EXPERIMENTS WITH SINGLE-STALK COTTON CULTURE. 



25 



cable for the writer or any of his associates to inspect this experi- 

 ment at any time during the season. 



There were 18 rows in the experiment, and the two systems of 

 culture were compared in alternate rows. Three pickings were made, 

 and the row yields for each picking as reported by Mr. Laughinghouse 

 are given in Table XIX. 



Table XIX. — Row yields obtained in a single-stalk culture experiment with cotton 

 conducted in 1915 by Supt. W. M. Laughinghouse on the Rockwell Farm of J. L. 

 Roper at Riverdale, N. C. 





Yield of seed cotton (pounds). 



Row. 



First picking. 



Second picking. 



Third picking. 



Total. 





Single 

 stalk. 



Old 



method. 



Single 

 stalk. 



Old 



method. 



Single 



stalk. 



Old 



method. 



Single 

 stalk. 



Old 



method. 



No.l 



63 

 66 

 71 

 82 



73 

 74 

 81 

 59 

 51 



48 

 45 

 51 

 71 

 68 

 60 

 59 

 58 

 50 



58 

 53 

 42 

 43 

 47 

 43 

 18 

 31 

 27 



55 

 41 

 33 

 24 

 25 

 32 

 27 

 21 

 16 



5 

 4 

 6 

 6 

 7 

 6 

 6 

 4 

 3 



.7 

 3 

 3 

 2 

 3 

 5 

 2 

 6 

 2 



126 

 123 

 119 

 131 

 127 

 123 

 105 

 94 

 81 



110 



No.2... 



89 



No. 3 



87 



No. 4 



97 



No.5 



96 



No. 6 



97 



No. 7 



88 



No. 8 



85 



No. 9 



68 







Total 



620 



110 



22 



510 



362 

 88 

 32 



274 



47 

 14 

 42 



33 



1,029 



212 



26 



817 







Increase per cent. . 



















Table XIX shows that single-stalk culture yielded more than the 

 old method in every instance but three, namely, the second picking 

 of row 7 and the third picking of rows 1 and 8. Single-stalk culture 

 yielded 110 pounds, or 22 per cent, more at the first picking; 88 

 pounds, or 32 per cent, more at the second picking; and 14 pounds, 

 or 42 per cent, more at the third picking, making a difference in total 

 yield of 212 pounds, or 26 per cent. 



The Peterson experiment. — Mr. B. C. Peterson, of Vanceboro, 

 planted King cotton on April 23. The soil used was sandy loam and 

 the cotton was planted on low beds in rows 4 feet apart, about one- 

 half bushel of seed per acre being the rate used. The seed germinated 

 fairly well, but wet and cold weather following injured the stand, 

 leaving several skips in each row. While these skips were not 

 serious in the old-method rows, in the single-stalk rows they prevented 

 a satisfactory test of this system. The fact that it was possible to 

 apply single-stalk culture to parts of the rows, however, makes it 

 possible to gain from the yields reported an idea of what might have 

 been expected had it been possible to apply the system to the entire 

 length of the rows. 



There were 20 rows in the experiment, and the two systems of 

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

 were thinned on May 23, when the plants, which were 4 to 6 inches 



