UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



jiunut 



BULLETIN No. 668 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



May 21, 1918 



NURSE PLANTING SELECT COTTON SEED. 



By P. V. Cardon, Assistant Agronomist, Office of Acclimatization and Adapta- 

 tion of Crop Plants — Cotton Breeding. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



The waste of select cotton seed 1 



Planting distinct types of cotton 3 



Planting cotton seed with beans or peas 3 



Rate of combining cotton with other seeds. . . 5 

 Delinting cotton seed for nurse planting ' G 



Page. 



Method of planting in hills 7 



Method of planting in drills 8 



Advantages in nurse planting 10 



Summary 12 



THE WASTE OF SELECT COTTON SEED. 



How to avoid waste of select cotton seed is a problem confronting 

 every cotton breeder. In order to improve varieties and to main- 

 tain select stocks on the highest plane of superiority it is necessary 

 to increase rapidly the best progenies. A relatively slow increase 

 is all that is possible if the usual methods of planting are employed. 

 The waste of valuable seed may prove to be a distinct loss not only 

 to the breeder but to the cotton industry as well. If the waste of 

 seed could be avoided, superior selections of cotton could be estab- 

 lished in cultivation one, two, or more years earlier than is now 

 considered possible. 



The usual methods of increasing select cotton seed are wasteful 

 in several ways. Though differing somewhat in detail, the main 

 steps are essentially the same in all methods that have come to the 

 writer's attention. The seeds of a select plant are planted first in 

 hills in what is called a progeny row. Only one plant in each hill 

 usually is desired, but it is customary to plant five to eight or more 

 seeds. This is held to be necessary in order to insure a stand. Per- 

 fect germination is hardly to be expected, and many of the young 

 seedlings do not survive. A single seedling may be unable to break 

 through if the surface becomes crusted, but several seedlings by 

 combined effort can push out. Under favorable conditions it would 

 not be necessary to plant so many seeds in a hill, but such condi- 

 tions can not be foretold and hence enough seed must be planted 

 to secure a stand in an unfavorable season. 



The natural result of a heavy rate of planting is a thick stand, 

 in the reduction of which it frequently becomes necessary to destroy 



46177°— Bull. 66S IS 



