EXPERIMENTS WITH SINGLE-STALK COTTON CULTURE. 



11 



The Webb experiment. — Mr. R. C. Webb, of Delta Point, planted 

 Money Maker cotton on sandy soil on April 20 at the rate of three pecks 

 per acre. The stand secured was poor generally, there being also a 

 number of skips in each row. Owing to nonuniformity in germina- 

 tion, there were, moreover, plants of various sizes in the single-stalk 

 rows at thinning time. The smaller plants were still too young to 

 have had their vegetative branches completely suppressed, while the 

 larger plants had reached the stage where their fruiting branches 

 were being suppressed. Since it was necessary to leave plants of all 

 sizes in the row in order to have the spacing as uniform as possible, 

 some allowances should be made in ' considering the results of the 

 experiment. 



There were 30 rows in the experiment and the two systems of cul- 

 ture were compared in alternate rows. The old-method rows were 

 thinned on May 20, when the plants were 4 to 5 inches high and had 

 3 to 4 leaves. The single-stalk rows were thinned on June 6, when the 

 plants were 6 to 12 inches high and had 6 to 10 leaves. The plants 

 in the old-method rows were spaced 18 to 24 inches apart, while the 

 single-stalk plants were spaced at about 8 inches wherever the stand 

 permitted such close spacing. 



Two pickings were made, the yields from each row for each picking 

 being as shown in Table VI. 



Table VI. — Row yields obtained in a single-stalk culture experiment iviih cotton con- 

 ducted in 1915 on the farm of R. C. Webb, Delta Point, La. 





Yield of seed cotton (pounds). 



Row. 



First picking. 



Second picking. 



Total. 





Single 

 stalk. 



Old 



method. 



Single 

 stalk. 



Old 



method. 



Single 

 stalk. 



Old 

 method. 



No.l 



13 



9 

 18 



9 

 13 

 11 

 14 



8 

 13 

 13 

 14 

 14 



8 

 18 

 18 



13 

 18 

 19 

 13 

 14 

 18 

 18 

 14 

 13 

 18 

 14 

 13 

 18 

 13 

 13 



32 

 25 

 23 

 23 

 32 

 20 

 16 

 14 

 16 

 16 

 17 

 15 

 16 

 15 

 15 



24 

 18 

 22 

 21 

 20 

 18 

 16 

 15 

 20 

 15 

 14 

 12 

 18 

 15 

 14 



45 

 34 

 41 

 32 

 45 

 31 

 . 30 

 22 

 29 

 29 

 31 

 29 

 24 

 33 

 33 



37 



No. 2 



36 



No. 3 



41 



No. 4 



34 





34 



No. 6 



36 



No. 7 



34 



No. 8 



29 



No. 9 



33 



No. 10 



33 



No. 11 



28 



No. 12 



25 



No. 13 



36 



No. 14 



28 



No. 15 



27 









Total 



193 



229 

 36 

 19 



295 

 33 

 15 



262 



488 



491 





3 











0.6 











Table VI shows a difference of 19 per cent in favor of the old system 

 of culture at the first picking. The lower yield of the single-stalk 

 rows at this picking doubtless resulted, as already explained, 

 from the fact that the thinning was done too late in the case of some 



