80 



BULLETIN 698, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGEICULTTJEE. 



the vegetative period and 28 days by the fruiting period. The short- 

 est vegetative period was 60 days, in 1914, and the shortest fruiting 

 period 19 days, in 1909, a very dry year. The longest vegetative 

 period was 73 days, in 1912, and the longest fruiting period 36 days, 

 in 1910, a very dry year, and again in 1915, a very wet season. It 

 is noteworthy that in 1909 three selections matured in 83 days, 

 while four others required 91 days, the difference being wholly in the 

 fruiting period and caused perhaps more by the thinner stand of the 

 latter than by any other reason. The average stalk space in the 



Fig. 11.— a Plat of Manchu kaoliang (C. I. No. 171) at the Amarillo Cereal Field Station, August 20, 1908 



* . . 



three early lots was 3.4 inches, while in the four later lots it was 9.1 

 inches. 



The stand obtained from Manchu kaoHang has been remarkably 

 uniform. The closest spacing has been 3.4 inches and the widest 

 25.5 inches, which occurred in 1916. In 1910 the spacing was one 

 plant to each 14 inches. Only in these two years did the spacing 

 exceed 8 inches. The 9-year average plant space was only 8.7 

 inches. In the eight years, omitting 1916, the stalk space ranged 

 from 3.4 inches to 7.1 inches. In that year, when the plant space 

 was 25.5 inches, the stalk space was reduced only to 17.7 inches by 

 the 30.8 per cent of suckers produced. The average stalk space in 

 the nine years was 6.5 inches. 



