20 BULLETIN 188^ U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUKE. 



the plants have stooled or tillered sufficiently to seemingly offset the 

 thin stand. This tillermg habit has been frequently referred to as 

 desirable. It is yet to be proved that thin seeding, with its attendant 

 heavy tillering, will anywhere give a heavier grain yield than a thicker 

 seeding which largely prevents tillering. The chief advantage, if not 

 the only one, derived from tillering seems to be that where, owing to 

 unfavorable conditions at the time of planting, a poor stand is 

 secured, tillering tends to offset this and the yield of grain is generally, 

 although not always, increased. The logical conclusions, in the light 

 of the experiments cited in this bulletin, indicate that the rate of 

 seeding should be heavy enough to prevent tillering. 



SUMMARY. 



(1) Experiments conducted at the San Antonio Experiment Farm 

 since 1909 and observations made on other farms in the vicinity 

 show that grain sorghum can be made a very satisfactory grain crop 

 for the region if the proper varieties are grown and the necessary 

 cultural methods are followed. 



(2) One of the chief reasons for unsatisfactory yields appears to 

 be the poor stands which frequently result from thin seeding. Poor 

 stands result in late and nonuniform maturity and low yields, par- 

 ticularly when delayed maturity subjects the crop to the depreda- 

 tions of the sorghum midge. 



(3) Experiments with milo were conducted at the San Antonio 

 Experiment Farm in 1913 and 1914 to determine the effect of plant- 

 ing in rows at different distances apart and of thinning the plants to 

 different distances within the rows on the tillering and branching, 

 the uniformity and date of ripening, and the yield. 



(4) No marked differences resulted in the number of tillers or the 

 number of heads per plant from varying the distance between rows. 



(5) In the plats where the rows were uniformly 4 feet apart, but 

 where the plants were thinned to different distances within the rows, 

 the number of heads per plant decreased and the yield increased as 

 the plants were crowded, the thicker stands producing the higher 

 yields. 



(6) Counts made of the number of tillers per plant on May 15 and 

 of the number of mature heads per plant at harvest showed that a 

 large number of tillers on the wide-spaced plants failed to produce 

 heads. 



(7) The close-spaced plants ripened their grain in 1913 about one 

 week earlier than the wide-spaced plants. This early maturity is 

 particularly important in that it permits the crop to escape the 

 sorghum midge. 



(8) Increasing the number of plants per row does not necessarily 

 mean a proportionate increase in the total number of heads or stalks 

 per row. 



