12 FIELD CROPS FOR THE COTTON-BELT 



has a tendency to produce tall plants with long joints. 1 

 Fertile soils containing an abundance of moisture produce 

 longer jointed plants than do poor soils of a thirsty char- 

 acter. It has also been found that the structure of the 

 cotton plant with reference to the number and arrange- 

 ment of the branches is, to some extent, a hereditary 

 character and can be modified by careful selection. 



The length of the branches varies with the variety, the 

 position on the main-stem, and the character of the soil. 

 The largest branches are borne at the base of the plant, 

 the length decreasing toward the top of the plant. This 

 gives most cotton plants a cone-shaped appearance. A 

 different shape, however, is presented by the "cluster 

 varieties," there being only a few long basal branches; 

 above these only very short branches are produced. 



Cotton branches may be classified into (1) " vegetative 

 branches" and (2) " fruiting branches." Vegetative 

 branches are of two kinds: (a) long branches springing 

 from the main-stem and having no boll-stems directly 

 attached, but possessing sub-branches which bear bolls; 

 (b) sterile branches whose only function is to increase the 

 leaf area of the plant. The cotton plant often bears both 

 . a vegetative and a fruiting branch from the axil of the 

 same leaf (Fig. 3) . In fact, this seems to represent the nor- 

 mal branching habit. In most cases, however, one or the 

 other of these branches fails to develop, only the rudiment 

 of a branch being produced. The very frequent occurrence 

 of the sterile branches produces leafy, unproductive plants. 

 This defect can be remedied by carefully selecting seed 

 from plants that produce a large proportion of fruiting 

 limbs. 



11. The leaves. Cotton leaves are borne alternately 

 1 Texas Station Bulletin, No. 77, p. 20. 



