555 



sliiiUow culture i»I:its made 540 pounds and tlie deep-culture plats 514 

 pounds of lint per acre, a difierence of 2G pounds " in favor of shallow 

 culture. 



Test of varieties of cotton (pp. 17-20). — Tabulated data and brief 

 descriptive notes are given for 24 varieties grown in 1S90 on a "rather 

 heavy clay loam '' liberally fertilized with superphosphate, cotton-seed 

 meal, and muriate of potash. The largest yields of lint and seed cot- 

 ton were produced by Peterkin, Keith, T. J. King, Hawkin's Jumbo, 

 Dickson's, Welborn's Pet, Texas Storm and Drought-Proof, Tniitt's 

 rm])erial, Hunnicntt's, Minter's, and Mikado. 



Hill vs. drill culture of cotton (pp. 20, 21). — Cotton was planted in 

 bills 3f by 3| feet, on one half of a field of 45 rows, and in drills 3f feet 

 by 11) inches on the other half. The yields are reported in a table, but 

 inasMuich as the drilled half of the field was much better land than the 

 other half no definite conclusions can be drawn from the experiment. 

 Attention is, however, called to the following facts and suggestions : 



One acre computed to contain 3,136 hills, but actually containing 3,046 stalks, pro- 

 dnced 508 pounds of lint; while the other acre, planted in drills and containing by 

 actual count 7,052 stalks, yielded 503 pounds of lint. It is quite probable that the 

 drilled plat would have produced a larger yield if the distance between the stalks 

 liad been increased from 19 to 24 or 30 inches, while it is almost demonstrably certain 

 that the hill portion would have yielded a much larger product if the distance one 

 way had been 36 inches instead of 44. The conclusion is suggested that a medium 

 between the number of stalks standing on the hill portion and that on the drilled 

 I)ortiou would have given a larger yield. It required (at least there were actually 

 used) 2 bushels of seed per ac;e to plant the drilled plat ; the hilled plat required 1 

 peck, a saving of If bushels of seed per acre. At 50 cents per bushel (a moderate 

 price for good planting seed) this saving would amount to 87| cents, more than suffi- 

 cient to pay for the extra labor of planting the cotton in hills. The labor of hoeing 

 the hilled plat was less than half that required by the drilled plat. 



The result of the experiment suggests the importance of regulating the distance 

 and the number of stalks according to some definite rule, not subject to the whim or 

 careless judgment of an ignorant laborer. 



Experiments in the culture of sweet-potatoes, tomatoes, 



CAEBAdES, ETC., G. SpETH (pp. 22-46). 



Sweet-potatoes (pp. 22-29). — In view of the importance of this crop in 

 the Southern States, the station has undertaken a variety of experi- 

 ments with sweet-potatoes. This article contains a report on experi- 

 ments (1) in planting at different distances, and (2) with fertilizers. 

 The land used in both cases was a clay loam with clay subsoil. 



Planting at different distances. — The yields for 3 varieties planted 

 at distances of 1} by 4, 2i by 4, and 2 by 4 feet are given in a table, 

 those for the last mentioned distance being the best. 



Fertilizer experiment. — In this " the effect of varying rations of differ- 

 ent potash salts in combination with full rations of superphosphate 

 and cotton-seed meal " was tested with 5 varieties of sweet-potatoes. 

 Kainit and muriate of potasii in half, full, or double rations were each 

 used along witli the other fertilizers on three plats, and four plats 



