BUEEAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 143 



culture for irrigated districts. The rows are planted^ in pairs, one 

 on each side of a large furrow. Irrigation is confined to the furrows, 

 which are separated by broader ridges that remain as a permanent 

 mulch of dry soiL The water is applied more effectively, germination 

 and growth of the young plants are more uniform, and less labor 

 is recjuired for cultivation and the control of weeds. The plants 

 soon shade the furrow^, but the broader space above the ridges is 

 kept open throughout the season, with the vegetative branches sup- 

 pressed under the single-stalk system. If the plants grow very 

 large they lean away from the furrow over the dry ground. This, 

 without interrupting the harvest or damaging the ripe bolls; hence 

 larger crops of good fiber can be matured. 



COTTON CULTURE IN THE ARID REGIONS. 



The dry weather that has obtained during the last three years in 

 the w^estern part of the cotton belt has made plain the desirability 

 of improving the usual methods of culture so as to reduce the losses 

 entailed when the growing season is shortened by drought. It has 

 already been demonstrated that the new single-stalk system of cul- 

 ture is efficacious in this regard, and it seems that still further 

 progress can be made. With a view to determining what greater 

 improvement is possible, a series of experiments has been conducted 

 to study the importance of the time of planting cotton and the rela- 

 tive effectiveness of different distances between the rows, and to make 

 further observations on the time and manner of thinning. 



DECIDUOUS-TREE FRUITS. 



Attention has been directed to the growing of figs in the South At- 

 lantic and Gulf Coast States, as was the case in 1916. There is 

 apparently a widespread interest in the culture of figs in the regions 

 stated; much of this interest, however, is the result apparently of 

 the activities of fig promotion companies in the developing of large 

 fig orchards. There is, however, an apparent growing apprecia- 

 tion of the fig in the South Atlantic and Gulf Coast States along 

 conservative lines of development. The cultural development and 

 requirements of the fig in this territory have been studied as com- 

 pletely as conditions permit. 



SMALL FRUITS. 



There has been a material increase in the demand for information 

 on the growing of small fruits. The demand is evidently the out- 

 growth of natural conditions and a fuller appreciation by the people 

 of this type of fruit. Field studies of the small-fruit industry were 

 carried during the past year to the point where it is possible to 

 prepare an important and much-needed series of bulletins on practi- 

 cally all of the widely grown small fruits. This series of bulletins 

 will treat of raspberries, strawberries in different sections of the 

 country, everbearing strawberries, currants, gooseberries, and, in 

 due course, several others. 



