BOLL- WEEVIL COTTON IN TEXAS. ( 



merely in their greater size but in structure as well, by having two 

 distinct kinds of branches, while the small single-stalk plants have 

 only one kind of branches, those that bear the flowers and bolls. 

 The strong spreading branches that come out near the base of large 

 widely spaced plants are not the same as the fruiting branches of 

 the single-stalk plants but are in the nature of secondary stalks, 

 having the same structure and functions as the main stalk of the 

 plant. The production of bolls by means of these secondary stalks, 

 or vegetative branches as they have been called, requires a longer 

 season than to produce bolls on the fruiting branches of primary 

 stalks. Hence, narrow, upright plants with only the central upright 

 stalk and none of the spreading secondary stalks are preferable for 

 purposes of production, especially under weevil conditions. 



There is a general cultural reason for keeping open lanes between 

 cotton rows, in order to permit the lower fruiting branches to develop 

 and bring the early bolls to maturity, as well as special reasons for 

 having open lanes in weevil-infested regions. The conditions of 

 temperature, light, and moisture at the surface of the ground are 

 very different in open fields from the conditions that obtain in con- 

 tinuously shaded boll- weevil fields. The heating and drying of the 

 surface of the soil not only kill the weevil larvse in the fallen 

 squares, or floral buds, but the greater exposure to sunlight in the 

 open lane? tends also to restrict the activity of the adult weevils, so 

 that bolls continue to be set on isolated plants and in open rows only 

 a few feet away from immense numbers of weevils living in the 

 shelter of the boll-weevil cotton. Thus, the keeping of the lanes open 

 between the rows is to be reckoned as an essential of successful culti- 

 vation of cotton in southern Texas if full advantage is to be taken of 

 the possibilities of setting a crop when the favorable conditions of 

 dry weather occur. If the lanes are closed the effect of dry weather 

 is lost, because the weevils are protected. 



WIDER LANES AND CLOSER SPACING IN THE ROWS. 



To grow large plants in wide rows is not a practical way to keep 

 the lanes from closing and the ground from being shaded. Wider 

 spacing of individual plants has been considered and sometimes 

 advised as a way of securing more exposure and thus avoiding weevil 

 injury, but the limitations of such a method are apparent when the 

 behavior of the plants is taken into account. If plants are supposed 

 to be of the same size, wider spacing would mean, of course, that the 

 fields would be more open and give the weevils less protection, but 

 the plants vary in size and generally grow larger and produce 

 stronger and more spreading branches in proportion to the sp 

 allowed. Hence, crowding may not be avoided by wider spacing, 

 with plants 2 or 3 feet apart in the rows, if the conditions 

 favor luxuriant growth the ground under the plants is shaded and 

 the weevils are protected. 



With large widely spaced plants recognized as unpractical, the 

 feasibility of wider lanes will be seen to depend on keeping the plants 

 smaller by leaving them closer together in the rows. Experiments 

 at San Antonio in previous }-ears with different seasonal conditions 

 have suggested that wider lanes and closer spacing of plants in the 

 rows might be a means of securing a safer and more regular pro- 



