ARRANGEMENT OK 15HANCITES. 13 



Industry, who finds that the vegetative branches are produced for 12 

 to 14 nodes from the base of the main stalk in plantings of newly 

 imported seed, whereas in acclimatized strains tlie number of vege- 

 tative branches is distinctly reduced and tlie i)roduction of fruiting 

 branches usually begins five or six joints closer to the ground. 



Weather that is dry enough to retard the growth of the plants also 

 discourages the formation of limbs and vegetative branches, while 

 humid conditions favor the jiroduction of l)oth. After a prolonged 

 (h'ought at San Antonio, Tex., during tlie season of 1909, no plants 

 of either New World or Old World cottons could l)e found with limbs, 

 except as short rudiments, -though many of the basal extra-axillary 

 vegetative branches were well developed. The dry weather was ap- 

 ])arently al)le to suppress the limbs without seriously restricting the 

 growth of the extra-axillary vegetative branches that had begun to 

 develop early in the season. 



With an abundant supply of water the limbs may be forced into 

 vigorous growth and may gain a predominance over the vegetative 

 branches, as was well illustrated at Del Rio, Tex., during the same 

 season. There the cotton from the same stocks as those in the San 

 Antonio experiment received a plentiful supply of water, and limbs 

 were much more numerous than vegetative branches. The vegetative 

 branches usually outnumber the limbs unless the latter have been 

 forced into growth late in the season. 



ABRANGEMENT OF THE LEAVES ON THE LIMBS AND VEGETATIVE 



BRANCHES. 



The arrangement of the leaves and buds on both the axillary limbs 

 and the vegetative branches is the same as on the main stalk of the 

 cotton plant. If the main stalk has the normal three-eighths arrange- 

 ment all the limbs and vegetative branches follow the same system, 

 no matter how many branches the plant may have. Deviations from 

 the normal spiral on the main'stalk are also accompanied by abnormal 

 arrangements on the vegetative branches. 



There seems to be little or no regularity in the directions of the leaf 

 spirals on either the vegetative branches or the limbs. Often several 

 succeeding vegetative branches will turn their spirals in the same (right 

 or left) direction, while again they seem to alternate their direction 

 with some regularity. The direction of the spirals of the vegetative 

 branches often appears to agree with that of the main stalk in cases 

 where the vegetative branches are few in number, but if the branches 

 are numerous, differences in the direction of the spirals can usually 

 be found. If a limb and a vegetative branch develop at the same 

 node, their si)irals may follow the same direction or may l)e opposed. 



