14 



BULLETIN 188, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



fi 



(\ 



• f 



ing as in the plat not thinned. The actual counts show that the 

 plants in the unthinned plat average 2.3 inches apart. Assuming 

 that the tillers and branches were plants in the plat thinned to 12 

 inches, the plants would then average 3 inches apart, or only 0.7 

 of an inch farther apart than the plants m the unthmned plat. 



The rainfall at the San Antonio Experiment Farm from the plant- 

 ing time to the ripening period of the milo in the 1913 experiments 



was about 2 inches 

 below normal. This 

 condition was partic- 

 ularly favorable for 

 comparing the results 

 obtained from differ- 

 ent plant spacings. 

 These results, togeth- 

 er with numerous ob- 

 servations made in 

 previous years, both 

 at the experiment 

 farm and on other farms in the region, indicate that relatively close 

 spacing within the row is preferable to wide spacing, even when the 

 rainfall of the growing season is relatively low. The results of the 

 experiments indicate that the plants should be approximately 3 

 or 4 inches apart within the row. 



Fig. 9. — Diagram made up from figure 8, showing the branches and 

 tillers removed and placed between the milo plants: o' and g', Tillers ; 

 d and J, main stalks; 6', e', e' , f, V , and i' , branches. 



VARIATIONS IN TILLERING. 



There is a marked difference in the amount of tillering in the two 

 years that the test has been carried on. (See figs. 1 and 2.) For the 

 purpose of comparison. Table VII has been included. 



Table VII.- 



-Tillering of milo -plants differently spaced in roivs 264 feet long at the San 

 Antonio Experiment Farm in 1913 and 1914- 













Number per plant. 



Perfect stand. 



(inches). 



per row). 



Mature heads. 



Branches. 



Branches 

 and tillers. 





1913 



1914 



1913 



1914 



1913 



1914 



1913 



1914 



1913 



1914 







24.5 

 17.7 

 12.7 

 9.8 

 6.3 

 3.5 

 2.3 



'""157' 

 237 

 293 

 439 

 833 

 895 



129 

 179 

 254 

 324 

 504 

 902 

 1,364 



""'"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 





3.44 



3.31 



2.64 



2.02 



.51 



.41 



.31 



-■■■-- 



3.3 



2.6 



1.6 



.5 



.3 



5.48 



18 inches apart 



12 inches apart 



8 inches apart 



5 inches apart 



2 inches apart 



Not thinned 



20.2 

 13.3 

 10.5 

 7.2 

 3.8 

 3.5 



4.79 



3.12 



2.25 



.58 



.45 



.35 







The most striking difference in the 1913 and 1914 results is in the 

 reduction of the number of tillers in 1914 and the appearance of 

 branches, which did not occur the previous year. However, in the 



