Studies on the lint percentage in cotton seed : 1. On the varietal difference in the lint percentage

Abstract

As the lint percentage of cotton is a genetic character and is one of important factors composing the yidlds, studies of it are of much significance for the production as well as to the breeding of the crop. The present paper deals with the studies on the lint percentage, made by the author at Yamanashi Cotton Experiment Station in 1941-1943. The average lint percentage of Asiatic cotton (264 varieties) was 31.5%, of Upland cotton (85 varieties), 33.3% and of Egyptian cotton (6 varieties) 29.9%. Among the Asiatic verieties, the Indian ones gave 35.1%, the Chinese 33.6%, the Japanese 33.2%, the Korean 27.9% and the Manchurian 26.3%, respectively in the average. The varietal variations in the percentages within the Chinese group and that within the Japanese were both remarkable, the, range of the former being 20-40%, and the latter 25-40%, those of the Korean and the Manchurian, however, were small, both being 20-30%. The matter mentioned above were considered from the point of the factors composing the lint percentage. In the Korean and the Manchurian groups, the lint weight was comparatively small, while tbe seed weight was large. In the Indian group, the seeds were comparatively small, giving high percentages of lint. Both the seed weight and the lint weight in the Chinese group being the largest of the Asiatic varieties, its lint percentage showing little difference from that of the Japanese one. In the Egyptian group the lint weight as well as the seed weight were the highest of all the races of cotton, giving, however, the lowest lint percentage. The seed weight and lint weight of Upland cottons were both larger than those of Asiatic cottons, but the proportion of the lint was slightly larger, giving somewhat higher lint percentage than those of the Asiatic groups.