five of the best ones. In each of these
five progenies several superior plants are selected to continue the breeding and all poor and off type plants are
marked for discarding after which the seed from the remaining plants of each selected row is picked to obtain
a quantity of seed from each row for further tests and to grow increase plats.
PLANT-TO-ROW TESTS OF GRAIN AND FIRST YEAR INCREASE BLOCKS
Page Five
sm wfTH A ntm^
mmm %m co. mmatu
The second year the general seed from each of the five selected rows is grown in larger blocks, termed in-
crease plots, to get further comparative tests of their value and at the same time to increase the seed of each.
This year also a variety test should be made in which each of the five strains are tested against each other
and also against a number of standard varieties. At the end of this second season a careful comparison of the
crops of the increase plots and of the performance of the five strains in the variety tests may enable the breeder
to discard all but one of the five strains, in other words, to determine which one of the 200 plants first select-
ed was the superior one. If such a decision cannot yet be made, increase plots and variety tests should con-
tinue in the third and even into the fourth year.
While this comparative testing is going on, the seed of the most promising strains is being increased so
that by the end of the fourth year from the time the selections were made, sufficient seed has been grown
from the selected strain to grow a general crop. It is the seed from this general crop, five years from an indi-
vidual selection, that is generally sold as pedigreed seed.
It may be objected that this is not similar to animal breeding in that we do not know and register
both of the parents. In cotton, which we are using as an illustration, the plants are hermaphrodite, each
flower bearing both male and female organs. Self fertilization is the rule, though there is some crossing.
In judging and finally selecting the individual by its progeny record, however, we are judging both the super-
iority of the mother and the father parent and the record of the performance of the individual plant as
shown by its progeny is its pedigree. What better pedigree could be desired when what we want is ability to
produce?
The seed sold as pedigreed seed thus goes back in record to a single superior plant selected five years
previously and propagated in isolated fields to keep it pure and is thus to be looked upon as a pure family
coming from one superior parent. In regular pedigreed breeding, selections are made every year from the
superior rows and this process thus becomes a continuous one, the seed sold each year coming from the super-
ior plant of the strain selected five years previously.
One feature of this work that requires continuous attention is the appearance of inferior and off-type plants
in all strains, no matter how pure they may be, or how carefully they may have been chosen. This means
that the increase plots every year must be “rogued” as it is expressed, that is, carefully examined and all such
off-type plants removed before the crop is harvested.
Unless careful attention is given to the rogueing the
best strain of cotton will soon run down.
The method of pedigreed breeding described
here for cotton is with minor modifications appli-
cable to all other ordinary farm crops.
Our Method of Pedigreed Seed
Breeding
The method of pedigreed breeding pursued by
this Company is in general the plant-to-row method
just described and is generally recognized by plant
breeders and experiment stations as the best method
of crop improvement. The plant breeder, like the
animal breeder, must make the individual the unit
of selection and in the plant-to-row method, this
idea is carried out. In judging a plant by the per-
formance record of its progeny we at the same time
judge the value of both the male and the female
parent of the progeny. This judgement of the value
of the combination which in itself is. highly impor-
tant is readily obtained in plants but is only ob-
tained with difficulty in animals because of the
slower reproduction.
In our methods of breed-
ing we regularly test the
progeny of the superior
selected plants both in in-
crease plots and variety
tests during a period of
three years and no strain or
family is offered for sale un-
less it holds a high record
of performance during the
entire period. Our method
will be more readily under-
stood by a careful study of a SECTION OF OUR PRIZE WINNING SEED EXHIBIT AT THE
the following chart. SOUTH CAROLINA STATE FAIR OF 1920.
Pedigreed Breeding as
applied by the Pedi-
greed Seed Company
means that every year
a new strain or fami-
ly is started of each
variety from the best
plant of that variety
selected the preceding
year.
As the selected
plants are each year
taken from the best
progenies in our plant-
to-row tests the pedi-
grees of our different
strains are continuous.
Page Six
Our Plant-Breeding Method Graphically Illustrated
This chart graphically illus-
trates the method of pedigreed
breeding that has been used
by this Company for nineteen
years. The first year illus-
trates the plant-to-row tests
including only twenty-two
plants because of space. The
heights of the different col-
umns illustrates the compara-
tive value of the different rows
or progenies as determined by
yield and value. Five superior
progenies or families are
chosen for further trial. A
few of the superior plants in
each of these rows are chosen
and picked separately for the
plant-to-row tests the next
year. All inferior plants are
then removed and the remain-
ing seed of each row is picked
under the row or family num-
ber for further tests.
The second year these five
selected progenies or families
are grown in increase blocks
and also tried out in a general
variety test. At the end of the
second year No. 10 and No.
21 are discarded. (No further
illustration is made of the
plants selected the first year
from the five good rows as
these plants are grown the
second year in plant-to-row
tests and begin a new series.)
The remaining families, Nos.
6, 8 and 16, of which 8 seems to
be the superior one, are tested
again in like manner the third
year, at the end of which 6 and
16 are also discarded as infer-
ior. No. 8, which is retained,
has been demonstrated to be the
superior strain of all of those
first selected.
The fourth year No. 8 is again
tried out in the variety tests and
a large increase plot is grown
to furnish seed to be used in grow-
ing a general seed crop.
This process is a continuous one
and in the third and fourth years
the families or strains as here
illustrated will come in compe-
tition with later selections from
the plant-to-row tests made the
second year. It thus frequently
happens that the pedigreed strain
of a certain year may be dis-
carded for a better strain the
next year. The longer this con-
tinuous selection is pursued, the
better and more uniform the pedi-
greed strain becomes. In all this
btreeding work, accurate rocords
are kept of very individual
strain and we are able to trace
the ancestry or pedigree of any
strain back to the original plant
first selected.
COKER'S PEDIGREED SEEDS ARE
BRED BYTESmS AGAINST OTHER
5 TRA INS or THE SAME VARIE TY
AND ARE ALSO TESTED AGAINST
OTHER LEADING VARIETIESA5 WELL
ASTRAINOESEEDMUSTSHOW MARKED
SUPERIORITY OR IT IS DIS-
CARDED
"THE
FINAL
PRODUCT
ThePlant-To-RowPedigreedBreedin&Mlthod A Variety Test
showing BREEDING STRAINS TESTED
QEING T^EST^ED AGAINST EACH OTHER /ttw^o i/adip’tip'^
SHADCD COLUMNS -SELECTZD BREEDING STRAINS AGAINST OTHER VARIETIES
THE ABOVE TWO TEST5 ARE MADE CONCURRENTLY
Page Seven
SEED WITH A PEPfORHANEEPECOflP
MmmO 5EE0 C0. HAf?TSVtUf,5X.
OUR METHOD OF HANDLING SEED
Recleaning and Grading
In addition to our requirements of proper breeding of seeds, we demand also that our seeds shall be sound,
vital and properly graded. No matter what the breeding or pedigree of the seed may be it is an inferior product
if it is full of trash, immature seeds and broken grains. For several years we have conducted accurate tests to
determine the value of well graded seed. While we have always believed that there was a great difference in
favor of well graded seed, the results obtained were far beyond our expectations. Read results of tests on page 9.
A Point to Keep in Mind
To say that a seed is recleaned does not mean that it is of first grade. Recleaning seed ordinarily means that
the trash and dirt have been removed. This “recleaning” does not affect the yield. But when seeds are prop-
erly graded, it means that all the light, immature and broken grains are removed, as well as all trash and foreign
substance. It is, of course, quite expensive for a seedsman to thoroughly grade his seed and discard all of the
lower grades, as the discarded parts cannot be used except for feed purposes. But the difference in actual value
of well-graded seed is so great that farmers everywhere should insist that all seed they buy be carefully and
properly graded.
Our Seed Cleaning Department
Our Seed Cleaning Department is operated under this instruction : “Every lot of seed must be recleaned and
graded, removing all light, immature and broken seeds and all trash, dirt and foreign matter. It is better that a
small portion of good seed be thrown out than allow any inferior seed to go in.” This rule is rigidly enforced
even though it means at times a large loss to us. In grading oats for instance, we sometimes remove 25% in
order to bring the product to the high standard of our requirements. Our machine on which most of our
grain is graded, is a double decked, four-screen vertical air-blast machine of the most approved type, and does
as perfect work as any similar machine to be found.
We also carefully reclean and grade all of our cotton seed. Our gins are fitted with special grading ma-
chines through which all cotton seed pass. We do this at additional expense because we have proven conclu-
sively that it handsomely pays the planter, and if we are to best serve his interest, we must furnish the most
valuable seed that can be produced. The illustrations above, which are engraved from actual photographs, show
the cotton as it goes to the gin, the nine grades of trash and the inferior seeds which our machines remove, and
finally the grade of seed which we offer for sale.
The seeds we offer for sale as our own strains represent the cumulative results of nineteen years’ scientific
work in selecting and breeding field seeds by the plant-to-row method. During this time our seeds have been
planted and tested in every Southern State with results which have shown conclusively that Coker s Pedigreed
Seeds make bigger yields and better quality than ordinary seeds.
Page Eight
TESTED FOR GERMINATION AND PURITY
No matter how well bred or carefully handled a seed may be, its
value for planting is only in proportion to its germination percentage. If
a seed will not sprout, it is naturally of no value. In order to determine
accurately the germination of our seeds, and guard against the shipment
of seed of low vitality, we have installed in our laboratory four of the most
approved types of Electric Germinators. In adopting this apparatus, we
have followed the lead of the U. S. Department of Agriculture at Wash-
ington. Heat for this germinator is furnished by an electric hot plate and
I he temperature is lowered by the use of an ice box. An electric thermostat
regulates the heat and sustains an even and regular
temperature at any degree required. Samples of every
lot of seed we handle are tested with this apparatus
and the percentage of germination accurately deter-
mined. Any falling below the high standards set by
us are discarded for seed purposes.
It is needless to say that we would not have install-
ed such an expensive apparatus nor would we go to
the trouble and expense of testing all of our seeds if
we were not thereby better serving the interests of
our customers.
MOST
IMPROVED TYPE
GERMINATOR
ELECTRIC
Purity Tests
Purity tests require microscopic examination of all
small seeds and a determination of the kind and na-
ture of any impurities. In Sudan Grass, for instance,
we are especially careful to determine the presence or
absence of Johnson Grass or Sorghum Hybrids, both
of which are very similar to pure Sudan seed. The
presence of Johnson Grass, no matter how small the proportion, would
cause us to throw out for seed purposes any lot of Sudan.
On every bag of seed a tag is attached which gives in figures based
on our tests the actual percentage of germination and purity above
which we guarantee that particular bag of seed. Any failure of the
seed to prove up to the figures we give lays us liable under the State
Seed Inspection Laws. The value of such information and the laws
behind it is apparent. Although the State Department of Agricul-
ture makes no standard requirement of quality for seeds, our oivn standards are equal and above the high
standards recommended by the State authorities.
During its stay in our ware-
house all seed is carefully ex-
amined frequently by seed ex-
perts to insure its vitality until
it is shipped. Its position may
be changed several times in or-
der to prevent heating. Particu-
larly is this necessary with cot-
ton. For an absolute assurance
experts often go into the sacks
and examine the seed carefully.
Wherever there is any question
of a loss in vitality, additional
germination tests are conducted.
As a final proof of our confi-
dence in our seed, we have
adopted a trade-mark which is
registered in the United States
Patent Office, which we use on
our finest seeds.
This trade-mark
stands for us and
our reputation
and wherever it
is placed it is
our guarantee of ONE CORNER OF THE GERMINATION ROOM SHOWING TWO OF OUR LARGE
highest quality. GERMINATORS
Page Nine
OUR EXPERIMENTAL WORK
In addition to our regular breeding work, we carry
on each year experiments that have to do with actual
every day farm problems; to determine the most profit-
able ways of crop production and farm procedure.
Every farmer should appply the test — Does it
Pay — to every farm problem that he has to face. Such
is the test we are applying to some of these problems
and the results we publish (in brief) for the benefit
of all who may wish to profit by our experience.
Fodder Pulling (Does it Pay?)
We have concluded our Fodder Pulling Tests.
IT DOES NOT PAY to lose 7.5 bushels of corn per
acre, or 16.8 per cent of your corn crop, for the small
amount of fodder you receive. Better save the ex-
pense of pulling, make more corn and buy your forage,
in case you do not make enough.
Write for our Special Bulletin on this subject.
Cutting and Shocking Corn
With the increased interest in Live Stock produc-
tion and the Dairy, it is becoming more prevalent for
the farmer to cut and shock his corn about fodder
pulling time and later to shread it and utilize the stalks
and leaves as stover for feeding and bedding purposes.
This is a practice recommended, but the question
arises, will this method and handling affect the value of
seed corn and influence the next year’s crop produc-
tion?
We have a striking four-year test on this ques-
tion:
FOUR-YEAR AVERAGE
Plot Bushels Pct.Corn Pct.Inf’r.
No. Per acre, to cob. Corn.
1. Corn standing 43.5 86.7 14.8
2. Corn cut and shocked. . . .38.2 84.8 21.4
liS L9 ^
Loss due to cutting and shocking 12.2 per cent.
This is a big loss and while it may be offset by the
feeding and bedding value of the stover for Live Stock,
it should not be practiced on the fields used for getting
seed corn. Such inferior corn would surely produce
poor seed corn and give poor crop yields the following
year. A one-year test on this particular point shows a
loss of 3.4 bushels per acre, or 8 per cent.
Fertile Soil Seed vs. Poor Soil Seed
Heredity as a factor in the production of good seed
and good crop yields is no longer a question in the
minds of the intelligent farmers of today, but the mat-
ter of environment as a factor in the production of
good seed is a question that many farmers have never
thought of seriously and our tests, started four years
ago, have opened our eyes to its importance. We have
found that good seed from fertile soil are better than
good seed from poor soil; that is, they will produce
better crop yields. A five-year test with oats and a
one-year test with com give very striking results in
favor of fertile soil.
PER ACRE
OATS (av. increased yield 5 yrs., fertile soil) 3.5 bu.
CORN (av. increased yield I yr., fertile soil) 4.27 bu.
The suggestion from this test is, that every farmer
should select his planting seed from the very best soil,
from the best environment, basing his selection on the
field and not from the barn.
Cleaned Seed vs. Uncleaned Seed
The cleaning and grading of planting seed is a
method that has been brought to the attention of the
farmers time after time, and yet we find a great ma-
jority of the farmers, some of them our best farmers
planting seed just as it comes from the field at harvest
time.
DOES IT PAY you to plant small seed that
do not have the power to produce strong, healthy
plants? Will it pay you to plant inferior seed, many
of which will not come up when planted? Will it pay
you to plant trash and broken seed such as is found
in every lot of uncleaned seed? Will it pay you to
plant seed that will give you trouble in planting, un-
even stands and poor crop yields? IF NOT, then it
will not pay you to plant seed that have not been
thoroughly cleaned and graded.
The greatly increased yields derived from planting
thoroughly cleaned and separated seed has led us to
the conclusion, that SEED CLEANING AND SEPAR-
ATION is a tremendous factor in the production of
good crop yields.
Our tests have been running for five years with
oats, testing the yield from the seed that have been
thoroughly cleaned, 50% being removed, against seed
as they come from the threshers, and the average re-
sults for the four years are given below:
OATS (average increased yields 5 years) ... .10.8 bu.
OATS (lowest increased yield for any year) . .1.6 bu.
We do not separate the seeds we sell on a 50%
basis, but it would pay the farmer to raise twice as
much seed as he requires each year and separate them
on this basis.
Owing to the small investment necessary for every
farmer to have a seed cleaning machine, there is no
excuse for the neglect of this important factor. Any
farmer who plants as much as 20 acres of oats would
save enough in one year to more than pay for his
Seed Cleaner.
The Constitution of Good Seed
The results and experience of 19 years of Breeding
and Experimental work lead us to suggest three fac-
tors that go to make up the constitution of good seed.
We give them in the order of their importance.
I. — Good Breeding 2. — Good Environment.
3. — Good Cleaning and Grading.
IF e are continually upbr ceding the seeds we sell. Our plant breeding and experimental work with field seeds
is, so far as we are informed, the most extensive of its kind carried on by any individual or firm in the cotton belt.
Page Ten
OUR EXPERIMENTAL WORK
Effect of Phosphate Fertilizers on
Number of Mature Bolls Per Plant on Aug. 4, 1920.
Earliness
Under boll weevil conditions we grow early varie-
ties, plant early, and do all we can to hasten the ma-
turity of the cotton crop in order to develop as large
a crop of bolls as possible early in the season before
the boll weevil has become numerous. Phosphate fer-
tilizers have been claimed to hasten maturity and we
have conducted a fertilizer experiment for the last
four years to determine the actual effect of different
forms of phosphates in hastening maturity. All plots
receive the same quantity of ammonia and potash and
are treated alike except for the variation in the phos-
phates. The amount of the different phosphates used
on the different plots is determined by their respec-
tive monetary value — all representing the same fertil-
izer investment of S5.50 per acre. The averages for
the two plots of each treatment for the four year
period is given in the following tables:
Average
Seed Cotton Average
per acre, first total yield per
pick about acre of seed
Kind of Phosphate Sept. 1. cotton.
Hard Rock Phosphate 509.4 lbs. 1,310.7 lbs.
Soft Rock Phosphate 496.2 lbs. 1,220.3 lbs.
Acid Phosphate 730.2 lbs. 1,265.3 lbs.
Check (No Phosphate) 418.9 lbs. 1,141.6 lbs.
Every year during the four years the acid phos-
phate plots have given a markedly larger first pick
than any of the other treatments in about the propor-
tion as shown by the average for acid phosphate in
the first column. So far as total yield for the entire
season is concerned, hard rock phosphate shows a
slight superiority of yield but this is not uniform in all
of the years and the difference is slight All phos-
phate plots, however, are considerably ahead of the
check where no phosphate was given.
Treatment
Hard Rock Phosphate
Soft Rock Phosphate
Acid Phosphate
Check (No Phosphate)
Number Total num-
Average
number of
mature
of Plants
ber Ma-
bolls per
examined, ture Bolls,
plant.
50
408
8.16
50
394
7.88
50
814
16.28
50
234
4.68
The experiment shows fairly conclusively that
phosphates increase the yield and that acid phosphate
does very markedly hasten maturity. We should there-
fore fertilize rather heavily with acid phosphate where
boll weevil is abundant.
We have also conducted tests for the last four
years to determine the effect of different amounts of
acid phosphate on earliness and yield, two plats be-
ing grown of each treatment. The following table
gives the average results for the four years.
Average
Average
pick up to
total yield
Sept. 11 in
in pounds
pounds
of seed cot-
seed cotton
ton per
per acre.
acre.
620
1190
692
1144
745
1180
Treatment in
Pounds per Acre
Acid Phosphate — 200 lbs.
Acid Phosphate — 400 lbs.
Acid Phosphate — 800 lbs.
From these results it seems that the large applica-
tion of acid phosphate markedly increased the amount
of the early pickings but did not increase the final
total yield. Large applications would, therefore, be
justified only under conditions of severe boll-weevil
infection.
Our Variety Tests
Variety testing is one of our principal lines of scien-
tific work as with every crop we are breeding our
pedigreed strains must every year be tested in compar-
ison with the various standard varieties commonly
grown. This year we have grown about 300 standard
varieties in these tests which are conducted with ex-
As a further indication of earliness, on August 4,
1920 a coimt was made on 50 plants of each plot of
the mature bolls judged to be past the stage where
they would be susceptable to boll weevil injury. The
following table shows the results:
actness and impartiality. The seeds so far as possi-
ble are obtained from the originators of the different
varieties or strains tested. In our cotton variety tests
each variety is tested by four rows an acre long (210
feet) arranged so that each is in a different part of
the field. In the grain tests each
variety is tested by ten different
rod-rows by the standard experi-
mental method.
It is these comparative tests
carried on year after year, that
finally determines the real value
of a variety of seed and many
varieties that in general are
thought to be very good are clear-
ly revealed as inferior sorts when
subjected to such critical tests.
As shown in the chart on page
6 our pedigreed strains are not
only tested against each other but
against other varieties as well.
Not only must a selected strain of
seed show superiority over our
other selected strains during tliree
years’ trial, but it must be super-
ior to other standard varieties or
it is discarded. Only the fittest
can survive the rigid tests to
which all Coker’s Pedigreed Seeds
are submitted.
FERTILIZER SALESMEN INSPECTING COTTON VARIETY TESTS ON PEDIGREED
SEED FARM, AUGUST 26, 1920.
Page Eleven
SeeOWItHA PESfOPHANCg RECAPS
#SlfiREeO SEED CD. HARTSVIUE.SX.
OUR PLANT-BREEDING STAFF
The plant-breeding work of the Pedigreed Seed Company was begun in 1902 and the pedigree records
date back to that time.
The work of the Company necessitates the maintenance of the highest scientific ideals and must be most
carefully done. A high standard can only be maintained by an adequate staff of men trained in the science
and practice of plant-breeding. The rapidly increasing demands for our seed have made it necessary to in-
crease our scientific staff greatly, and during the past year the work has been reorganized and strengthened by
additions of several highly trained specialists. Dr. Herbert J. Webber, now our General Manager, has come to
us from California where he was Director of the California Agricultural Experiment Station. Professor J. B.
Norton, now one of our plant breeders and asparagus specialists, came to us from the U. S. Department of
Agriculture where he served for many years as a Plant Physiologist and Agricultural Explorer. Mr. D. R.
Hopkins, Mr. Curtis L. Vogler and Mr. J. S. Brown are also new members of our staff.
We are now well organized to carry our work forward in a satisfactory way with confidence that we will
As a buyer of our pedigreed seeds, you will be interested in
knowing something of the personal history and achievements of the
men engaged in our scientific breeding work and seed production.
David R. Coker
Mr. David R. Coker, our President, is known and recognized over the
entire South as an Agriculural and Plant Breeding Expert of high rank;
founder and chief exponent of the new staple cotton industry of the
South ; originator of Coker’s Pedigreed Seeds, now being grown in most
cotton growing sections of the world. To him belongs the befitting honor
of having never sacrificed his interest in the advancement of the agri-
cultural industries of the South and nation for the sake of personal or
commercial profits. He gave to the Pedigreed Seed Company its policy
of working primarily along the lines of absolute scientific accuracy for
the development of the agricultural industry of the South and he has
planned and closely supervised all of its work from the beginning. His
efforts have now perfected a scientific breeding organization that chal-
lenges comparison with any similar organization in the world — an organi-
zation which guarantees even a greater expansion of the Pedigreed Seed
Company to extend the scope of its useful and unique business.
The following biography is from BUS, a Register of the Rural Leader-
ship in the United States and Canada, compiled by L. H. Bailey :
“Coker, David Robert, plant-breeder, seedsman, cotton dealer. Harts-
ville, S. C.
“President J. L. Coker Co., merchants ; president Coker Cotton Co. ; pres-
ident Pedigreed Seed Co. ; director Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. May-
or Hartsville, 1902-04; chairman South Carolina Council Defence, 1917-19;
Federal Food Administrator, 1917 ; trustee University of South Carolina.
Member National Agricultural Advisory Committee, 1917-18; member Nat-
ional Agricultural Commission to Europe, 1918 ; president South Carolina
Plant Breeders Association. ****A. B., University of S. C., 1891.”
Herbert J. Webber
Dr. Herbert J. Webber, our General Manager, is known the world over
in scientific and agricultural circles as a plant breeder and scientist of
note. He has achieved notworthy success as a university teacher and
scientific investigator, and has published numerous bulletins and research
studies in the United States Department of Agriculture and the experi-
ment stations of New York and California. His achievement in practical
plant breeding is demonstrated by the varieties he has originated and
introduced, such as the Columbia and Keenan long staple cottons, the
Webber and Cornell No. 1 varieties of corn, and several varieties of tim-
othy, citrus fruits and pineapples.
The following biography is from RUS :
“Webber, Herbert John, Gen. Mgr. Pedigreed Seed Co., Hartsville, S. C.
“Assistant botanist University of Nebraska, 1889-90 ; assistant bota-
nist Washington University, 1890-92 ; assistant pathologist and physiologist,
U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1892-97 ; physioligist in charge plant-
breeding laboratory, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1897-1907 ; professor
plant-breeding, Cornell University, 1907-13 ; acting director N. Y. State
College of Agriculture, 1910-11; dean Graduate School of Tropical Agri-
culture and director Citrus Experiment Station, University of California,
1913-19 ; director California Agricultural Experiment Station, 1919-20 ;
present position, 1920, Fellow A. A. A. S., American Botanical Society ;
chairman plant section, American Breeders Association, 1906-10 ; president
California Avocado Association, 1916 ; president Citrus Institute of Nation-
al Orange Show, 1919-20. Delegate (representing U. S. Department of
Agriculture) to International Conference on Hybridization, London, 1899.**
B.Sc., University of Nebraska, 1889 ; M. A. 1890 ; Ph.D., Washington Uni-
versity, 1900 ; D. Agr., University Nebraska, 1913. Sigma Xi ; Alpha Zeta."
HERBERT J. WEBBER, Gen. Mgr.
Page Twelve
OUR PLANT-BREEDING
(Continued)
STAFF
George J. Wilds
Mr. Wilds, our Plant-Breeding Manager, began his scientific training with two years
work at the University of South Carolina which institution he left in 1908 to afiBliate him-
self with the Pedigreed Seed Company in conducting plant-breeding and experimental work
under the direction of Mr. David R. Coker. For three years his work embraced the
breeding and developing of the Hartsville and Webber varieties of cotton and the William-
son corn, together with experimental work with peas and sorghum. The first Webber
“Plant-to-Row" test was made during this period, which produced the parent rows of the
present well known Webber No. 49, and Webber 82. In 1911 he returned to the University
of South Carolina, graduating in the fall of 1913. During these two years he conducted ex-
perimental work for the Pedigreed Seed Company and cotton breeding experiments in co-
operation with the United States Department of Agriculture in Columbia, S. C. After
graduation he resumed his plant-breeding activities with the Pedigreed Seed Company
until 1915, at which time he entered Cornell University where he took a fundamental
course in agriculture and botany. This course was followed by his entry into graduate
school work, specializing in plant-breeding and farm management, graduating in 1917
with M. A. degree. Since 1917 he has been associated with the Pedigreed Seed Company
as expert plant-breeder and for the last three years has been in active charge of most of
the plant-breeding. His scientific knowledge, his years of practical experience and his nine
years of loyal service with the Pedigreed Seed Company have contributed very largely to
the success and plant-breeding attainments of the Company in its special field.
GEO. J. WILDS
Production Manager
J. B. Norton
Curtis L. Vogler
Mr. Curtis L. Volger is a graduate of the University of North Carolina with
A. B. Degree, majoring in botany and plant diseases, which work he took under Dr.
W. C. Coker, head of the Department of Botany. At the same institution he served
a year as Laboratory Assistant, followed by another year as instructor in Botany.
He also took special research work in Peck Herbarium in Albany, N. Y., under Dr.
R. B. House, New York State Botanist. Because of his scientific knowledge and
Mr J. B. Norton, plant-breeder and asparagus specialist, has wide experience as an
agriciiltural investigator and plant-breeder. He was associated with Dr. Webber in the
U. S. Department of Agriculture from 1902 to 1907 ; supervised the oat breeding work of
the Department of Agriculture from 1902 to 1907 ; during which period practically all the
small grain breeding methods now in use by experimental breeders in this country were
developed and standardized, including the plant-
to-row and head-to-row methods. His investiga-
tions on the breeding of asparagus, which re-
sulted in the production of the Washington As-
paragus, is one of the most noteworthy examples
of successful plant-breeding that has ever been
carried out. In 1919 he traveled in China as
an agricultural explorer for the Department of
Agriculture.
J. B. NORTON
Plant Breeder and Asparagus
Specialist
CURTIS L. VOGLER
Plant Breeder
The following biography is from RUS :
“Norton, Jesse Baker, plant-breeder, Hartsville, S. C.
“Librarian, Missouri Botanical Gardens, 1899-1900 ; assistant U. S. Department of
Agriculture, 1900 ; assistant entomologist Kansas
State Agricultural College, 1900-02 ; assistant pro-
fessor plant-breeding, Cornell University, 1907-08 ;
assistant physiologist Bureau of Plant Industry,
1902-07 ; phj’siologist, 1908-1918 ; agricultural ex-
plorer, 1919-20 ; Fellow A. A. A. S.****B.Sc.,
Kansas State Agricultural College, 1897 ; M. Sc.,
1901. Sigma Xi.”
practical experience in field plant-breeding, he has been intrusted with a good share q ^ HOPKINS
of the plant-breeding work of the Pedigreed Seed Company. Plant Breeder
Page Thirteen
m\mm 5m ci HAffeviiiE.g.c. w
OUR PLANT-BREEDING
(Continued)
D. R. Hopkins
Mr. D. R. Hopkins graduated at Clemson College in 1915 with degree of B. Sc.
His agricultural training consisted of special work under A. P. Conradi, State Ento-
mologist for the State of South Carolina, and J. N. Harper, head of Experimental
Station work in South Carolina. He snent the summer of 1916 in Western wheat
fields, studying methods of production and harvesting. Before he became associated
with the Pedigreed Seed Company he was Farm Demonstration Agent for the County
of Darlington, South Carolina. He has charge of the purity work and conducts all
germination tests of the seed grown by the Pedigreed Seed Company.
J. S. Brown
Mr. J. S. Brown is a native of South Carolina and a graduate of Furman Univer-
sity where he received in 1915 the degree of B. Sc. His special training was supple-
mented by a post graduate course at Clemson College in 1916. Since his graduation
he has had continuous practical training in special truck crops and plant development.
He has only recently connected himself with the Pedigreed Seed Company, yet his
services as an assistant plant-breeder have already proved a valuable asset.
STAFF
J. S. BROWN
Plant Breeder
OUR BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Photographs are also reproduced of our principal business managers. Our Vice-President, Mr. J. J. Lawton, is a wide-
ly known t)usiness man and leader in many important business operations, particularly in cotton, oil and fertilizer manufac-
turing. He is the president of the Inttrstate Cotton Seed Crushers Association and is the chairman of the Board of Trustees
of Furman University and of Coker College. Mr. A.
L. M. Wiggins, our Secretary and Treasurer, is vice-
president of the Trust Company of South Carolina
and also of the Bank of Hartsville. He has been
very active in the work of the Pedigreed Seed Com-
pany and the organization and efficiency of the Com-
pany is in large measure due to his untiring ener-
gy. He is a graduate of the University of North
Carolina. Mr. E. M. Chappell, our Sales Manager,
was largely trained at Wake Forest College and pre-
viously to coming to us was the Freight Agent and
Assistant General Manager of the Durham and S. C.
Railroad. Our Warehouse Manager, Mr. Ralph
Sharpe had two years of special training at the
North Carolina Agricultural and Engineering Col-
lege. Our Able Farm Manager, Mr. J. F. Clyburn,
is a graduate of the school of “hard knocks" and
there is none better. Mr. W. S. Atkinson, the Man-
ager of our Branch Office at Jackson, Mississippi, is
J. F. CLYBURN one of the widest known cotton seed salesmen in
Farm Manager the country.
W. S. ATKINSON, Manager
Branch Office, Jackson, Miss.
Page Fourteen
OUR COTTON VARIETIES
Suggestions as to Grow-
ing Staple Cotton
1. VARIETIES.
Cotton is the principal crop of the South and we have thus specialized on cotton. We have not been sat-
isfied to take cotton varieties as we found them, but have bred special varieties to meet the requirements of
the industry. We are the originators and introducers of the Webber 49, Webber 82 and Hartsville, and all of
the strains of these cottons that have yet been introduced. These are all recognized now as standard varieties
of long staple cottons and are extensively grown in the staple sections of Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and
the Carolinas. Since the creation of these varieties we have continued to select and improve them every year by
the plant-to-row method. We have maintained a continuous pedigree record of each variety since the be-
ginning, selecting and propagating every year from the best individual. This has been conscientiously and syste-
matically carried out since our work began so that our pedigrees now go back 19 years. This is the reason
why our varieties are so uniform in all important characteristics. Uniformity in length and quality of fiber
and in productivity means that the grower gets the best possible money return for his crop.
The Deltatype Webber, a new variety descended from the Webber 82, we are offering for the first time
this year. It has 1% inch lint and the largest boll and picks the easiest of any of our long staple cottons. It
is also fully as early as any of the long staple varieties.
While we have specialized on long staple cottons we have not neglected the short staples. In 1915 we
began the improvement of the Cleveland Cotton, having found this to be the best general variety of ordinary
short staple. Our selections here have been directed along two lines: First, to obtain a pedigreed short staple
with increased production, and Second, to obtain a Cleveland plant with a fiber 1% to 1t% inches in length.
The pedigreed strain of the short stapled type we are now offering as the pedigreed Coker-Cleveland, and it
is the best short staple cotton we have ever grown. The strain with longer fiber (1% in.) will not be ready for
distribution for several years.
The experience with the boll weevil has demonstrated that the most effective means of producing cotton
where this pest is present is to use early varieties that mature a considerable portion of the crop early in the sea-
son before the weevil becomes so abundant as to cause much damage We have for several years been breeding
the Express cotton which is an early variety, producing 1% to Ii^e inch lint, and we now have a strain of this
variety that is longer, earlier and more productive than the original strain and has a larger lint turn out.
This strain is the earliest cotton of any kind that we have ever grown, or of which we have knowledge, and
bids fair to be an important variety, particularly for boll weevil sections and for the northern limits of the
cotton belt. This variety will not be ready for distribution until the spring of 1922.
The cotton wilt is a parasitic fungus disease that causes considerable damage in many parts of the cotton
belt and the best method of controlling the loss from this disease is through the use of resistant varieties. The
Dixie, bred and introduced by the experts of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, was found to be the best
wilt resistant sort and we have been selecting this variety on a wilt infected plantation and are now offering
seed of a pedigreed strain which we believe to be the best wilt resistant short staple cotton available.
We have not yet bred a wilt resistant long staple cotton ourselves, though we are actively at work on this
problem and have promising strains in progress. However, one of our neighbors, Mr. Register, who started
working on this problem in co-operation with the U. S. Department of Agriculture, has produced a variety
that is wilt resistant and has a fiber averaging about VA inches in length. As an accommodation to our customers,
we have purchased Mr. Register’s entire crop of seed, which we are offering with full confidence that it is
the best resistant variety of long staple cotton now available. Mr. Register’s seed has been pedigreed by him,
using the same plant-to-row methods which we use. Our president, Mr. D. R. Coker, has regularly purchased
Mr. Register’s cotton through the Coker Cotton Company and we have followed Mr. Register’s breeding
work so that we know we are
offering a good product.
As the boll weevil has now
covered practically the entire
cotton belt as far north evident-
ly as it can exist, it is vital
to the cotton planter to decide
on a variety which stands the
most chance against depreda-
tions of the weevil. The earli-
ness of varieties and their re-
sistance thus become very im-
portant factors in choosing a
variety. Our Deltatype Webber
and Webber 49 are the earliest
FIELD OF WEBBER 49 COTTON, ILLUSTRATING THE UNIFORMITY IN HEIGHT 1 5-16 to 1% inch cottons that
OF A PEDIGREED STRAIN. are now on the market. The
Page Fifteen
seeowfiHi mmmuuicm
Webber 82 is not quite so early. The bolls of the Webber 49 in the Deta region of Mississippi, according to
the general testimony of growers, also become immune to boll weevil puncture at a very early stage. In breed-
ing these cottons we have had in mind the extension of the boll weevil area and the production of varieties that
would partly escape injury, and we offer our new variety, the Deltatype Webber, and the newest strain of Webber
49, strain 4, with the assurance that they are the best long staple cottons yet produced for boll weevil conditions.
Leaving the boll weevil out of consideration, our Hartsville 14 is one of the best staple cottons we have pro-
duced. It is earlier than some of the older strains of Hartsville, has larger bolls than any other staple cotton,
and is especially easy to pick.
2. SEED.
In buying seed it is, of course, essential to obtain those of absolute purity which have been bred to pedigree.
It is almost equally important, however, to assure yourself that the seed have been well handled and not allowed
to heat; have been recleaned and all light, inferior seed, trash and dirt taken out, and that they have been
grown under good conditions. All cotton seed have a percentage of inferior, immature seed in them when they
come from the gin, and these, with the trash and dirt which uncleaned seed usually contain, are a dead loss to
the planter. Besides, many light seed if planted will come up and form sickly plants which will not produce
a maximum yield.
Another thing which is not suspected by most farmers is that seed produced under poor conditions will
not yield as well as seed produced under good conditions. We have for years been making tests which prove
this beyond the shadow of a doubt, and we will be glad to show any farmer the results of five years testing
which completely prove this point.
3. CULTURE.
The best results with cotton are usually obtained from early planting and liberal fertilization. Good land
well fertilized will usually produce better staple than poor land. Most of the staple cottons have large seed,
and not less than one bushel per acre should be used in seeding. The distance between rows and in the drill
is a matter for the individual judgement of the farmer as it varies very greatly under different conditions.
Staple cotton should never be allowed to suffer for culture. Anything which interferes with the growth of
the plant interferes with the development of the staple. We have found it profitable here to cultivate our
cotton until it lapped in the rows. We frequently plow up to the first of September.
4. PICKING AND HANDLING.
The staple varieties planted in this section have much larger bolls than most varieties. They also hold
well in the burr, not hanging far out of the boll as some varieties do. These characteristics prevent our staple
cottons from blueing up quickly in the fields. But, notwithstanding this, it is most important to gather staple
cottons promptly, for there is, of course, some decline in grade the longer the cotton remains unpicked.
The great difference in value now prevailing between high-grade and low-grade staple cotton makes it
imperative that no greater acreage be planted than can be promptly harvested. The best grades are nearly
always in active demand at profitable premiums, but low grades are usually a drug on the market and rarely
pay the cost of production. The farmer who every year plants more than he has labor to gather prompt-
ly is the bane of the whole industry. He is now suffering, but because of him are also suffering those con-
servative growers who never plant more acreage than they can handle.
5. GINNING AND PACKING.
Staple cotton should not be ginned when damp. If picked during moist weather or even when a heavy
dew is on the cotton it should be sunned before ginning. Five to twenty dollars per bale is frequently lost
in staple cotton by ginning it green or damp. In ginning staple cotton be careful to see that the roll has been
cleaned out before ginning, as otherwise there will be a plate of different length or different grade cotton on one
side of your bale, and besides you get some seed from the preceding bale.
The great secret of ginning staple cotton is a soft gin roll. Not more than two -thirds as much staple
should be put though the gin per hour as is usual with short cotton. A speed of about 400 revolutions per
minute will produce satisfactory results with a soft gin roll, provided the brushes are speeded 1,500 to 1,600
revolutions. The lint should be blown direct into the press box from the gin and not foot packed.
We will be glad to furnish detailed instructions as to ginning to any one who will write.
Bales should be put up to weigh around 500 lbs., and 6% yards of two-pounds bagging and 6 ties should
be used. The weight of this covering is 22 lbs., which is all the tare that is allowable on uncompressed cot-
ton by the Carolina Mill rules.
6. MARKETING.
Many f armei - who would otherwise plant staple cotton are deterred from doing so from lack of a conveni-
ent market. If they understand how to proceed, howevet, this need not affect them.
If a good quality of cotton is made, and if it is properly ginned and packed it can be sold without serious
trouble. There are reputable dealers in every large staple cotton market who will bid on cotton froin well
drawn samples. Many thousands of bales are bought in this way by Hartsville merchants, much of this cot-
ton coming from Georgia and North Carolina. If two or more sets of samples are sent to different buyers the
farmer is apt to receive a fair bid.
The following sampling instructions will be found useful:
Draw smo'»lh sample weighing about four ounces from each side of each bale. Put ticket showing number
and mark of bale between each pair of samples. Wrap in several folds of strong paper and send by parcel
post. Be surj to write your name and address plainly on package.
rage Sixteen
THE STAPLE COTTON INDUSTRY
(By David R. Coker)
While there has been a tremendous decline during the past six months in the premiums which staple cot-
ton will bring over short they are still above pre-war averages. We can, therefore, see nothing in the situation
to discourage anyone from planting staple cotton if he is going to plant cotton at all, for, whether short cotton
prices are profitable or not, good staple varieties will certainly make far better returns to the planter than
short cotton if he can secure present premiums of fully 50%. While the decline in staples, as well as in all
cottons, was largely caused by over-production (or under-consumption) and the general re-adjustment of com-
modity prices inevitable after a period of inflation, the collapse of the tire cloth industry last summer was
a very great factor in lowering staple prices. This industry, which was consuming at the rate of one-half mil-
ion bales per annum last spring, will gradually get back upon its feet as the surplus stocks of automobile
tires are used up and may be expected to again use large quantities of staple cotton within a few months. The
Egyptian crop, both in quality and quantity, is disappointing and a heavy reduction in that crop may be ex-
pected in 1921.
We expect good staple cotton from productive varieties to continue to pay profitable premiums over short
cotton as it has always done at some period of each year in the past, but we do not now and never have ad-
vised the discriminate planting of staple cotton. The production of high grade saleable 1 3-16 to 1% staple
is a speciality and should only be engaged in by those who are willing to go to the small trouble and ex-
pense to gain the knowledge and equipment necessary to success.
The essentials of success are:
FIRST : Pure bred seed of guaranteed good germination from a recently pedigreed strain of one of the
early high producing varieties of good staple length.
SECOND: The rigid limitation of the acreage planted to an area which can be perfectly worked and
rapidly gathered. (The bane of the whole cotton industry is the planting of bigger crops than can be rap-
idly harvested and this has resulted in a heavy over-production of low grades and in an under-production of
food stuffs.)
THIRD: Proper attention to ginning and baling so that a smooth unmixed product put up in a standard
package will result.
FOURTH: Arrangements to store and carry the cotton through the occasional periods of stagnation and
lack of demand that sometimes occur in the marketing all staple products.
FIFTH: Selling through reputable and well established agencies who know staple and are in position
to pay its value. This can be done by the submission of properly drawn samples if the producer is not near
a good staple market.
The section around Hartsville last year produced the biggest crop per acre in its history, practically
all of which was staple cotton. While our farmers here have made no profits on their 1920 crop, the big yields
and the premiums above short cotton (which have ranged from 100% to 50%) have saved this section from
the general bankruptcy and distress which stares many other cotton sections in the face.
On page 53 of the monthly crop report of the National Department of Agriculture for June, 1917 the
average yield of lint cotton per acre
for South Carolina is given as 156
pounds of long staple against 155
pounds of short staple for the disas-
trous year of 1916. The same pub-
lication gives the comparative yields
of long and short cotton for South
Carolina as 228 pounds of long staple
and 232 pounds of short staple for
1915. These are the latest official
figures we have seen and as these
results are closely confirmed by the
average yields of our staple varieties
as compared with the short cottons
in our accurately conducted variety
tests, we think it fair to assume that
the government’s figures for these
two years closely approximate the
field results of long and short cot-
tons in this section. This being so,
the premiums obtained by the farm-
o, amt Tr. ers in South Carolina for staple cot-
Of" PEDIGREED HARTSVILLE COTTON: ton are nracticallv all net nrofit
nf Row Med.um Row on Left. This Variation ^ ^ nAVin H TOKFR
of Plant Progeny Rows Within a Pedigreed Strain Demonstrates the UAVIJJ K. L.UJvrjr\.
Necessity of Continuous Selection and Breeding. Jan. 1st., 1921.
Page Seventeen
pemmc sm co. mmmH:
OUR SERIES OF WEBBER COTTONS
(Long Staple Cottons)
In 1910, we began our new breeding
work on Webber cotton making plant se-
lections from our twenty-five acre field of
this cotton. In our 1911 plant-to-row
test, consisting of about ninety rows,
each planted from the seed of a differ-
ent plant of Webber selected in 1910,
several rows stood up splendidly in com-
parison with the general average. Two of
the most striking rows in the block were
numbers 82 and 49.
The strains propagated from these two su-
perior rows became the Webber No. 49 and
the Webber No. 82. The pedigreed breeding
has been continued every year since this time
and as improved strains were secured these were
numbered consecutively and sold under the num-
bers. We have produced and sold seed of Webber
49 strains Nos. 1, 2, and 3. and of Webber 82, strains
PLANT OF DELTATYPE WEBBER ^ 2^ This year we are offering a new strain of
Webber 49; strain 4, and are for the first time offering a new variety under the name of Deltatype*^ Webber,
which has descended from Webber No. 82 but which is such a distinct type and represents such a marked im-
All seed sold undei this
trade-mark poss( ss
crop guarantee .is
near perfect as n.ituic
will permit.
The origin of Webber cotton goes back to 1907, when our
President, ]\rr. D. R. Coker, in company with Dr. H. J. Webber
(then with the United States Department of Agriculture and
for whom we have named this cotton) , took a few seeds from
a particularly productive and healthy plant of Columbia cot-
ton growing in Dr. Webber’s breeding plots of that variety at
Columbia, S. C. From these seed were produced twelve
plants on our Experimental Farms the next year. The
fruitfulness, the length and the general character of the
cotton was so striking that all of the seed of these
twelve plants were growm in 1909. Two rows were
planted in our variety test of twenty-four varieties
with the result that the Webber made more seed
cotton than any other of the forty-six rows. The
seed were increased the next year and this
field formed the basis of our later breeding
work with this variety. Year after year, we
have carefully tested this cotton in variety
tests against more than a hundred other
varieties and strains with the result that
Webber has stood at or near the top
in yield and money value.
provement that we have given it a new varietal designation.
COKER’S PEDIGREED DELTATYPE* WEBBER
(Long Staple Cotton)
For years our breeders have been working for the production of the best possible staple cotton for boll weevil
conditions. In our Webber 49 and its later strains, Webber 49-2 and 49-3, we have measurably approached our ideal,
these cottons now being the most popular of any planted in the jMississippi Valley and in the Carolina staple areas.
We have, however, completed the breeding and testing of a strain of Webber cotton which more nearly
approaches our ideal for a boll weevil resisting cotton than any we have yet introduced. We have designated
it DELTATYPE Webber. It is the earliest and heaviest yielding staple cotton ive have yet produced.
Plant of moderate size, with several basal branches but of erect type. BoUs large, averaging 61 to the
pound of seed cotton, elongated ovate, pointed, 4 to 5 locked; lint commonly 1% inches long, uniform, fine, silky,
and strong, with good drag. It opens wide, is fluffy and easily picked. The turnout of lint according to our records
*XOTE — The word DELTATYPE is a trade name coined and used by this Company to designate a particular product of its
own breeding. The public is warned against the use of this wo.’d in the sale of seeds as application has been filed in the
U. S. Patent Ofhce for the registration of this trade name.
Page Eighteen
mum 5K,o ctmmmuj
COKER’S PEDIGREED DELTATYPE* WEBBER
(Continued)
has usually averaged 33.8% but this year
(1920) all of our cottons have run low
and the average fell to 32.59% ; season
of maturing early.
The Deltatype Webber comes from a
specially fine pedigreed plant of Webber
No. 82 selected in 1915, which since that
time has been propagated in isolated in-
crease plots and thoroughly tested in our
variety trial plots. It differs from Web-
ber 82 in being earlier in season of matur-
ing, in having larger bolls which open
better, fluff more and pick easier, and in
increased percentage of lint, better yield
and more upright, less spreading type
of plant.
In our variety test plots in both 1918
and 1919 the Deltatype Webber produced
more seed cotton and more lint for the
first two pickings than any other strain
of our Webber varieties. It also sur-
passed in yield at these pickings most
of the varieties of short cottons. The
second pickings in these variety tests
were made on September 24, 1918
and on September 17, 1919. Its total yield in the 1919 variety test was 1927 pounds seed cotton per acre against 1828
for the Cleveland and 1680 for King. In 1918 it yielded a little more than King and a little less than Cleveland.
In our test of cotton varieties at Jackson, Miss.,, in 1919 Deltatype out-yielded every other variety of staple cotton. In the
variety tests in 1920 it also made one of the highest averages of any long staple cotton of its grade.
In 1919 we had 19 acres of Deltatype Webber at Hartsville which was planted April 28th and produced a little over 21 bales,
averaging 500 pounds each. A forty-three acre field on similar soil this year gave us 49.74 bales averaging about 500 lbs. each.
The greatest improvement in this cotton over other types of Webber is in the type of plant. It grows more erect than any
other strain of this cotton. The 19 acre field referred to grew from 31^ to 4 feet tall and was planted in 4 ft. rows, yet when
the cotton was fully matured one could stand in the middle of the row and see a strip of ground from end to end. This character,
will of course, make it extremly valuable for planting on rich sail under boll weevil conditions, both because it allows much of
the sunlight to reach the ground and kill the larvae in the fallen squares and also because it will allow the cotton to be culti-
vated much later than could be done with a spreading plant.
It is also a muen easier picking cotton than most long staples and our pickers have this year expressed decided preference
to work in this cotton.
We recommend this cotton with the full confidence that it is the most valuable strain of staple cotton yet produced in the
South for planting under boll weevil conditions.
PRICES: Put up in 100 pound bags, 3 1-3 bus. of 30 pounds each. Small lots, $6.00 per bu. or $20.09 per
bag: ton lots, $5.50 per bu. ; 15 ton lots, $5.00 per bus- el.
DELTATYPE WEBBER, COMBED SEED (NATURAL SIZE)
COTTON FIELD AT HARTSVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA
On Left Webber 49-4; On Right Keenan. Note the Earliness and Low Compact Growth of Webber 49-4.
*See Footnote on Page 17.
Page Nineteen
WITH A PEPFOPHAHCg l^gCOPfl
PgOI6i?teO 3m C0. HAPT5Vllie.5X.
COKER’S PEDIGREED WEBBER NO. 49, STRAIN 3
(Long Staple Upland Cotton)
PLANT OF
WEBBER 49
in our belief in its superior qualities. This year we have
offering it at a price that will enable all growers to plant
PRICES: Put up in 100 pound bags, 3 1-3 bus., of 30
bag; ton lots, $2.40 per bu. ; 15 ton lots, $2.25 per bu.
Strain 3 was offered last year for the first time
and the results obtained with its cultivation in
all staple cotton sections have amply justified us
produced the seed in much larger quantities and are
larger areas.
pounds each. Small lots, $2.50 per bu. or $8.33 per
The heavy-yielding, quick -maturing qualities of the Webber No. 49,
are well known to hundreds of planters in all the principal staple cot-
ton sections. For ten years our plant breeding activities have
been largely directed toward the perfection of a long
staple variety that would combine the qualities of earli-
ness, weevil resistance and heavy yield. Webber No.
49 was the first ever developed by us that measur-
ably met these conditions. Reports for the past
five years from planters in many sections are
that Webber No. 49 and its later strains are
the best staple cottons of their length
now planted in boll weevil territory.
This cotton begins to fruit early and
usually produces a good crop of bolls
by the first of August. The weevil ap-
pears to have more difficulty in punc-
turing the young bolls of Webber 49
than of other varieties, as we have had
frequent reports from Mississippi that
the young bolls of this cotton stand
heavy boll weevil attacks better than
other varieties.
Strain No. 3 has all of the good qual-
ities of the parent variety, Webber No.
49, but is longer, making lint full 1 5-16"
in length under favorable conditions. The
percentage of lint will average about
33 1-3 and its picking and storm proof
qualities are excellent. It is slightly earlier
than the preceding strains, 49-1 and 49-2.
Our reputation
and your crop
are protected
by this trade-
mark.
COKER’S PEDIGREED
WEBBER NO. 49 Strain 4
(Long Staple Upland Cotton)
This is the newest and best strain of our
Webber 49 and is offered this year for the first
time. It has descended from a specially good
plant chosen in 1915. It is very similar to the
preceding strains of Webber 49 that we have in-
troducd but is an improvement in several im-
portant characters. It has longer lint than any
of the preceding strains, under good conditions
averaging 1 5-16 to 1 3-8 inches in length. The
lint is also rather stronger than that of preced-
ing strains and gives a turnout ordinarily of
about 33 1-3%. It fell below this percentage
the present season as all cotton ran lower than
ordinary, due to unfavorable weather conditions
at time lint was forming. It has large ovate
bolls, averaging 65 to the pound of seed cotton,
opens well and is easy to pick. Our records
show that it is slightly earlier than 49-3 and
is a rather heavier yielder. It makes a com-
paratively small weed, is open growing and
WEBBER 49-4, COMBED SEEDS— (NATURAL SIZE) has comparatively thin foliage.
Page Twenty
COKER’S PEDIGREED WEBBER NO. 49, STRAIN 4
(Continued)
No seed bearing this
trade-mark will be
shipped unless it shows
a germination of at
least 90 per cent.
49-4 is a fine fruiter, producing its crop very rapidly and near the ground. It gives
excellent results on very poor soil. It produced four-fifths of bale per acre on one of the
poorest farms in the Hartsville section last year.
We consider this cotton the very best strain of staple cotton we have yet offered for
planting in boll weevil territory with the exception of our Deltatype Webber. Because of
its earliness it is also a good variety for sections having a somewhat restricted season. We
recommend this cotton with confidence that it will give full satisfaction.
PRICES Put up in 100 pound bags, 3 1-3 bushels of 30 lbs. each. Small
lots, $4.00 per bu. or $13.33 per bag; ton lots, $3.75 per bu.; 15 ton lots
or over, $3.50 per bu.
COKER’S PEDIGREED WEBBER NO. 82, STRAIN 2
(Long Staple Upland Cotton)
Since the original introduction of our Webber 82 variety we have
tested seed of hundreds of individual plants and increased the pro-
duct of many individual rows in an effort to produce a strain
of this cotton superior to the original. The great pro-
ductiveness, uniformity, and other high characters of
the original strain, however, made this extremely
difficult and we have only recently produced a
new strain which our records show to be more
productive and longer than the parent 82.
We have given this strain the number 82,
strain 2 and now offer it for the first time.
Our records show it to be about 3%
more productive and a small fraction
longer than the original 82, the lint now
averaging full 1 5-16 inches. The
staple is also more uniform than the
parent strain is at present. The bolls
are ovate, pointed, and comparatively
large in size, averaging 65 to the
pound of seed cotton. Percentage of
lint about 33 1-3. It matures at nearly
the same time as the parent strain, but
there is a very slight difference in
earliness in favor of the old 82. It is a tall
plant, has slightly larger bolls and picks easier
than its parent. The seeds are lightly covered,
germinate quickly and produce strong, vigorous
plants which grow off rapidly. The great popu-
larity of Webber 82 should insure this new strain
a hearty reception.
PRICES: Put up in 100 lb. bags, 3 1-3
bus. of 30 lbs each. Small lots, $3.00 per bu.
or $10.00 per bag; ton lots, $2.75 per bu;
15 ton lots $2.50 per bu.
WEBBER NO. 82, PLANT AND COMBED SEED
Page Twenty-one
OUR SERIES OF HARTSVILLE COTTONS
The value of seed de-
pends largely on the con
fidence shown by the lib-
erality of the guarantee
behind the goods.
Pedigreed plant breeding is an endless process toward perfection. No mat-
ter how excellent a product may be, there is always room for further im-
provement and selection. We are at all times selecting, breeding and
testing new strains of our selected varieties, striving to produce a
pJant of greater value to the famers and to the buyer of his
product.
This trade-mark
speaks for itself,
We have been breeding and selecting the Hartsville cot-
ton for 19 years, always striving to secure some important
advance. Our first selections were made by Dr. D N
Shoemaker and Dr. W. C. Coker in 1902 from a field
of Jones Big Boll, an ordinary short staple cotton.
Shortly afterwards the work was taken up by
our Mr. D. R. Coker. Plant No. 16 of the
original selections, having 1% inch staple,
proved to be the superior plant and all
of the various strains of the Hartsville cot-
ton have descended from this one plant.
Year after year we have selected and im-
proved this cotton, breeding to secure big-
ger yields, stronger staple, more uniform
length and better spinning qualities. At the
end. of five years we succeeded in adding
1-16 of an inch to the length of the staple
and two additional years were required to
add another sixteenth.
We have successively developed and in-
troduced strains Nos. 7, 9, 11, 12 and 14.
Each successive strain has represented some im-
provement over the preceding in length of lint,
percentage of lint or earliness.
The type of all of these cottons is open growing
•j ‘vith rather light foliage, large round bolls that open
PLANT ^ide and fluffy, making it easier to pick than other varieties
OF HARTSVILLE With more pointed bolls. The lint is of exceptionally good
body and very uniform in the latest strains, running full 1% inches in length under
good conditions.
In recent years some of the older strains of this variety have nol bi'cn '■•ai -
isfactory in some sections into which the boll weevil had spread bccaib-(' of ii.s
being rather late in maturing. Our most recent strains are much earlier tlian
the original Hartsville and our newest strain, which will be Hartsville ^o. 16.
marks a very distinct advance in earliness over any of the Hartsville cotloii'^
thus far produced. This strain will not be sold until the spring of 1922.
COKER’S PEDIGREED HARTSVILLE
NO. 14
(Long Staple Upland Cotton)
Our latest development of Hartsville cotton, which is the 14th
generation of this splendid variety, was distributed last season for
the first time. Its outstanding superior qualities are its productive-
ness and splendid character of strong, even running 1% lint. It is
the largest boiled strain of staple cotton which we have, running
55 to 60 bolls to the pound. The per cent of lint is higher than any
other strain of Hartsville, averaging under good conditions, about 34
per cent. Each 1500 pounds of seed cotton last season produced a bale
weighing over 500 pounds. It is a tremendously vigorous cotton, resisting
all imfavorable influences remarkably. It seems to be well adapted to all
types of soil. It is not, however, as early as other strains of staple cotton
we are now offering and for this reason we do not recommend it for territory where
boll weevil damage is usually severe.
PRICES: Put up in 100 lb. bags, 3 1-3 bus. of 30 lbs. each. Small lots,
$2.50 per bu. or $8.33 per bag; ton lots @ $2.40; 15 ton lots @ $2.25.
BOLL OF
HARTSVILLE 14
(Natural Size)
fage Twenty-two
Look for this
heart. It signi-
fies (niality.
SHORT STAPLE COTTONS
Every year we eoncluct variety tests of the principal varieties
:)t !)()tli longr and short staple cottons. Included in these tests
are all ot our own pedigreed varieties and strains of cotton
.111(1 niaii\ other varieties as well. These tests, conducted
witli scientific precision and impartiality, and carried on
car after year, show up the virtues as well as the short
comings of all the varieties tested. These tests afford
a comparison of the varieties with one another and
give an excellent basis on which we may determine
the relative merits of all.
In our tests conducted over several years, the
Wannamaker Cleveland proved to be the highest
yielder of the various short staple varieties
other than the Cook’s Improved. We, there-
fore, began breeding work with both of these
varieties as foundation stocks to produce im-
proved pedigreed strains. After five years of
breeding with Cook’s Improved, we secured
a pedigreed strain that proved to be the
haviest yielder of lint cotton of all varieties
grown in our 1917 and 1918 tests. We
produced and sold a considerable quantity
of the seed of this pedigreed strain but have
now abandoned the variety because of its
extreme susceptibility to anthracnose which
we were not able to overcome.
CLEVELAND BIG BOLL COTTON
Our tests with the Cleveland convinced
us of the high value of this variety in com-
parison with all other varieties of short staple
cotton that we have grown. Without question
Cleveland Big Boll is the most popular variety
of short staple cotton grown in sections east of
the Mississippi River. It is grown by a larger num-
ber of progressive farmers than any other variety of
cotton. Year in and year out it is a variety to
be depended on. It is not spectacular. It will not
make three bales to the acre, nor will it turn out
half lint, but it wdll make as much cotton year after
year as any other variety that has thus far been tested
over a long period of years . Our improved strains of this
variety we are selling as Pedigreed Coker-Cleveland.
PEDIGREED COKER-CLEVELAND
(Short Staple Cotton)
This variety was developed by the plant-to-row breeding method from the best strain of Cleveland cotton of
which we have any knowledge. It has shown superior qualities ever since the original plant was tested. It has com-
paratively large bolls, averaging 63 to the pound of seed cotton.
The per cent of lint is very high, running 39 to 40 per
cent in our tests. The lint is uniform and pulls a full inch
under good conditions. In our 1918 variety test it produced
more cotton and was slightly earlier than the parent strain.
In 1919 it produced 1488 pounds of seed cotton per acre by Sep-
tember 17th as against 1305 pounds by the parent strain, and the
total yield of the season was 2033 pounds per acre against 1828
pounds by the parent. In our 1920 variety tests the new strain
produced 2013 pounds of seed cotton per acre for the first pick-
ing October 7th against 1958 pounds for the parent strain, and
a total yield at the end of the season of 2497 pounds for our
pedigreed strain against 2356 pounds for the parent strain. This
is evidence that it is earlier and more productive than the origi-
nal variety.
The earliness of the Coker-Cleveland makes it a good variety
for boll weevil territory. While not immune to anthracnose, this
cotton is remarkably resistant to it.
We believe the Pedigreed Coker-Cleveland to be the best
strain of the Cleveland Big Boll that has been produced and un-
hesitatingly recommend it for general planting. The Cleveland
Big Boll cotton is the most popular short staple cotton planted
in the South and the evident superiority of this pedigreed strain
over other strains of this cotton, we believe, will insure the quick
sale of this seed at the moderate prices we are asking for them.
PRICES: Put up in 100 pound bags, 3 1-3 bushels of 30
pounds each. Small lots $2.50 per bu., or $8.33 per bag;
ton lots @ $2.25 per bu. ; 15 ton lots @ $2.00 per bu.
BOLL OF COKER-CLEVELAND— (NATURAL SIZE)
Page Twenty-three
setf! WITH A
Mmmm %m irnmnimt.
WILT RESISTANT COTTON VARIETIES
Wilt (or blight) is one of the most serious diseases of cotton occurring in the
eastern part of the cotton belt. The ordinary varieties of cotton planted on wilt infected
soils largely succumb to the disease and will not produce a commercial crop. Farmers’
Bulletin No. 265 of the U. S. Department of Agriculture contains the following:
"The experiments of the Bureau of Plant Industry, which have now been carried
on for fifteen consecutive years, have shown that the only practicable solution of the
wilt problem is through the use of wilt-resistant strains developed by special breeding.
Such cottons have been produced and grown successfully for the past eight or more
years on thousands of acres of wilt-infected land in a large number of localities, un-
til no doubt remains as to the possibility and practicability of controlling the disease
During this neriod these varieties have been further imnroved by selection for greater resist-
ance, larger yield, longer lint, higher percentage of lint, and other desirable qualities.
"The development of wilt-resistant strains requires breeding for several years by the careful methods
described later in this bulletin. Mass selection from apparently resistant strains of existing commercial
varieties will not suffice. The selecton of apparently resistant plants from the varieties usually grown may
occasionally lead to the development of a resistant variety, but will generally result in disappointment. Only
by the selection of resistant plants from an inherently resistant strain, by the subsequent testing of these
on wilt-infected land, and by the continuation of individual selections and progeny-row tests can a resistant
variety be developed."
In all strains of
seed covered by this
trade-mark we have
made a distinct im-
provement on the pa-
rent type.
in this way.
Recognizing the demand for a cotton variety that is resistant to wilt and will grow on wilt-infected
land, and realizing that the production of a variety having this quality is a task for the plant-breeder and
when produced requires to be kept up to full standard of resistance by continuous selection, we took up
the breeding of the Dixie cotton which is generally accepted as the best wilt resistant sort. The Dixie was
bred and introduced by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and continuously gained in favor until it be-
came the most popular wilt resistant cotton. The description of this variety from the government bulletin
follows :
"Plant vigorous, wilt resistant, of medium height, pyramidal, nearly of the Peterkin type, usually with
two or more large basal branches, and with long, slender, slightly drooping fruiting limbs ; leaves of medium
size; bolls of medium size, about 75 being required for a pound of seed cotton, easy to pick; seed small,
weight 100 seeds. 10 grams, variable in color but tvnically covered with short greenish brown fuzz ; lint
about seven-eights of an inch, percentage of lint to seed 34 to 35.”
The Director of the Wilt Investigations of the U. S. Department of Agriculture furnished us seed of the
finest plants of this variety, and with this as a basis, we started our pedigreed breeding work on wilt-infect-
ed fields. Last year we offered seed of Coker’s Pedigreed Dixie strain No. 1 and this year we are able
to offer seed of a new and more highly selected strain which we are distributing as strain No. 2.
A COTTON FIELD SHOWING WEEDY SPOTS WHERE PLANTS WERE KILLED BY THE WILT.
Page Twentj’-four
COKER’S PEDIGREED DIXIE, STRAIN No. 2
(Wilt Resistant Short Staple Cotton)
Our Pedigreed Dixie strain No. 2 is the highest yielding strain of Dixie we have yet tested, being con-
siderably better than the original Dixie or our strain No. 1, and much earlier. The original plant of strain
No. 2 was selected in 1916. In the plant-to-row breeding plot in 1917 it produced a very striking progeny
of low, stocky plants, fruiting well near ground; bolls, round to ovate and medium large in size, averaging 67
to pound of seed cotton; began opening August 14th, lint averaging one inch.
In 1918 a small increase block was grown of strain 2 and it was put in our variety tests for trial in com-
parison with other strains and varieties. Here on four different test rows strain No, 2 yielded in the first two
pickings (2nd made Sept. 24) an average of 1313 pounds seed cotton per acre which was 168 pounds more than
a similar average yield for improved Dixie and 121 pounds more than our Dixie strain No. 1.
In 1919 a three acre increase block was grown of strain 2 and it was again tested in our variety trials.
The first three pickings (3rd made Oct. 9) gave an average yield for the four test rows of 1503 pounds of
seed cotton per acre against a similar average of 1243 pounds for strain No. 1.
In 1920 strain 2 was again tested in our variety trials and the average of the four test rows for the first
picking made October 11th, was 1645 pounds of seed cotton while the other two strains of Dixie averaged
1207 pounds. The final total yield for strain 2 was 2004 pounds per acre seed cotton while the average
of the other two strains was 1651 pounds.
All of our wilt resistant breeding work on this variety has been conducted on a wilt-infected area on
the farm of B. W. Segars at Oswego, S. C. Regarding this cotton Mr. Segars writes:
“In regard to strain No. 2 Dixie that I am planting for you this year, I am glad to tell you that
I am verv much nleased with it. It yields fine and I am making over a bale ner acre with it this year. It
is as early or earlier than any I am planting. The turnout of lint is fine. I try to get 1300 pounds seed
cotton to bale and the bales never weigh less than 500 pounds. The other Dixie that I am planting usually
takes 1400 to 1500 pounds seed cotton to make a 500 pound bale. It picks fine and my hands prefer pick-
ing it to any other cotton I have ever planted.”
We recommend Coker’s Pedigreed Dixie strain No. 2 for planting on wilt-infected areas wherever a short
staple cotton is desired. The earliness of this strain makes it particularly valuable for wilt lands where boll
weevil is also present.
Prices: Put up in 100 pound bags, 3 1-3 bus. of 30 pounds each. Small lots, $2.50 per bu. or $8.33
per bag; ton lots, $2.25 per bu. ; 15 ton lots, $2.00 per bu.
PEDIGREED REGISTER, A Wilt Resistant Long Staple Cotton
Considerable demand exists, particularly in the staple sections of the Carolinas, for a wilt resistant long
staple cotton. The best variety of 1% inch length and fairly uniform character that has yet been produced
so far as we can learn, is that developed by Mr. J. R. Register who owns a plantation in our neighbor-
hood near Hartsville, S. C. Many inquiries have come to us for seed of a wilt resistant long staple cotton
and we have thus, as an accommodation to our customers, purchased Mr. Register’s entire stock of perigreed
seed of this variety, and are prepared to supply the needs of our customers,
Mr. Register’s plantation became infected with the wilt fungus about 30 years ago and ever since con-
siderable trouble has been experienced with the disease. He began his first work on wilt resistant breed-
ing in cooperation with the U. S. Department of Agriculture,
In 1913 he found in a field of Sam Wood (short staple) a plant similar to Webber with 1 3-16 inch
lint. As some Webber cotton had been planted near his Sam Wood cotton, the pervious year, he as-
sumed this to be a hybrid with the Webber. The seed from this plant he picked separately and planted
it in a row by itself in 1914. The progeny in this row were very variable, showing long and short staple,
and large and small bolls, as would be expected from a hybrid. There was much difference also in wilt
resistance. He saved four of the most promising plants and planted then in plant-to-row tests the next year,
1915. He continued in following years to select the best plants from the best rows, always growing the crop
on wilt-infected land, and finally produced a fairly uniform type of cotton with 1% inch lint, and of very
vigorous growth that was at the same time highly wilt resistant. It may be stated further that the variety also
seems to be largely resistant to the nematode or root-knot worm which is associated with the wilt on Mr.
Register’s plantation.
The boll is ovate in shape and of medium size, requiring from 75 to 80 to produce a pound of seed cot-
ton; seed of medium size; lint 114 inches long, fine and strong, ordinarily about 33 1-3 per cent, but this
year somewhat lower; bolls open well and are easy to pick.
This cotton we know to be a good variety. Our breeders have closely followed Mr. Register’s work as
we are conducting certain of our wilt-resistant breeding experiments on his plantation. Our Mr. D. R.
Coker, through the Coker Cotton Company, has every year purchased a considerable part of Mr. Register’s
cotton and is familiar with the good qualities of the lint. We are thus in position to know that we are offer-
ing the best pedigreed seed of the variety and of the latest strain, as it is grown by the breeder himself on
his own plantation. We have purchased his entire crop so that we have the only pure pedigreed seed from
the growers own stock. The seed supply is limited and if you desire the best seed you should order it im-
mediately.
Prices: Put up in 100 pound bags, 3 1-3 bus, of 30 pounds each. Small lots $3.00 per bu. or $10.00 per
bag; ton lots, $2.75 per bu.; 15 ton lots, $2.50 per bu.
Page Twenty-five
seeDwiTH/i
0 C0. mmiiui.
OUR CORN BREEDING WORK
Our Ear-to-Row breeding of com, while similar to the Plant-to-Row breeding of other crops in principle,
varies somewhat as to method of procedure to accommodate the habits of the corn plant. Corn is naturally
an open fertilized plant and will not permit of too much inbreeding without a decrease in yield. We are
obliged, therefore, to practice a method of breeding which will eliminate, as far as possible, this inbreeding
factor. Our method of detasseling the breeding rows, and of pairing the “Ear Remnants” and detasseling
again in the Increase Plots, prevents all inbreeding and enables us to produce Pedigreed Strains of high
yielding corn. A great deal of experimenting has been done to determine the best method of breeding corn
and the one we use and consider best is probably most generally used by corn breeding experts.
ENGRAVED FROM PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING SECTION OF DETASSELED EAR-TO-ROW BREEDING WORK
We first select one hundred of the best quality ears we can find from the desirable stalks and make a
record of each by number from one to one hundred. A separate row, one-half acre long, is first planted from
each ear, and then beginning with the same ear, duplicate rows are planted, making two rows from each
ear. The grains are spaced accurately in the rows and cultivated and fertilized all alike, using the same
fertilizer as for the general crop. Notes are made of the qualities of every row throughout the season. When
the corn begins to tassel, the tassels are carefully removed, in the first set
of rows planted, from the even numbered rows, two, four, six, to one hun-
dred, leaving the tassels on the other rows to fertilize the corn silks of all.
In the second set of rows, the tassels are removed from the odd numbered
rows, one, three, five, seven, to ninety-nine, leaving the tassels on the even
numbered rows. This gives us one row from each ear detasseled and one
row from each ear with the tassels, giving us one row from each ear that
has been entirely pollinated by other rows.
At harvest time we gather and weigh every row separately and record
the weights of each. Notes are made as to quality and the best rows are
determined, only the detasseled rows being considered and selected. After
the best rows are determined, ears from these rows are selected for the next
year’s breeding work. The remaining best ears from these selected rows
(previously selected from the desirable stalks and placed to themselves) are
shelled and planted in large increase block the following year. The “Ear
Remnants,” or that part of the ear left from planting the original best rows
(which in the meantime have been carefully preserved) are then looked up
and planted the following Spring in an isolated breeding plot, each ear being
used in one section of the row as the female parent (detasseled) and in the
AN “EAR REMNANT” Other section as the male parent. The best corn is gathered from the de-
(Engraved from Photo.) We test tasseled section of these rows and is increased and selected year after year,
out many ears every year. The until offered to the public. These new strains are tested every year in test
eS'^yieMiJ^^^^Js^’aJe m^ed'^for strains and varieties and if they do not hold up in yield
further testing the following year. and quality, are discarded.
Page Twentj-six
SKPWiTHA mmmmmmn
mmm nm cd. mw%mt.
OUR VARIETIES OF SEED CORN
Ever}’ year we conduct variety tests of corn in which we try out all important varieties grown in the South as well as the
selected strains of the varieties we are breeding. It is largely on the rusults of such tests that we base our choice of the varie-
ties we take as foundation stocks for breeding. We of course also take under careful consideration the reputation that the diff-
erent varieties have among planters as well as the results obtained by experiment stations and their recommendation. In every
case we have started with the seed of the best strain of each variety obtainable and have striven to improve on the best. Thus
far we have conducted
breeding work with
four varieties, Garrick,
Marlboro, Williamson
and Ellis. Of these the
Garrick is probably the
best known over the
most extensive terri-
tory but it is doubtful
whether it is superior
or even as good a va-
riety as the Williamson
or the Marlboro, which
are local South Caro-
lina varieties. The El-
lis is a strictly local
Hartsville variety but
is particularly adapted
to cultivation on ster-
ile soils and we believe
has a distinct place in
the South. The Gar-
rick and Marlboro are
so-called prolific varie-
ties, usually producing
two ears per stalk
but not uncommon-
ly more than this. The
seed we offer is from
pure bred pedigreed
strains in all cases ex-
cept the Ellis which is
what we designate as
improved seed, having
descended from a mass
selection including sev-
eral superior individ-
uals.
NUBBING AND SORTING SEED CORN IN WAREHOUSE
Handling Seed Corn
We do not sell all of the seed from our pedigreed corn fields. We exercise a rigid selection. Even though a field is
grown from our highest pedigreed stock only about one-fourth of the ears are sold for seed. The first choice of seed ears
is made when the corn is shucked and the mass of seed corn then chosen is brought to our warehouse where it is conveyed
mechanically to bins from which it is taken for reselection, nubbing and grading. As shown in the photograph reproduced
here, a man sits at each bin, examines every ear as it comes down, and if the ear is found to be all right in every respect
for seed purposes, places it in the nubbing machine shown at the left of each operator, which shells off the small and im-
perfect grains from each end of the ear. The ear still containing the good grain on the middle section is then dropped into the
chute that carries it to the bins from which it passes to the shelter. All poor ears and the grain from the tips and the butts
of the good ears is sold for feed.
The good corn, after shelling, goes through our large grader and cleaner, where all the light or faulty, irregular and
broken seeds and all trash is removed. Only the good, heavy,mature and regular sized grains are used for seed.
Every lot of seed is carefully tested for germination and is discarded if it does not test above 95 per cent. In no case do
we ship out seed corn which does not show this high grade vitality. It is only by this accurate and comprehensive method that
we are able to furnish seed corn which is worthy of our trade mark and guarantee.
One of the very best features of our corn is that we allow it to mature normally on the stalk without pulling the fodder
or cutting down the plant. Thus all of the seed is fully matured and vital. We have conducted tests which show that seed
from rows on which the fodder has been pulled at the regular fodder pulling time produced 17% less in yield as against seed of
the same variety from adjoining rows upon which the fodder had been left to dry upon the stalk. (Write for special bulletin on
fodder pulling.)
The seed we sell is thus
. ears that are se-
when the crop is
ced and which
then reselected
the warehouse,
ubbed, shelled,
separated,
cleaned, grad-
ed, and sacked
in two bushel
bags and tested
for germina-
tion. Every bag
contains a card
on which is
printed a de-
scription of the
seed and our
guarantee of
GERMINATION TABLE SHOWING SPROUTING CORN pedigree, puri-
Each Square Contains Grains Taken From One Lot of Seed to be Shinned. vitality.
Page Twenty-seven
5«0 WITH A feiTfOPHANCgHfCgRP
Mmmosm co. HAPTsvtLie.$x
COKER’S PEDIGREED WILLIAMSON CORN
A guarantee of perfec-
tion as far as can be
perfect stands behind
this trade-mark.
Williamson Corn is one of the oldest varieties of corn planted in South Carolina.
For many generations it was bred by field selection by Mr. B. F. Williamson, Sr., (the
father of Mr. Mclver Williamson, of corn fame) . In 1906 we began breeding this variety
by planting an ear-to-row test from a number of apparently fine ears of Williamson corn.
Ear E-1 came from a stalk which made two big weevil free ears weighing twenty-five
ounces. It proved to be one of the highest yielders in an ear-to-row test and we therefore
increased the strain in a breeding block. For the past 12 years we have been breeding
this corn by field selection of plants and the plant-to-row method, increasing the ears
true to type year by year until we raised sufficient quantity to offer for sale.
Plant vigorous 8 to 10 feet high, prolific, 1
to 2 ears to the stalk. Ear height 4 to 4/2
feet, shanks of medium length. Ears regularly
cylindrical, 8 to 9 inches long; averaging about
2% inches in diameter, mainly 16 to 20 rowed.
Cob of medium size, red. Kernels of medium
size and deep. Color light amber to white with
homy translucent sides. It shells out eighty-
seven pounds of corn to one hundred pounds
of ear corn. The shucks fit tight and fully
protect the ear.
One of the most valuable features of our
pedigreed strain of the Williamson corn is its
resistance to weevil injury. It is not immune
to weevils but it is more resistant than any
other variety we know of. It is also a high
yielding strain and in accurate tests during a
number of years it has always stood at or near
the top. If planted by the Williamson plan,
one foot apart in six foot rows, it usually makes
EARS OF WILLIAMSON CORN
ne foot apart in six foot rows, it usually makes i • i u v
ne good ear to the stalk and sometimes two. Other varieties have made two or three times the number oi ears
lut less actual shelled corn. ^ cn u u i
PRICES: One peck, $1.50; one-half bu., $2.75; one bu., $5.00; ten bus. and above, $4.50 per bushel.
Use Williamson Method. Against early planting and early fertilizing, tl^^Williamson method has a^
er cent more yield in an accurately conducted four years’ test on our farm. If you don t know what this method is, send
or our circular fully describing it.
COKER’S
PEDIGREED MARLBORO PROLIFIC CORN
The Marlboro Prolific is a well known local South Carolina variety that takes its
it originated. Our pedigreed strain of this variety which we are distributing this year the first time ^
the best row of our 1917 ear-to-row breeding plot. It is like the parent strain in that it Produces stocky stalks of med u
.leigiit with comparatively low
ears. It produces two good ears
to the stalk on good land and
matures earlier than the ordinary
single eared varieties. The kernels
are white to cream in color and
the cob is of medium size and
white, rows mainly 12 to 16.
Similar in appearance to Gar-
rick but earlier.
Our pedigreed strain is superior
to the parent strain of the Marl-
boro in that the ears are larger,
longer and more uniform in
type. The kernels are broad and
more flinty than the parent strain
and therefore more weevil resist-
ant. It is one of the highest yield-
ing and most prolific varieties we
have ever found and makes an ex-
cellent quality of corn for milling
purposes as well as for feeding.
It is not a show corn but a good
yielder. It will not disappoint you
in production if it has a fair
chance.
EARS OF MARLBORO PROLIFIC CORN
PRICES: One peck, $1.50;
one-half bushel $2.75; one
bushel $5.00; ten bushels
and above @ $4.50.
Page Twenty-eight
see0W(THA mmmmnm^^
muumm
COKER’S PEDIGREED GARRICK CORN
The Garrick corn has long been recognized as one of the highest yielding and most widely adaptable of
any of the varieties cultivated in the South. It is more nearly a standard southern variety than any other and
yet ordinarily the kernels are rather soft and shallow and the ears small.
Our breeding work with this variety has been directed toward the elimination of these undesirable char-
acters and the production of a high yielding strain. As a result we are offering this year for the first time a
new strain which we are designating as Coker’s Pedigreed Garrick. This strain is very different from the orig-
inal Garrick and might well be given a different name. Our records show it to be a higher yielder and the ob-
jectionable characters have been almost entirely eliminated. The kernels are hard and flinty and the shank
is generally short and the stalks lower in height. The following is a description of our new strain.
Plant, medium tall, 8 to 10 feet, vigorous, prolific, 1 to 3 or more ears to stalk. Ear height about 4 to
4^/4 feet ; shank medium length ; ear, regularly cylindrical or very slightly tapering, 8 to 9 inches long and about
2 inches in diameter, mainly
12 to 16 rowed; cob, medium
size, white. Kernels, white
with opaque top and homy,
translucent sides ; kernel
shape broad, rather thick,
and moderately deep, mainly
a smooth dimple dent but oc-
casionally somewhat rough.
Season, medium late.
While all strains of this
corn yield heavily, the pedi-
greed strain in our tests
stands at the top. The hard,
flinty nature of the kernel
and the good shuck covering
of the ear renders it weevil
resistant which is a decided
advantage. It is a prolific
variety and dependable.
The seed we offer is pure
bred, pedigreed, field select-
ed, nubbed, graded and tested
for high germination. It is
high grade seed and goes out
under our guarantee.
PRICES: One peck, $1.50;
one-half bushel, $2.75; one
bushel, $5.00 ; ten bushels
and above, $4.50 per bushel.
EARS OF ELLIS CORN
COKER’S IMPROVED ELLIS CORN
For a number of years we have been breeding a variety of corn that we obtained originally from Mr. James
Ellis, an observing farmer of the Hartsville section. According to Mr. Ellis, it originated from a cross of a
variety known as Shoe Peg or Gourd Seed corn which was of a soft, starchy, inferior quality, with the old
Williamson variety which was a very flinty corn of excellent character. Each year Mr. Ellis carefully selected
his planting seed in the field and this method, continued through a long series of years, finally developed a
very distinct type which proved to be an excellent variety for his land.
We tested this corn for several years and it made an excellent record each year. The results were so strik-
ing that we purchased enough seed to plant over one hundred acres on one of our farms, the soil of which is
very poor and sandy. It proved to be an ideal corn for this type of soil and made 50% larger yield than any
variety ever before planted on this farm.
Plant low and stocky, averaging on light soil about six feet high, one to two ears to the stalk, ear height
about 2% feet, shanks medium short; ears cylindrical, commonly 7 to 8% inches long and about 214 inches
in diameter; mainly 16 to 18 rowed. Cobs of medium size, mainly white but some red, not pure in this charac-
ter; kernels white or cream colored, of medium size and deep, a wrinkled dent with hard flinty kernels, largely
weevil resistant. Season of maturity early.
We have not yet produced a pure bred pedigreed strain of this corn but our crop has regularly been plant-
ed from highly selected ears (the method termed mass selection) and is so uniform and satisfactory that we
Page Twenty -nine
feel safe in using the seed. The variety does well on good soils but it is especially adapted for cultivation on
light, sandy soils for which purpose we know of no other variety equal to it. Such a variety has long been
needed and we feel that we would be doing our customers an injustice to withhold this corn from the mar-
ket longer. If you have light, sandy, poor land on which you desire to grow com, without reservation we rec-
commend this variety as the best.
PRICES: One peck, $1.50; one-half bushel, $2.75; one bushel, $5.00; ten bushels and above, $4.50 per bu.
COKER’S PEDIGREED AMBER SORGHUM
Amber Sorghum as ordinarily known is a rather small growing sorghum with scanty foliage and open,
sprangly heads. Coker’s Pedigreed Amber is very different, having heavy foliage and very large cluster heads.
It is not surpassed in seed production by any other variety in the South. It is much sweeter than the old
Amber types and is very tender and juicy. It produces a very small stem, so that it is especially suitable
for use as a hay crop. When sown thick it will make a tremendous yield of hay of fine quality that is rel-
ished by every kind of live stock. It also makes a splendid green forage crop and is most often used for that
purpose. If sown in alternate rows with corn for silage purposes a much heavier yield will be obtained than
from corn alone. This is a common practice in parts of the South. It is a very early variety, producing large,
heavy seed heads, heavy foliage and small, very sweet stalks. Recommended especially for hay and green
forage purposes.
Prices: Peck, $1.00; half bushel, $1.80; per bushel (50 pounds), $3.50.
COKER’S PEDIGREED DWARF OKRA
This okra is descended from one dwarf plant which was found in a patch of ordinary okra in 1912. It
was strikingly different from any other plant, the joints being very short and the pods very large. Sev-
eral flowers were hand-pollinated (selfed) and the seed from the resulting pods have been grown and select-
ed since that time. It produces well, makes fine, large pods and very little bush as compared with ordinary
okra. We have tested this okra fully and feel that it deserves a place in every garden.
PRICES: Postpaid, packet, 5c; ounce, 10c; one-quarter lb., 25c; pound, 75c. Not postpaid per lb., 65c.
GENERAL SEED-NOT PEDIGREED
HUNDRED DAY EARLY SPECKLED VELVET This is one of the earliest varieties of the
velvet bean, requiring ordinarily only from 90 to 125 days to mature seed. It is not as rank a grower as some
other varieties but makes a heavy yield. The velvet bean is a fine crop for the land and should be planted
extensively throughout the South. Seed required, one-half peck to the acre.
PRICES: Quart, postpaid, 25c. Not postpaid, peck, 75c; one-half bushel, $1.35; per bushed, $2.50.
OSCEOLA VELVET BEAN. — The Osceola is one of the newest varieties of the velvet bean and is rap-
idly gaining in popularity. It produces larger pods and seeds than the Early Speckled and is easier to pick
and furthermore, does not have the same tendency to sting the hands. It is generally claimed to be an early
variety but with us it is not quite so early as the Early Speckled.
PRICES: Quart, postpaid, 30c. Not postpaid, 1 peck, $1.10; one-half bushel, $1.90; per bushel, $3.75.
DWARF ESSEX RAPE.— Rape makes an excellent crop for cattle, hogs and sheep and a splendid green
crop for chickens. Plant in good land in spring or early fall. Sow broadcast 6 to 8 pounds per acre or in
drills in thirty inch rows, three to four pounds to the acre. Seed imported.
PRICES: Per pound, postpaid, 25c. Not postpaid, per pound, 18c; 10 pounds, 15c; 50 pounds and above
at 14c.
JAPAN CLOVER (Lespedeza) . — Japan Clover as a grazing crop has a distinct place in Southern Agri-
culture. It grows on worn-out lands, where other crops fail and furnishes a nutritious, permanent pasture.
Can be sown broadcast without special preparation. Thickens rapidly and re-seeds itself without attention.
Grows heaviest after first year. Sow in March or April about ten pounds to the acre. Our seed Texas grown.
PRICES: Per pound, postpaid, 45c. Not postpaid, per pound, 40c; 10 pounds, @ 35c; 50 pounds and
above @ 30c.
ITALIAN RYE GRASS.— For lawn seeding. PRICES, (F. 0. B.) : Per pound, 25c; 10 pounds at 19c;
50 pounds and above at 18c.
ALFALFA.— PRICES, (F. 0. B.) : Per pound, 40c; 10 pounds at 38c; 50 pounds and above at 35c.
HAIRY VETCH.— PRICES, (F. 0. B.) : Per pound, 30c; 10 pounds, at 28c; 50 pounds and above, at 25c.
BERMUDA GRASS. — Bermuda Grass is a very valuable perennial pasture grass for the South and is an
excellent soil huilder. Sow in March or April, broadcast about six or eight pounds to the acre about one-
half inch deep. Bermuda Grass and Burr Clover make an excellent combination and an all the year perma-
nent pasture. No re-seeding of either crop necessary. PRICES: Per pound, postpaid, $1.00.
Page Thirty
560 WITH cfl.HApT5V!i^.5x:
COKER’S PEDIGREED WASHINGTON ASPARAGUS
The most painstaking and careful breeding work that has ever been conducted with asparagus was that
carried out by Professor J. B. Norton while connected with the U. S. Department of Agriculture. As a result
of this work Mr. Norton originated and introduced the variety known as Washington Asparagus. Asparagus
is a dioecious plant, the male and female flowers being on separate plants. Washington was the name given to
the finest male plant found in the investigations and Martha and Mary were names given to the finest female
plants found. The pedigreed offspring from these highly selected male and female plants are known as Martha
and Mary Washington and these strains are recognized as the most superior strains of asparagus now known.
In starting the work of asparagus breeding several years ago this Company obtained the best pedigreed
stock direct from the Department of Agriculture and we have continued our breeding by the same method so
that the pedigree of our stock dates back and connects with those of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. This
breeding is designed primarily to eliminate asparagus rust which is the most destructive disease known to this
plant.
BUNCH OF WASHINGTON ASPARAGUS
By the selection of only the best plants in our field we
are giving customers the benefit of a triple selection. Only
the best roots were planted in the field, only the best
plants from these roots were used for seed production
and only the best recleaned seed from these plants is sold
to the grower.
Washington Asparagus is as far as possible an ex-
tremely resistant, vigorous and high-yielding strain of giant
asparagus. The plants represented in its pedigree of the
last three generations are the best found in a ten-year
search among millions of plants tested. By best we mean
the ones that have produced offspring, uniformly rust-re-
sistant, high-yielding, large sized, rapid growth, which in-
dicates tenderness. A more uniform market type has not
been seen among other so-called varieties that were in any
degree rust-resistant.
The seed stock we offer is from the same plants from
which our commercial fields are grown, from which we
supply the fancy trade in the northern markets. Our one
year old roots are the best in quality and pedigree that can
be secured anywhere. They are grown on ideal land and
are carefully selected under the immediate supervision of
our expert breeder. The originator of the pedigreed meth-
od of asparagus breeding. Professor J. B. Norton, is now
in personal charge of our asparagus work.
We are practically the only growers who have only
Washington asparagus on our farms. There is no oppor-
tunity for mixing with the inferior strains usually found in
all other asparagus seed growing regions. You can only se-
cure pure Washington asparagus from pure Washington
asparagus fields with no Argenteuil, Palmetto, Reading
Giant or other inferior strains nearby.
We are prepared to furnish seed of the highest quality
of Pedigreed Washington Asparagus and Re-selected Rust
Resistant Washington.
We also are prepared to furnish fine one year old roots
of Pedigreed Washington Asparagus in moderate quantities.
We ship only the large, vigorous, well developed roots.
PRICES: Pedigreed Washington Asparagus seed —
Prices postpaid: Packet 25c; 1 ounce 40c; % lb. $1.25;
lb. $2.25; 1 pound $4.00; 5 pounds and above $3.50.
Re-selected Pedigreed Washington Asparagus Seed.
Pirces postpaid: Packet 30c; 1 ounce 50c; % lb. $1.75;
% Lb. $3.00; 1 pound $5.50; 5 lbs. and above $5.00.
Pedigreed Washington Asparagus Roots — Prices not
postpaid: 50- $1.35; 100— $2.50; 500— $10.00; 1000—
$16.75; 2000 and above at $15.00 per thousand.
Page Thirty-one
Coker’s Special ‘‘Clipper” Seed
Cleaner and Grader
iIRemoves all light, immature and worthless seed and all trash and foreign matter —
by double screens and vertical air blast method. The most effective seed grader on
the market. UDOES EFFECTIVE WORK with all Southern seeds, including Wheat,
Oats, Rye, Barley, Cotton, Corn, Peas, Sorghum, Soy Beans, Burr Clover, Kaffir Com,
Vetch, Milo Maize, Alfalfa, Millet, Rape, Crimson Clover, Onion Seed, etc. lAll
“Coker’s Special Clippers” are furnished complete, fitted with an assortment of
TWELVE SCREENS specially selected for Southern seeds.
Coker’s Improved No. 22-B Clipper Seed Cleaner
A recently perfected improved model specially designed for cleaning
and grading cotton seed. Also cleans and grades other seeds, grain and *
beans. The most perfect model seed cleaner for the Southern farmer.
NEW FEATURES: Force feed roller, adjustable, to insure even feed
of cotton seed; clutch throwout for feed roller; double grooves for chang-
ing elevation of lower screen.
Simple in Construction.
Easy to Operate.
No Complicated Parts.
No Extras.
Will Last Indefinitely.
Operates by Hand or Power.
COKER’S IMPROVED No. 22-B CLIPPER
CLEANER, equipped with 12 screens, crank
pulley for hand operation and power pulley
for operation by engine, COMPLETE, QCO 00
net cash, f. o. b. Hartsville, S. C vUUiUU
OTHER MODELS
COKER’S SPECIAL No. 2-B CLIPPER CLEANER
equipped with 12 screens, crank pulley and power
pulley, f. o. b. Hartsville, S. C. Price CVIO 00
Cash with Order 040 lUU
COKER’S SPECIAL No. 1-B CLIPPER CLEANER
equipped with 12 screens and crank pulley, f. o. b.
Hartsville, S. C. Price Cash with $40.00
^TTT3 (PTT A T? A IXTT'TT'T? above ma hines for thirty days and if not satisfactory in every respect,
ViUn i JLlhship it back and get your nuney.
In tests conducted by the Department of Agriculture, (Bulletin No. 285), cotton seed properly graded, made an
increased yield of 103 pounds seed cotton per acre in one test and an increase of 88% pounds in another test
against the same seed not graded. These results speak for themselves.
For further information, write for our special bulletin describing “Coker’s Special Clipper” Cleaners.
Pedigreed Seed Company, Hartsville, S. C.
GENERAL SOUTHERN AGENTS
For North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arakansas.
Page Thirty-two
seeo wttH^ Hmmmii smm.mwmsu
VALUABLE NEW CREATIONS-COTTON AND OATS
(Seed For 1922 Crop)
The advancement of agriculture necessitates new varieties, better than those now existing. It is with pleas-
ure that we announce two important new creations that we are preparing to offer next year. These are the
new Lightning Express* Cotton and the new Hardiwhite* Oat, short descriptions of which follow.
COKER’S PEDIGREED LIGHTNING EXPRESS*
(Long Staple Upland Cotton)
The lightning Express Cotton is the earliest maturing or shortest season variety of cotton we have ever
grown and is, we believe, the earliest cotton in existence. It is a very early selection from the Express which
itself is a very early variety. The original superior plant that gave us our Lightning Express was chosen in 1917
and has since been carefully selected to purify the strain and thoroughly tested in comparison with other varieties.
The important characters favoring the Lightning Express over the ordinary Express are the following:
1st. It is earlier than the original Express; 2nd. It has longer lint, averaging about Il4 inches; 3rd, It
averages about 2% higher in
lint turnout; 4th. It has rather
larger bolls, averaging 69 to the
pound of seed cotton in com-
parison with 71 for the parent
variety; 5th. It has fewer large
vegetative basal branches than
the parent type; 6th, It is more
uniform in all characters.
We believe the Lightning
Express, because of its supreme
earliness and its very open foli-
age, will be a particularly valu-
able boll weevil cotton. For the
same reasons it is almost certain
to be valuable in northern sec-
tions of the cotton belt where a
short season cotton is desired.
These qualities, coupled with its
high yielding capacity and good
lint quality, are certain to make
it a popular cotton. It has at-
tracted more attention and fav-
orable comment from our thous-
ands of visitors this year than
any other cotton on our farms.
The seed of the Lightning
BREEDING PLOT OF EXPRESS COTTON: COMPARE PROGENY ROWS OF
EXPRESS ON LEFT WITH CHECK ROW OR ORDINARY EXPRESS ON RIGHT
Express will be offered for planting in the spring of 1922.
COKER’S PEDIGREED HARDIWHITE* OAT
This is a brand new, hardy, white winter oat. The original plant from which this new variety has come was
found in the spring of 1915 in a field of Pedigreed Red Appier Oats. It was planted in a test row in our breed-
ing plots in the fall of 1915 and has been under selection and trial ever since. It seems to have originated as a
sport or mutation from the Red Appier but differs from that variety in being white instead of reddish brown, in be-
ing awnless instead of awned, and in being much more cold resistant, a week earlier in season of maturing, and
a heavier yielder. IfBuring the five years of comparative tests from 1916 to 1920, the Hardiwhite has made an
average yield of 65,22 bushels per acre against an average of 53.6 bushels and 54 bushels for two different ped-
igreed strains of Fulghum. A twelve-acre increase patch in 1920 gave a yield of 68.3 bushels per acre of fine,
heavy, white oats. t[The Hardiwhite has during a five year test period exhibited a marked resistance to cold in-
jury. In the first year increase blocks of the very cold weather of 1917 all varieties except Hardiwhite were
killed out and required to be replanted. In 1918 which was also a severe winter, Hardiwhite in our test plots
showed a winter killing of 39.2% as compared with Fulghum selected strain 18, 81.38%; Fulghum selected
strain 46, 62.75%; Fulghum ordinary unselected 74.10%; Red Appier ordinary 96.51%; and all other varie-
ties an average of 93.87%. We believe the Hardiwhite to be a winner and expect it to fill an important place
in Southern agriculture. The first seed will be sold for planting in the fall of 1921. Hlf you want to try these
important new varieties, write to us to book a temporary order subject to confirmation when descriptive price
list is later sent to you. This will insure that you get the seed you want. Our supply of each will be very limited.
*NOTE — The words LIGHTNING and HARDIWHITE as applied to special strains of cotton and oats are trade names used by this
Company to designate particular products of its own breeding. The public is warned against the use of these words in the sale
of seeds as application has been filed in the U. S. Patent OflBice for the registration of these trade names.
ORDER
PEDIGREED SEED COMPANY
Operating the Pedigreed Seed Breeding and Experimental Farms
DAVID R. COKER, President
HARTSVILLE, S. C
Date 192.
Ship the following seed to
NAME
POST OFFICE STATE
R. F. D. No Express or Freight Office
Shall we ship by freight, express or parcel post?
If by freight, what road shall we ship over?
(If by parcel post or charges prepaid, add suflacient amount to cover)
AMOUNT ENCLOSED
P. 0. Order $
Express Order
Check
Cash -
Stamps
Total
TERMS: Cash with order or sight draft with Bill of Lading attached.
QUANTITY
KIND OF SEED WANTED
@
AMOUNT
PLEASE FILL OUT BACK SIDE OF THIS SHEET
METHOD OF PAYMENT: Use P. 0. or Express Money Order or Check. Below is a bank check which may
be used. Fill in amount, name and address of your bank, and sign. Send amounts of one dollar and less in
stamps.
No.
Date.
TOWN
192.
PAY TO THE ORDER OF PEDIGREED SEED COMPANY, $
HABTSVILLE, S. C.
DOLLARS
100
TO
NAME OP BANE
ADDRESS OP BANE
SIGNED
PLEASE FILL OUT THE BLANKS BELOW
Pedigreed Seed Company,
Sartsville, S. C. / >
Dear Sirs: I think the following planters would appreciate the high grade seed you are breed-
ing, and I would suggest your sending them circulars and literature.
NAMES
ADDRESSES
(Signed)
A WORD FROM MR. D. R. COKER
President of Pedigreed Seed Company, Hartsville, S. C.
For the past twelve months the farmers of the South have been in a sad condition. The 1920 crop,
made at very high cost, was sold at only a fraction of the cost of production. The 1921 crop has been
cut to small proportions by the boll weevil and weather conditions. Few sections will realize enough to
pay this year’s production cost, including a fair wage to the laborer, unless the price advances much
further.
The writer attended the World’s Cotton Conference, and discussed world cotton problems with
growers from almost every cotton producing country, and he has since returning home devoted much
of his time to a study of cotton production problems. He is now fully convinced that cotton produc-
tion with the average yield and at the average prices and average costs of the past ten years is a poor
proposition.
We must not continue to produce cotton under the same conditions as in the past, for, under those
conditions, the average farmer has eked out a precarious existence, and much of our own farm labor
has been pauperized. Our educational and road systems have lagged far behind those of every other
section of the country, and the advancement of our whole civilization has been retarded by the lack of
an adequate recompense to the primary producer.
What is the remedy for these conditions? First, cotton production reduced to a point where the
world will call for every bale at profitable prices. Second, fertilization and cultivation of the limited
cotton acreage by scientific, intensive methods. Third, the use of varieties of well bred seed which will
produce maximum crops of high quality and premium length under boll weevil conditions, and by prop-
erly preparing and marketing the product. Fourth, an active campaign to combat the boll weevil with
early planting, poisoning, and picking up the fallen squares.
If these methods are actively followed, good crops of cotton can usually be produced in all sections
of the cotton belt, except the warmer coastal areas. Acting on these principles, we ourselves have this
year produced one of the largest yields per acre ever made on our plantations, although we have had
to combat very severe weevil infestation and a very wet summer. The varieties planted are our new
strains — “Lightning” Express and Deltatype — but we did not rely on these well adapted varieties and
good fertilization to insure a crop, but every man on our farms has worked hard and intelligently.
The production of good crops of high-grade extra-length cotton under boll weevil conditio'ns is no
task for the lazy or shiftless. The farmer who cannot make up his mind to work hard and to apply the
most approved methods to his operations had better “quit the drive” at once.
The writer does not approve of the propaganda for the total abandonment of cotton in the greater
part of our cotton-producing area. He does heartily approve of diversified farming, the production of
ample foodstuffs, and the use of all the livestock that can be profitably accommodated on the farm.
The Southern farmer knows cotton, and it must remain the main money crop in all of the cotton belt
except those regions in which experience has demonstrated that the boll weevil cannot successfully be
met, or until other crops have been proved to be more profitable. The Mississippi Delta is still planting
staple cotton after years of boll weevil infestation, and is raising most largely the varieties which we
originated.
The situation presents a challenge to the courage, industry, and good sense of the Southern planter.
We are not advising them to do anything except what we ourselves have demonstrated to be practicable
and profitable.
September 1, 1921.
DAVID R. COKER
From
PUT
STAMP
HERE
PEDIGREED SEED COMPANY
OPERATING THE PEDIGREED SEED BREEDING AND EXPERIMENTAL FARMS
DAVID R. COKER, President
HARTSVILLE, S. C
Knowing good seed is like knowing one of your
friends - the better you are acquainted,
the warmer the friendship.
READ CAREFULLY BEFORE ORDERING
PRICES
Out prices are for cash with order. If remittance
is not sent with order, it means a delay imtil we can
write you and receive the amount. Customers who have
established their responsibility may have shipments
made with sight draft attached to bill of lading.
We make no special prices or reductions. We believe
our seeds are worth what we charge for them, to one
customer the same as another. In case of general
changes in price (owing to market fluctuations) orders
recieved after the change will be filled at the new
prices.
Remittance may be made by personal check, bank
check, money order, cash or stamps. We are not re-
sponsible for your order until it reaches us.
SHIPMENTS
Our excellent facilities enable us to fill practically
every order the same day it is recieved. We excercise
the same care with small orders as with large ones,
but make a small additional proportional charge for
the extra expense of handling, sacking, etc. This ex-
pense is included in the prices quoted.
On seed quoted Postpaid, we pay all delivery
charges. But all prices marked not prepaid, and all
bulk prices, including pecks, half-bushels, bushels and
above, DO NOT INCLUDE transportation charges, and
such shipments will be sent by express or freight col-
lect, unless such charges are added to the prices quoted.
HOW TO HAVE SEED SHIPPED
Shipments of twenty pounds and less to points with-
in the second zone from Hartsville (within 150 miles,
including all points in South Carolina and Central
Southern part of North Carolina) are usually cheapest
by parcel post. The amount of postage must always be
added to the price quoted.
Small shipments to a distance are usually cheapest
by express. If you are not sure about cheapest way to
have shipment made, send us sufficient amount to pay
charges and we will send cheapest way and return to
you any balance after paying charges.
Large shipments are always cheapest by freight. If
your station is a prepay freight station, the amount of
freight charges must be added to your remittance.
WHEN SEED ARRIVE
Our seed are put up in substantial bags and boxes
and delivered to the railroads in good order. When seed
arrive in bad order, do not accept the shipment or pay
the freight until your station agent makes a statement
to that effect nn your receipted freight bill. Send this
freight bill to us and we will make claim and collect
it from the railroad company for you.
You have ten days in which to examine and test our
seeds in any way you may see fit. If they are not per-
fectly satisfactory in every way, return them to us in
the original packages at our expense, and we will re-
fund your money. However, we will not refund money
for seed that have been in a customer's hands for more
than ten days, nor entertain any claim after that time.
OUR GUARANTEE AND RESPONSIBILITY
Attached to every bag of seed we ship is a card on which is printed the percentage of germi-
nation and purity of that particular lot of seed. In no case do we ship seed that do not measure
up to the highest standards.
Our PEDIGREED Seeds are bred by the plant-to-row method on our own breeding farms
and we guarantee them true to name. Our IMPROVED Seeds are bred by general or mass
selection and are also guaranteed true to name. Our GENERAL Seeds (those not otherwise
classified as PEDGREED or IMPROVED) are not bred by us, but otherwise are as good qu^ty
as can be obtained. On GENERAL Seeds, however, we give no warranty, expressed or implied,
as to description, quality or productiveness.
EXAMINE OUR SEEDS when you receive them and test them in any way you see fit. If
for any reason they are not satisfactory, they may be returned to us within ten days after they are
received, in the original package, AT OUR EXPENSE, and WE WILL REFUND ENTIRE PUR-
CHASE PRICE. We waive all responsibility for seeds which have been in a customer’s hands
more than ten days, as the vitality of any seed may be lessened or killed after leaving our ware-
house, by subjection to moisture, heat, brine, chemicals, etc. Under no circumstances will we be
responsible for the germination of seed after they are planted, whether within ten days or not,
as there are many reasons for imperfect germination of planted seeds other than their vitality. In
no case do we accept responsibility for more than the purchase price of seed. If purchaser does
not accept seed under this condition, they are to be returned at once.
OUR GROWTH IS NO MYSTERY
The large and increasing demand and wide popularity of Cloker’s Pedigreed Seeds is no
mystery. Its explanation is simple to those who know our seeds, our methods and our men. Brief-
ly, it is: We make no claims which our seeds do not prove; we give the best quality seeds that
careful and expert breeding can produce; we exercise a personal care in handHng our seeds at
every point, recleaning and separating out all except the strong and vital; we sell only such as we
can guarantee for high germination and purity, and give actual percentage figures of every lot;
we stand absolutely behind every seed we sell with our nineteen years’ reputation as breeders, with
a substantial commercial backing and with a money-back guarantee; we give prompt and efficient
service in our shipping department; and finally, we never allow any complaint, no matter what its
nature, to go without a prompt investigation and, if well founded, a satisfactory settlement with the
claimant. These are the methods and policies under which our work has grown from a small, one-
man local enterprise, to one that now reaches every Southern State.
PBOWRSKO seeo compahy
DAVID R. COKER. President HERBERT J. WEBBER. General Manager
HARTSVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11