66 



sugar cane when chosen. On March 27 the stubble of this cane was 

 plowed out and destroyed, the soil very thoroughly loosened, and the 

 rows destined for the sorghum were further mellowed and opened out 

 by hoe and in readiness for planting. The earth being in excellent con- 

 dition at this time, the first series of plats was seeded on the following 

 day, dropping and covering to a depth of 1 inch, being done by hand 

 as in all former experiments with sorghum here. 



To guard against likelihood of crossing, alternate parallel rows, 28 

 feet apart, were used for the first series of plats, and as far as practicable, 

 the latter maturing varieties intervened between the earlier kinds. The 

 alternate unused rows were afterward occupied by the later planting. 

 When both series had been planted the order was as follows: Plat No. 

 1, an early variety, first series; plat No. 2, an early (or late) variety, sec- 

 ond series; plat No. 3, a late variety, first series; plat No. 4, a late (or 

 early) variety, second series, etc., these neutral plats thus always lying 

 between any two which were at all likely to be in flower at the same 

 period. Three tiers of parallel rows completed the field, with plenty of 

 space between the opposite ends of the plats. 



Seed were planted much more thinly than in former seasons and the 

 little thinning of canes afterward needed was done as required. Culti- 

 vation was confined to keeping the rows free from weeds and grass and 

 the soil from baking on the surface, and was chiefly effected by hand 

 hoeing. One plowing was given to this series on the one hundred and 

 eighth day, breaking out the soil between the rows at a distance suffi- 

 cient to avoid damaging the roots, this being the final working. 



On the 30th of March, the second day following, three large plats 

 (single rows) were planted for the average sample work, these being 

 designated by letters and representing Collier's, Link's Hybrid, and Col- 

 man Cane, and on April 1 a fourth such plat (of Early Orange), the 

 last being planted with and receiving the same scanty attention as a 

 crop of Red Liberian grown for forage in another field. 



A week of cold weather ensued, frost forming on the night of April 

 5, and germination was checked, very few plants having shown above 

 the ground. Following upon this setback was a drought, but two inap- 

 preciable showers falling in seventy -one days, from March 28 to June 7, 

 on the latter date a rain of lg inches occurring. The influence of this 

 dry weather was disastrous upon the sorghum, and was intensified by 

 the fact that no cultivation was given the plats while it lasted, thus 

 allowing the surface of the ground to bake and harden. At the date 

 last mentioned the plats hardly averaged a 25 per cent stand, and the 

 canes which survived were of all heights and sizes, and to all appear- 

 ances the whole planting seemed an utter failure. From June 7 to 18 

 warm, wet weather prevailed, 6 inches of measured rainfall occurring 

 in this period, which not only produced a great improvement in canes 

 already up, but also caused an unlookedfor germination of seed which 

 had lain in the ground since the date of planting, more than two jnouths 



