Nine varieties of Acala cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) approved for use in the San Joaquin Valley of California were tested for their tolerance to Meloidogyne incognita ((Kofoid and White), Chitwood) cotton root-knot nematode. In a splitplot design, main treatments either received metam-sodium as a nematode suppressant or were not treated. The use of metam-sodium did not improve yield and yield difference between varieties could not be attributed to differences in nematode tolerance. All varieties supported root-knot nematode population increase and significant differences in the degree of root damage were not found between varieties. No differences in crop development were noted relative to earliness.