34 BULLETIN 1320, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
slower rate of development is the cause for the complete reversal 
oi the position of the four plantings in regard to the total number 
oi squares formed on the plants. The later plantings continued 
the production of new internodes on the lower fruiting branches 
alter the growth of the latter was checked on the older cotton. The 
comparative size and fruiting of early and late planted cotton are 
illustrated in Plate IV. 
EFFECT OF REMOVING FLORAL BUDS 
Records of the number of flowers produced on stripped and un- 
stripped plants grown in Florida in 1922 indicated that an increased 
rate of flowering results from the removal of squares from the plants.> 
In an endeavor to analyze the reaction of cotton plants to square 
stripping, comparisons of plant development and the fruiting capacity 
of a series of stripped and unstripped plants in each of the successive 
plantings were made at Charleston, S. C., during 1923. From these 
records it is possible to show the effect of square pruning on the 
height of plants, number of fruiting branches, number of internodes 
on the fruiting branches, and the total number of squares formed 
on the plants. 
Squares were removed from 10 plants in each planting on June 20. 
Table 22 shows the average number of squares removed from these 
plants, varying from 10.4 squares per plant in the first to 0.8 in the 
last planting. : 
TABLE 22.—Number of squares removed on June 20 from cotton plants grown in 
successive planiings at Charleston on four different daies 
Average number of squares 
Date planted, 1923 Squares removed 
On plant 
Number | Per cent 
ING DOF AG ah SERNA CL LEI OR MY. Cee Met Nese ERENT p es) 8 Meee er Pye - 24. 0 10. 4 43.3 
TNF) peg) CG) SS) ge ap Seg pc hee eaagd WO EES. Bop eM ke pear ete Mee ik at 2 eo, 2) Hees AN nD Neelee te PAE 8. 2 38. 9 
PAN <. Doe Siete e = bibs Be oe oe ek Rae Eee UES Jar oe Bg8 Oe ee PE a 10.9 225 22.9 
SY [EA Ae: Sa OSPR NARUTO See a ey A ee ES ae | 7.6 .8 10.5 
The height of the plants was recorded weekly from June 21 until 
August 11. These ats are presented in Table 23, showing the 
weekly growth in height of the stripped and unstripped plants for 
the four different plantings. 
The plants in the first three plantings from which squares had 
been removed on June 20 made slightly more growth during the 
period from June 21 to August 11. 
The increase in the growth of the stripped plants was 2.9 centi- 
meters in the first planting, 17 centimeters in the second, and 4.7 © 
centimeters in the third. The unstripped plants in the last, or May 
4, planting made more growth than tHe stripped plants, the increase | 
being 11.2 centimeters. While the comparison off growth of stripped 
§ Smith, G. D. A preliminary report upon an improved method of controlling the boll weevil. Fla. 
Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 165, p. 18-24, illus. 1922. 
