438 EXPERIMENT STATION RECOED. 



yields and other data obtained in variety tests of corn and experiments in 

 different rates of planting on various soils. 



Tlie number of ears per stalk reported varied from 1.8 for Albemarle Pro- 

 lific to 0.97 for Shaw Improved under similar conditions. Plantings at the 

 rates of 6,000, 8,000, and 10,000 stalks per acre usually gave the highest yields 

 of grain and stover in case of the highest rate of planting. The Huffman 

 . variety showed a special capacity for high yield when thickly planted. 



The author concludes that, under like conditions of soil and culture, varieties 

 differ as to optimum number of stalks per acre. The taller the variety the less 

 will be the optimum number of stalks per acre, although this rule has marked 

 exceptions. 



Breeding- new types of Egyptian cotton, T. H. Keabney {U. 8. Dept. Agr., 

 Bur. Plant Indus. Bui. 200, pp. 39. lUs. 4). — Imported Mit Afifi seed used in 

 beginning cotton breeding work in 1902 was the source from which the Yuma 

 and Somerton varieties were obtained. Strains Nos. 360, 361, and 362 con- 

 stitute a third type of similar origin. The work was done at Carlsbad, N. Mex., 

 and Yuma and Sacaton, Ariz., in continuation of that previously noted (B. 

 S. R., 20, p. 136). The author gives the history of the origin and development 

 of each type and states its performance and the principal characteristics of 

 Its ancestry. 



Sufficient uniformity for market purposes can be attained by selection and 

 by " roguing out " markedly aberrant individuals. The diversity caused by 

 crossing with other types of cotton was eliminated by careful selection of types. 

 The Yuma and Somerton varieties, however, are recorded as mutants. They 

 resemble other Egyptian varieties believed to be derived from Mit Aflfl in size 

 and shape of boll and color of fiber. Yuma is satisfactory in uniformity of 

 productiveness, habit, and fiber quality. It has a strong tendency to develop 

 a stout main stem with long fruiting branches, long taper-pointed bolls, and a 

 strong, silky, cream-colored fiber about If in. in length. Somerton is similar 

 in length of bolls and in fiber characters, but the bolls are more sharply 

 pointed, the seeds smoother, the lint percentage smaller, the plants bushier, 

 and the development of the vegetative branches greater. The third type, strains 

 Nos. 360, 361, and 362, differs from the other varieties in the possession of an 

 open habit, large limbs nearly equaling the main stem, short, plump, abruptly 

 pointed bolls, and strong, brown fiber from li to If in. in length. Other less 

 distinct types have been developed but are either less satisfactory or have not 

 yet been sufficiently tested. 



Imported seed of Egyptian varieties planted in 1909 differed greatly in 

 manifestation of individual diversity but failed to equal the acclimatized stock 

 in quality or quantity of lint. First generation hybrids surpassed the pure 

 Egyptian plants in fruitfulness, size of bolls, and abundance, length, and 

 strength of fiber, but the second generation plants varied excessively in type 

 and were inferior to the first generation parents in yield and excellence of 

 fiber. A test of the feasibility of the commercial production of first generation 

 hybrid seed indicated that the early flowering habit of most upland varieties 

 would necessitate planting them earlier than the Egyptian variety, unless a 

 late-flowering upland variety could be selected for interplanting with Egyptian 

 varieties. 



Planting on successive dates gave no conclusive results but indicated the 

 advantage of planting Egyptian cotton in the Colorado River region as early 

 as weather permits. Seed from the different pickings of the season gave no 

 distinctively different results. The transfer of the acclimatized seed did not 

 induce as great a diversity as that observed in newly imported seed or mixed 

 seed of different acclimatized stocks planted in new places. The difficulties of 



