The Bulletin. 37 



COMMENTS ON DISTANCE TESTS. 



These tests were conducted this year at the Iredell and Edgecombe 

 farms — seed of Cocke's Prolific having been used at Edgecombe and 

 Weekley's Improved at Iredell for planting the different tests during 

 all the years. The distancing best suited to the soil of the Edge- 

 combe farm in its present state of fertility, as indicated by an average 

 of six years' results, is 4 feet by 3" feet ; at Iredell and Reel Springs, 

 as an average of three and five years' results, respectively, 5 feet by 

 2 feet. It will require a number of repetitions of this test to arrive 

 at a fair idea of the best width of rows and distance in rows for plant- 

 ing corn on the types of soil used in the experiments. This will no 

 doubt vary with the different kinds of corn, soil and season. 



In Table VIII is presented in concise form the results of all dis- 

 tance tests with corn that have been conducted at the Edgecombe farm 

 during six years, and the Red Springs farm during four years, and 

 the Iredell farm during five years. 



II. Variety and Distance Tests of Cotton. 



Preparation and Cultivation, — All plats devoted to these tests were 

 broke 8 to 10 inches deep during March at Edgecombe, and in April 

 at Iredell, with a two-horse turning plow, followed by a thorough 

 disking during the middle of April. Just before laying off the rows, 

 which was during the last of April, the ground was gone over with a 

 smoothing harrow. The rows were run 5 to 7 inches deep, 3^3 feet 

 apart, with an 8-inch shovel, and the fertilizer materials applied in 

 the drill, at the following rate per acre in all tests : 



Four hundred pounds of a mixture of acid phosphate, manure salt 

 and dried blood, which contained 7 per cent available phosphoric acid, 

 2y 2 per cent potash and 2l/ 2 per cent nitrogen (equal to 3.04 per cent 

 ammonia), costing $3.95, were used. 



The cultivation was level, with cultivators, being moderately deep 

 at the beginning of the season and shallower as the root zone increased. 

 The cultivator was never run more than twice to the row at a time, as 

 this more than covered the middle, and an effort was made to work 

 over the plats as quickly as possible immediately after rains to break 

 the crust formed by the showers and leave a dust mulch to check 

 evaporation. The cultivator was run about iy 2 to 2 inches deep 

 toward the close of the season. It was attempted to cultivate every 

 ten days, which had to be changed, of course, to suit the season. The 

 cotton was reduced to a stand of 15 inches at Edgecombe and 16 inches 

 at Iredell between the hills in the rows with the variety tests. 



RESULTS OF VARIETY TESTS OF COTTON. 



The results of these tests are included in the following tables : 



