A NEW SYSTEM OF COTTON CULTURE. 17 



IMPORTANCE OF STIMULATING EARLINESS. 



The chief advantage of the new system of cotton culture, based on 

 the improved method of thinning, is the increased earliness of the 

 crop; or, in other words, the production of more cotton in a shorter 

 period of time. The need of shortening the growing season of cot- 

 ton has been recognized as the best solution of the problem of secur- 

 ing protection against injury from the boll weevil, but is no less 

 important in regions where the crop is limited by drought or by 

 short seasons, as in the northern districts of the cotton belt. 1 



CONFLICTING OPINIONS ON SPACING COTTON ROWS. 



Many intelligent farmers are aware of the fact that rows of cotton 

 accidentally left without thinning are sometimes much more productive 

 than rows that were thinned in the usual manner and have reflected 

 on the possibility of securing larger crops by closer planting, but the 

 underlying biological principle has not been understood. The be- 

 havior of cotton in different seasons or under different conditions 

 is so extremely variable that any intelligent farmer might well 

 hesitate to adopt a method of culture suggested by an occasional 

 occurrence like the production of a larger crop on an unthinned row. 



In each cotton-growing community there are usually some farmers 

 who believe that cotton should be left closer together m the rows, 

 but the tendency in recent years has been toward wider spacing, 

 owing to a general recognition of the evil efFects of having the 

 plants too close together, especially under conditions that favor 

 luxuriant growth. Those who use narrow spacing may boast of 

 phenomenal 3aelds in some seasons, but in other years they appear 

 at a disadvantage with their neighbors. The possibility of making 

 a safe combination of the two conflicting methods seems not to have 

 been suggested. The same conflict is shown in the results of formal 

 experiments to determine the best planting distances as in the popu- 

 lar opinions on the subject. Wide spacing in the rows seemed better 

 in some cases and narrow spacing in others, so that no definite con- 

 clusions could be reached. 2 



LARGE PLANTS PRODUCE LATE CROPS. 



"When the habits of the cotton plant are taken into account it 

 becomes apparent that the theory of wider planting has its limita- 

 tions, as well as the theory of closer planting. To reduce the num- 

 ber of plants by wider spacing in the rows means that a longer period 



1 Cook, O. P. Relation of drought to weevil resistance in cotton. D. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bulletin 220, ."50 p., 1911. 



- Redding, R. .1. Essential steps in securing an early crop of cotton. U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture, Partners' Bulletin 217. 10 p., 1905. 

 [CIr. 115] 



