ABSTRACT

A cotton phenotype with very short fruiting branches, small internode length and few vegetative branches was compared to a commercial cultivar widely produced on the Texas High Plains for foreign matter content of seed cotton and the incidence of bark in lint. Fiber properties of the lint for the experimental 'stovepipe' line were approximately the same as that of the commercial cultivar 'Paymaster HS26'. The experimental cotton line reduced stick content by 43% under both dryland and irrigated conditions. The number of lint samples that were reduced in grade due to bark was significantly lower for the experimental phenotype produced with no irrigation. Lint yield was not different for the two plant types grown under dryland production, but the stovepipe phenotype yielded 50% less lint than the commercial cultivar under irrigated production practices.