COTTON IN WEEVIL-CONTROL EXPERIMENTS 83 
TasLe 20.—Rate of nodal growth during the fruiting stage of cotton grown in suc- 
cessive plantings at Charleston on four different dates 
© feasts Average number of 
Average date Cae of fruiting days for production Total 
of fruiting branches fruiting 
PALS PIAMTUCG, AOD |CesAN es ES eek EE ee EE Pee eo branches 
~ ; ” on Aug. 
: Deas or 1 er il 
First branch Twelfth branch Den cacen leech 
Pavey seit ee hy Le) alee Ney 2Ge eos cee Wh TRATION OG sie Maen ere 31 2. 82 | 20.3 
TXT Ee Se A IU Ue Are 80s ete Sere es Ne ra Ko Re ret eR may ie 27 2.45 | 21.5 
Abe ceed che ob DUOC Wiaalespe diag maakt aie be ie uly seats i aha ne BA 29 2. 63 | Pil, 9- 
INGA Y, Eee OPN RN oF cbse Jane wil seeds cele SEO Dialiy; QA ts beer te te | 28 2. 54 20. 5 
While the rate of fruiting-branch production remained fairly con- 
stant under conditions of uninterrupted growth during June and early 
July, the rate of growth in the older cotton was checked about the 
middle of July, making it possible for the younger cotton to overcome 
the lead established earlier in the season by the early-planted cotton. 
The final measurements on all plantings, made on August 11, showed 
very little difference in the number of fruiting branches. The April 
5 planting averaged 20.3 fruiting branches Ee plant, as compared 
with 21.5 for that of April 16, 21.2 for that of April 25, and 20.5 for 
that of May 4. 
Each node on a fruiting branch provides for the development of 
a floral bud or square. Thus, the theoretical fruiting capacity of 
the plant may be measured by the total number of its fruiting nodes. 
The average per plant of the total number of squares formed on 10 
plants of ek planting on June 20, July 2, July 13, and August 11 
are shown in Table 21. The data in this table were afforded by 
normal unstripped plants. 
Total number of squares per plant on given dates on cotton grown in 
successive plantings at Charleston on four different dates 
TABLE 21. 
Date planted, 1923 : June 20| July 2 July 13 | Aug. 11 
BNE) TS tps ¢) Seed em eR E LLORES sity to ET ak 6 2 Sd Siete gee Be eee Sie 22. 5 A 52. 6 66. 9 
BOREL eae ee pam AP eR tf tes atte ce Jen Sen he 20. 6 39. 0 53. 3 | 76. 0 
wad Olts ARSE Fens Ae 8 8 oe i ae Ae en epee eee ee 13.6 30. 4 45. 6 77.4 
A eA ee ees cos een aa en wee a ne eee ee ee 8.3 26. 6 42. 2 | 82. 7 
On June 20 the average number of squares on the plants in each 
planting was as follows: April 5, 22.5; April 16, 20.6; April 25, 13.6; 
and May 4, 8.3, a difference of 14.2 fruiting nodes per plant be- 
tween the first and fourth plantings. The greater fruiting capacity 
of the April 5 planting was maintained until July 13, at which time 
it had been passed by the second planting. Final measurements 
oi fruiting capacity were made on August 11. While the total num- 
ber of fruiting branches per plant in all plantings was practically 
the same on this date, the fruiting capacity of the different plantings 
increased progressively with later plantings. The total number of 
squares produced on the April 5 planting was 66.9, as compared 
with 82.7 on the May 4 planting. Partial cessation of the growth 
of the lower fruiting branches in the older plantings rather than a 
