COMMUNITY PRODUCTION OF EGYPTIAN COTTON. 25 



states that on rich alfalfa land and with irrigation properly managed 

 6 to 8 inches is about the right distance, while on new land the plants 

 can safely be left 4 inches apart. The thinning should be done in such 

 a way as to result in suppressing practically all of the vegetative 

 branches without stunting the growth of the central stem or shading 

 too much the lower fruiting branches. 



This new method of delayed thinning and of closer spacing of the 

 plants has resulted in securing a much earlier development of the 

 crop, as well as in making the picking much easier and cheaper. The 

 time and manner of thinning are so important that they merit the 

 closest personal attention of the grower, the more so as it is impossible 

 to lay down general rules which will be equally well suited to each 

 type of soil and to each season. 



UNDESIRABILITY OF RATOONING EGYPTIAN COTTON. 



The winters of southern Arizona are often mild enough to allow 

 many of the old cotton stumps to remain alive in the ground, and it 

 is possible to grow a second crop from them. This has suggested the 

 ratooning of Egyptian cotton, a practice which has recently had some 

 advocates in the Salt Kiver Valley. Katooning was formerly prac- 

 ticed in Egypt, but the system was discontinued in that country be- 

 cause of the poor quality of the fiber produced. The practice has also 

 been thoroughly tested with Durango cotton in the Imperial Valley, 

 where the results were unsatisfactory. 



While ratooning saves the labor of spring planting and results in 

 jthe earlier maturity of the crop, it has no other advantage. A perfect 

 stand can rarely be had, and the seedling plants with which the gaps 

 must be filled ripen later than the ratooned plants and produce fiber 

 of different length and quality, making it impossible to obtain a uni- 

 form product from the field. It is questionable whether the very early 

 ripening of the ratooned cotton is really a benefit, since it necessitates 

 picking during the hottest season of the year. It would also be 

 difficult to keep the land from becoming weedy if this method were 

 followed. Finally, the practice of leaving the old stumps in the 

 ground would favor the increase of such injurious insects and fungi 

 as might gain a foothold in the locality. The advisability of replant- 

 ing the fields each year with the best seed obtainable can not be too 

 strongly urged. 



ENEMIES OF THE CROP. 



Fortunately no very serious diseases or insect enemies of the crop 

 have 3^et appeared in the Salt Eiver Valley. A weevil, very closely 

 related to the Mexican cotton boll weevil and capable of feeding 

 upon and depositing its eggs in the bolls of cotton, is native to the 

 mountains of southern Arizona, occurring on a wild plant somewhat 



