18 CIECULAE NO. 115, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



of time is required to produce a crop, for the reason that large luxuri- 

 ant plants do not begin to produce flowers and bolls as early as 

 plants of more restricted growth. This is not in accord with what 

 might be considered as the most logical view of the subject. Most 

 people are ready to argue that the plants making the most rapid 

 growth must produce the earliest and largest crop, but the actual 

 behavior of the cotton plant is otherwise. In such cases the bio- 

 logical facts have to be taken into account instead of relying upon 

 the logical deductions. 



The biological fact in the present case is that the large luxuriant 

 plants are later in setting and maturing a crop. This is because the 

 young plants in a condition of luxuriant growth develop vegetative 

 limbs at the expense of the lower fruiting branches that are neces- 

 sary to the production of an early crop. The cotton plant has two 

 different kinds of branches — vegetative branches, sometimes called 

 " wood limbs/' which correspond to the main stalk of the plant, and 

 fruiting branches, which produce the flowers and bolls. 



When the habits of branching are understood it becomes apparent 

 that the idea of the largest plants producing the earliest and largest 

 crops does not apply to cotton. Spreading, treelike plants, with 

 numerous vegetative branches, do not represent a favorable condi- 

 tion for earliness or for large yields in short seasons. In the interest 

 of correct thinking on cultural problems the row rather than the 

 individual plant should be considered as the unit. The advantages 

 of the new method are gained by improving the form of the rows. 

 More plants are left in the rows, and yet injurious crowding is 

 avoided. Plants that have numerous vegetative branches are more 

 crowded at 2 or 3 feet than plants with single stalks at 8 or 10 inches. 

 With the vegetative branches controlled, the spacing is no longer a 

 question of feet, but of inches. Rows spaced at 6 inches have usually 

 given better results than those at 12 inches or any greater distance. 



EXPOSURE OE FRUITING BRANCHES TO LIGHT. 



By avoiding the development of the large wood limbs the rows are 

 kept narrower and more hedgelike, so that the fruiting branches 

 receive sunlight throughout the season. This provides much more 

 favorable conditions for the ripening of the crop. When the vegeta- 

 tive branches are allowed to shut off the light by growing up be- 

 tween the rows, most of the bolls on the lower fruiting branches fail 

 to reach normal maturity. Fields of large luxuriant plants often 

 produce very small crops because only the upright growing ends of 

 the stalks and vegetative branches have access to the light. This 

 undesirable condition is avoided by restricting the development of 

 the vegetative branches in the earlier stages of growth. 



[Cir. 115] 



