EXPERIMENTS WITH SINGLE-STALK COTTON CULTURE. 13 



Table VII shows a slight increase in the total yield from the first 

 picking in favor of the old method, though in only 4 of the 13 in- 

 stances did old-method rows yield more than single-stalk rows. 

 In 7 instances the yields were identical. It is believed that the 

 reason for this difference in yield at the first picking may be found 

 in the fact that the single-stalk rows were thinned much later than 

 was advisable, some suppression of the lower fruiting branches 

 already having taken place. By the time the second picking was 

 made this handicap had been overcome and the single-stalk rows 

 yielded 22 per cent more cotton than the others, making a total 

 increase in yield of 7 per cent. 



An interesting point in regard to the value of single-stalk culture 

 under conditions conducive to unusually rank growth was observed 

 in connection with this experiment. A hogpen once stood near one 

 end of several of these rows and the soil here was much richer than 

 elsewhere in this field. The cotton plants grew to heights of 5 to 7 

 feet and put on a dense foliage. The plants in the early-thinned 

 wide-spaced rows threw out long vegetative branches, and when 

 nearing maturity these settled to the ground, in many cases breaking 

 away from the main stalk and in all cases obstructing the space 

 between the rows. It was difficult also to pick cotton from these 

 plants, and owing to its being allowed to touch the ground much of 

 the cotton was spoiled. The single-stalk plants, on the other hand, 

 stood erect, their fruit well off the ground and easily accessible. 

 Moreover, the space between these rows was left open enough to 

 allow cultivation. 



The Wilboum experiment. — Cotton of the Brown variety was planted 

 on April 7 in low beds in rows about 4 feet apart, and a fairly good 

 stand was secured. Wet weather prevailed during the remainder 

 of April, followed by drought during May, which was not favorable to 

 good growth. 



The thinning of the old-method rows was done on May 17, when 

 the plants were 3 to 4 inches high, with 2 to 4 leaves, while the sin- 

 gle-stalk rows were not thinned until June 9, when the plants were 

 about 8 inches high and had 6 to 8 leaves. The plants in the old- 

 method rows were spaced 18 inches apart and those in the single- 

 stalk rows 6 to 8 inches. 



There were 40 rows in the experiment and the two systems of 

 culture were compared in alternate rows. Only one picking was 

 made. The yields obtained from each row are reported in Table 

 VIII. 



Table VIII shows that in no instance did single-stalk culture 

 yield more than the old method with which it was compared, the 

 total increase for the old method being 17 per cent. This is abso- 

 lutely the reverse of what was indicated on August 16 by boll counts 



