92 THE DEVELOPMENT OF RAW COTTON 



DATED FLOWERS EXPERIMENT OF 1912. 



The plot of No. 77 cotton was wide -sown with plants 

 left standing singly on ridges 1 metre apart, the plants 

 being separated by 1J metres on the ridge. Cultivation 

 was normal until early June, when irrigation was deliber- 

 ately delayed, and further irrigation was then withheld 

 from June 19 to August 2, instead of being given on 

 July 10 as well. 



Twenty flowers were labelled daily from June 7 to 

 September 1, and were picked as they ripened. There 

 were no insect pests, with the exception of abundant 

 " stainer-bug " and a moderate amount of boll -worm in 

 the last bolls. 



The actual numerical determinations made are all given 

 in Appendix II., Table I., which shows how the length 



and breaking strain of the lint, the ginning 

 Statistics. , , . , . 



out-turn, and the weight of a single seed, 



were actually determined. The calculated weight of lint 

 on a single seed, and the same figure reduced to a standard 

 seed weight of 0-1 gramme, are also included. For the 

 general reader, however, the main interest centres in the 

 final figures for length and strength expressed as five-day 

 means (Appendix II., Table II.), and in the presentment 

 of these and other five-day means in the diagram (Fig. 14). 

 On this diagram are marked the dates of irrigation, and 

 we could if necessary include all the other factors of the 



environment, such as temperature, wind, 

 Soil-Water. 



evaporation, etc. To do so would compli- 

 cate matters unnecessarily, as it is clear that soil-water 

 is the chief factor involved. 



