TXGenWeb Robertson County Books & Master's Theses

By Manford Eugene Jones
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History.
University of New Mexico, 1939

Texas A&M University History Professor Dale Baum purchased a copy of this thesis from the university's library and contributed it to this site.  It is used with permission of Manford Allen Jones, son of the author Manford Eugene Jones.  These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format by other organizations or individuals. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the written consent of Manford Allen Jones or contact Jane Keppler, Robertson County TXGenWeb coordinator.

CHAPTER VI:  VARIETIES OF COTTON

The study of cotton breeding and the origin of various varieties of cotton would apparently seem a tedious and very dry subject or undertaking.  On the contrary, it has proved to be one of the most interesting studies in connection with this thesis.

Before we pursue the topic of types of cotton further, it might be well to state that the first cotton planted in the region under discussion was of no particular type or variety.  It was simply known as Native cotton, and the seed came from various Southern states.  Very few known varieties were planted prior to 1900.  The farmer selected his planting seed from the best looking and highest yielding portions of his crop.  However, it must be noted that some cotton seed from Mexico found its way to Texas at various times, especially during the war with Mexico in 1846 (editor's note: this date should probably be 1836).  This Mexican cotton has intermingled with the strains brought in from the southeastern portions of the United States.

One of the earliest varieties grown on the Brazos, according to Joe Goddard of Waco, was known as Cheatem cotton.  It had a tall stalk and short limbs, with bolls near the stalk; it was hard to pick and it gradually disappeared.  Another early variety was known as Prolific.  The limbs were long and they created such a mass of vegetations that insects were bad.

Attention now centers on the first varieties bred in Texas.

"The variety known as Bohemian was developed about 1865 by a Bohemian settler named Supak, who lived near Austin, Texas.  This cotton was known also by the name Supak and was apparently developed by some method of plant selection.  It was a rather stable type and was prominent and popular in Texas for 40 or 50 years.  The bolls were large and turned down on opening, thus protecting the lint in bad weather.  The broad segments of the bug and the large involucral bracts also had a roofing effect over the closely clinging locks.  In spike of the storm-resistant features, the cotton was easily picker.  The staple length was about fifteen-sixteenths of an inch.  Bohemian is of historic importance now in that is the progenitor of Rowden and of Express."[29]

Some of the Bohemian cotton was very likely planted along the Central Brazos prior to 1900, but the Mebane and Rowden varieties discussed below were the first that were well known in this section.

"A new variety of cotton was bred and introduced by A. D. Mebane of Lockhart, Texas, in 1900 and named Mebane Triumph by Seaman A. Knapp.  Development and maintenance of this variety represents the longest continued work in the history of upland cotton in this country.  A splendid combination of high productivity, stormproofness, big bolls, medium stable length, high quality of fiber, high lint percentage, and sufficient earliness to meet boll weevil conditions in the Western area, the variety has served as foundation stock for newer strains and as parental material in some important hybrids.  A. D. Mebane began his work in 1882 but did not market seed to any extent until about 1900."

"During the first few years after 1882, Mebane studied existing types and varieties of cotton of his section of the country and concluded that although some of the smaller boll varieties ginned out a higher lint percentage, the bigboll storm resistant type, such as Texas Stormproof, Bohemian, Myers, and a few others, represented more nearly the type required for that part of the Cotton Belt.  Presumably, he finally chose stocks of Texas Stormproof or Boykin Stormproof for his material.  After the stocks were chosen in the early 1880s, they were never changed and are still maintained by his family on the original estate.  However, Mebane did shift the ideal toward which he was working.  About 1910, he began to select for longer staple, and in due time, the length was increased to 1 1/16 to 1 3/16 inches.  Along with this development was associated less stability, lower yield, and less gin outrun.  At the time of his death in 1923, Mebane had begun to work back to a type with higher yields, better lint percentage, and a full inch staple.  Sin that date, Mrs. Mebane, Paul M. Mebane, and W. P. Patton, Jr., have continued the work."

Rowden cotton was developed by Will Rowden, Wills Point, Texas, about 1905.  Stock originated from two bolls brought from the Sulphur Fork river bottoms about 50 miles northward and was thought to be of the mass selection and kept reasonably true to varietal type by this method for many years.  A large-boll variety."[30]

Rowden and Mebane cotton were popular along the central Brazos about twenty years ago, but most bottom farmers have turned to later and better varieties.  One of these is known as Kasch cotton.

"Kasch cotton was introduced about 1912 by Ed Kasch, San Marcos, Texas.  It is a strain of Mebane Triumph.  Widely sold for a number of years and its qualities were very similar to Qualla cotton."

"Qualla was introduced about 1922.  It is a strain of Mebane Triumph, developed by H. Conrads, San Marcos, Texas.  Staple 15/16 to 1 inch, gin outrun 38 to 41 percent, bolls 70 to the pound.  Widely distributed in Texas and adjoining states.  Most popular recent variety in Texas outside of Kasch."[31]

Qualla is extensively planted along the Brazos at the present time and in general has taken the place of Kasch cotton.

One of the most interesting men interviewed in connection with cotton breeding was C. S. Lankart, of Waco, Texas, who is the only large scale cotton breeder in the central Brazos region.  he is full of patience - a prime requisite for success in breeding - willing to answer any question, and intensively interested in the work he is doing.

Lankart started in the cotton breeding business as a result of his farming interests in the Brazos bottom and a desire to improve the quality and price received for cotton.  His first experiments were conducted in 1908, and he did not secure good results until four seasons later in 1911.

Lankart's method of cotton breeding is a radical departure from that employed on government experiment stations and by other private breeders.  Most breeders use the single plant selection, which means they choose a certain plant that has the characteristics desired and plant all the seed together from that plant.  Mr. Lankart used the single boll selection method, which means he plants the seed from each boll of the parent plant separately.  In doing this, he has noticed that each boll develops certain characteristics, thus giving him more chances to find the desired qualities than if he used the plant selection method.  Under the single boll selection method, the bolls that developed best were used for further planting.

The first superior type cotton developed by this method was called Lankart cotton in honor of the breeder.  The chief advantages of this type are as follows:  (1) drought resistance; (2) heavy production of large bolls; bolls are fifteen percent larger than those of any other Bottom variety; (3) storm and rain resistance; the cotton clings to the bur; (4) good spinning quality; it is one inch to one and one-sixteenth inch staple; (5) forty percent lint, meaning that in one thousand pounds of seed cotton, there will be found hundred pounds of lint cotton.  The Lankart cotton was bred from Lone Star cotton that was crossed with other strains.  It is thought to be a hybrid.

The next variety produced by the Lankart system was Wacona cotton, so called for the City of Waco.  It is an off type selection out of Lankart cotton.  The first plant was selected in 1921, and the seed were placed on the market in 1928.  Firteen bolls were selected from the original plant, and nine of these failed to show Wacona characteristics.  Of the remaining four, two showed a mixture of Wacona and Lankart, and the other two showed Wacona cotton.  One of the last two bolls was dropped after three years of increase, and the remaining boll continued to breed true to type.

Wacona cotton is:  (1) a close fruiting type, meaning there are many bolls on a single stalk; (2) a round nose boll; (3) smaller and shorter in the joints than is Lankart; (4) on heavy Bottom land, a prolific producer without so much stalk; (5) probably the most storm resistant of all varieties because of it cup-shaped bur; (6) from one and one-sixteenth to one and three-sixteenths inch in staple; and (7) thirty-four percent lint as an average.

The Northern Star variety was the next product.  The original plant was selected from Lankart cotton in 1926, and seed were placed on the market in 1935.  The name was selected because it was bred primarily for growers in North and West Texas.  The Northern Star: (1) is about two weeks earlier than other types, thus beating insects; (2) will grow better in cold land, and therefore, can be planted earlier; (3) has produced the first bale in the United States for the years 1935, 1936, and 1937 - these bales being grown in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas; (4) has medium-sized bolls and very thin bur; (5) produces fifteen-sixteenths to one inch staple; and (6) is thirty-eight to forty percent lint.

Lankart's latest development is the Greenfield Staple.  The original plant was selected in 1930, but the seed have not been placed on the market.  One reason is that gins are not properly equipped to handle long staple cotton.  It was so named because of the dark green color of it foliage.  It has the following features: (1) one to one-fourth to one and five-sixteenths inch staple; (2) long jointed open type plant; (3) bolls medium long and sharp-pointed, but large in size; (4) about eighty-five percent of the bolls being five lock bolls, which is high for long staple cotton.

The above varieties have all been used in the central Brazos region.  Probably more Lankart has been planted than any other variety.

When Lankard started breeding cotton, he owned four hundred acres of land, twelve miles southeast of Waco, on the west side of the Brazos River.  He now owns six hundred and eighty acres, and his experiments have all been started on this land.

Near his land, Lankart has fifty-eight hundred acres under contract with a gin located at Asa which gins only cotton produced on the Lankart seed farm.  Nearer Waco, he has thirty-six hundred acres under contract with another gin.

The man who owns the land and his tenants both sign a written contract with Lankart.  Lankart agrees to furnish planting seed at cost and pay producer five dollars a ton bonuses for all seed produced and used for planting purposes.  The remainder of the seed is sent to oilmills, and the farmer must not take any home.  The producer promises to plant no other seed and agrees to carry his cotton to the specified gin.  In this manner, the purity of the various strains is assured.

Lankart's growers have always sold their cotton as a group at times when they thought the market was best, and have secured a good premium because of the large amount of one type of cotton.  They have averaged seven dollars a bale more than the other Bottom farmers.  A certain cotton mill in England uses all cotton produced on the Lankart seed farms.

[29] J. O. Ware, "Plant Breeding and the Cotton Industry," U.S. Department of Agriculture Yearbook (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1936), p. 666.
[30] Ibid., p. 668.
[31] Ibid., pp. 739, 740.