THICK SEEDING OF MILO IN THE SAN ANTONIO EEGION. 



EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SPACINGS WITHIN THE ROW. 



In six plats on which niilo was planted in rows 4 feet apart in 1913 

 the plants w^ere thinned to 18, 12, 8, 5, and 2 inches, respectively, 

 \vithin the row, one plat bemg left unthinned as a check. All the 

 plats were one- tenth of an acre in size except the one on which the 

 plants were thinned to 5 inches; this plat contained one-fifth of an 

 acre. The results of this test are given in Table III. The ''perfect 

 stand" has been calculated as the number of plants which each row 

 would have, contained if the stand had been perfect. The actual 

 stand stated was the average number of plants per row as estimated 

 by counting the plants in one representative row in each plat. The 

 number of heads was obtained by actual count, using the same rows 

 that were used m determining the stand. 



Table III. — Results of thinning ttlHo plants to different distances within the rows, which 

 were 4 feet apart and 264 feet long, at the San Antonio Experiment Farm in 1913 and 

 1914. 



Pa^ect stand. 



Actual 

 spac- 

 ing. 



Stand (plants 

 per row.) 



Number of ma- 

 ture heads i— 



Average 

 number 



of 



branches 



per 



plant.2 



Heads 

 pend- 

 ent. 2 



Aver- 

 age 



height 

 of 



plants. 



Yield 

 per 





Per- 

 fect. 



Actual. 



Per 

 row. 



Per 

 plant. 



acre. 



In 1913: 



18 inches apart 



Inches. 

 20.2 

 1:5. 3 

 10.5 

 7.2 

 3.8 

 3.5 



24.5 

 17.7 

 12.7 

 9.8 

 6.3 

 3.5 

 2.3 



176 

 264 

 398 

 634 

 1,584 



132 

 176 

 264 

 398 

 634 

 1,584 



157 

 237 

 293 

 439 

 833 

 895 



129 

 179 

 254 

 324 

 504 

 902 

 1.364 



814 

 1,034 

 1,066 

 1,155 

 1,209 

 1,169 



393 

 445 

 375 

 398 

 541 

 93G 

 1,415 



5.2 

 4.3 

 3.6 

 2.6 

 1.5 

 1.3 



3.04 



2.48 

 1.48 

 1.23 

 1.07 

 1.04 

 1.04 





Per ci. 





Bushels. 

 42.5 



12 inches apart 









42.1 



• 8 inches apart 









43.8 



5 inches apart 









46.2 



2 inches apart 









46.4 



Not thinned 









46.4 



In 1914: 



24 inches apart 



3.44 



3.31 



2.64 



2.02 



.51 



.41 



.31 



<9 

 45 

 32 

 31 



7 



5 

 .6 



4. S 

 5.1 

 5.5 

 5.7 

 5.9 

 6.8 

 7.3 



1.2 



18 inches apart 



12 inches apart 



8 inches apart 



3.6 

 6.6 



11.8 





16 1 



2 inches apart 



18 2 



Not thinned 



21.8 







1 Includes tillers and main stalks. 



2 Based on the counts from one row only. All other results are the average of four rows. 



The most important fact shown in Table III is that the number of 

 heads per plant decreased consistently as the spacing wdthin the row 

 decretiscd. The average number of heads per plant in the 18-inch 

 spacing v/vs 5.2, while in the 2-inch spacing it was only 1.5, a decrease 

 of 3.7 heads per plant. The yield, however, increased slightly as 

 the plants w^cre crowded within tlu; row; that is, the thicker stands 

 produced the higher yields. 



The results of the tests made in 1914 are essentially a duplicate of 

 thos(! in 1913, an (^xtra plat being added in which the plants \vero 

 thinnefl to 24 indies in the row. All the plats used in 1914 were 

 one-twentieth of an acre in (extent, except the one thinned to 5 

 inches between })hints, which was oiKvtenth of an acre. Afhiilioiuil 

 cohirnns sliow the average number of branches, the percentage of 

 fx-rulctit heads, und the. average height of the plants. 



