Rapid seedling establishment of Gossypium hirsutum L. is very important for successful growth, yield, and fiber development in regions where a short growing season occurs. Microcalorimetry might provide a means by which cultivars could be evaluated for growth and survival under chilling temperatures. One such form of calorimetry, known as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), has been used to evaluate tree growth at certain growth stages throughout its life, with favorable correlations resulting. The purpose of this study was to determine if metabolic heat rates from imbibed cottonseed, as measured by differential scanning calorimetry, can be used to accurately evaluate seedling growth after five days in growth chambers. Ninety seeds from six cotton cultivars were imbibed for twelve hours, at which time metabolic heat rates were recorded at 18, 24, and 30 C. They were then split into equal groups and placed in growth chambers at 18, 24, and 30 C. Radicle, hypocotyl, and total seedling elongation were measured after five days. Pima S-6 had the greatest metabolic heat rate at the lower temperatures (18 and 24 C). Cultivars were not different (P>0.05) at 18 C for all elongation measurements. Cultivar ranking varied with temperature and type of length measurement. Paymaster 145 was the only cultivar which exhibited significant (P<0.05) positive correlations when relating the metabolic heat rate (on a non-imbibed seed weight basis) to the total seedling length (r=0.375). The other cultivars were negatively related or not significant. This indicates that the metabolic heat rate of these six cultivars would not serve as an accurate predictor of seedling vigor under the conditions of this study. Other measures such as oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide evolution, seedling growth measured daily for five days, or total biomass production along with the metabolic heat rates might provide meaningful relationships in future studies for the development of cold tolerant lines.