UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 279 { 



1 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 



jnJ&^&mfu 



Washington, D. C. 



August 24, 1915. 



SINGLE-STALK COTTON CULTURE AT SAN ANTONIO. 



By Rowland M. Meade, Scientific Assistant, Office of Crop Acclimatization. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



Cotton production in the San Antonio region. 2 



Plan of test 3 



Planting and germination of seed 4 



Chopping wide-spaced rows 5 



Thinning single-stalk rows 5 



Results of the test 5 



Development of vegetative branches 6 



Flowering records 7 



Page. 



Number of bolls set 11 



Numbers of locks in the bolls 12 



Size of bolls 13 



Forms of rows 13 



Yields from sections AandE 14 



Quality and quantity of fiber IS 



Results in time-of-thinning test 18 



Results in distance-between-row test 19 



Summary 19 



INTRODUCTION. 



Single-stalk cotton culture, as explained and discussed in previous 

 publications of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 1 has proved more sat- 

 isfactory than other systems of culture in various sections of the cot- 

 ton belt, especially in regions having short seasons. This is so for 

 two reasons: (1) Single-stalk culture promotes earliness and (2) it 

 increases the acre yield. The single-stalk system of cotton culture 

 embraces late thinning and short spaces between the plants hi the 

 row. The late thinning suppresses the vegetative branches and re- 

 stricts the size of the plants, so that they can be left from 6 to 12 

 inches apart in the row without injurious crowding. The plants are 

 left close together, so that the row space is more efficiently utilized 

 and higher yields are obtained than by the common system of wide 

 spacing. 



1 The publications of the Bureau of Plant Industry concerning the single-stalk system of cotton culture 

 are as follows: "A New System of Cotton Culture," a paper in Circular 115; Farmers' Bulletin 601, "A 

 New System of Cotton Culture and Its Application ''; and Document 1130, " Single-Stalk Cotton Culture." 

 Farmers' Bulletin 601 and the paper in Circular 115 explain the single-stalk system and give the results of 

 experiments at Norfolk, Va., and in South Carolina. Document 1130 is an illustrated circular that shows 

 how the vegetative branches are controlled and why larger yields are possible. 



Note. — This bulletin will be of service generally in acquainting those who are interested in cotton 

 growing with the several advantages to be gained through the application of single-stalk culture as com- 

 pared with the more common methods. It will be particularly helpful to farmers and experimenters in 

 locations similar to the San Antonio region. 

 98553°— Bull. 279—15 1 



