COTTON IN WEEVIL-CONTROL EXPERIMENTS 37 
plants averaged only 66.9 squares. An even greater increase occurred 
in the April 16 planting, the stripped plants averaging 105.9 squares 
as compared with 76 on the unstripped cotton. 
Only a slight increase in the number of internodes occurred on 
fruiting branches of stripped plants in the April 25 and May 5 plant- 
ings. As few squares were removed from these plants, no such stimu- 
lation of growth would be expected as occurred on plants from which 
a large percentage of squares was removed. 
From the foregoing data on the effect of removal of the squares it 
would appear that no material increase in height or number of fruiting 
branches was caused. The consistent increase in the number of 
internodes per fruiting branch indicates, however, that the growth 
of the fruiting branches is affected by the removal of the early 
squares. A morecontinued or prolonged growth seems to result from 
their removal rather than a faster rate of development. A somewhat 
analogous though more extreme result of pruning is found in “boll- 
weevil cotton” as described by Cook.’ 
FLOWERING RECORDS OF EARLY AND LATE PLANTINGS 
Flower counts were started on July 11 and were made twice a week 
until August 17, a period of 838 days. These counts were made on the 
four inside rows of two plats of the April 5 planting and on one plat 
of the April 16, April 25, and May 4 plantings. The length of the 
rows was 310 feet. The flower records for each plat are given in 
Table 26 and are graphically shown in Figure 9 (p. 30). 
TaBLE 26.—Flowering record of cotton plants grown in successive plantings at 
. Charleston on four different dates 
Date of counting (number of flowers) 
Date : = 2 
Plat | planted, | Thinningdistane| = |S |eig|(sx|gilale | e/2/5|_8 
1923 Soule FN e| ie gil BS | Feral hry Suh han syle acl ier [eal le fem La sie 
Besa) Sobre Wesel eal Al fealS dpsn| = 
| 5 5 5 SS 5 5 < < < < | << | 
_—_—— | i —— — oo —_——— 
| 
No.2__| Apr. 5 | 2plantsat12inches_] 817/|1, 206)1, 463)1, 750|1, 348}1, 496)1, 064/1, 4382/1, 172) 449) 120/12, 317 
[ORR UE 0) cage CS ee GORE ees 616}1, 109)1, 200}1, 519}1, 400)1, 428/1, 260)1, 593)1, 384) 714) 282/12, 505 
No: 4-5) Apr 25 | 72-2 Qa esse hE | 549 976\1, 095}1, 459)1, 112)1, 427|1, 200}1, 798)1, 789! 923) 335/12, 663 
INO. 52s) May 4/222 = 6 (oy ire eee 390} 841) 875)1, 264/1, 087|1, 3858/1, 158]}1, 689)1, 765}1, 218) 384/12, 029 
INO. 6221 5A pre ahs GOES es Se 728)1, 014/1, 1841/1, eee 113)1, ae 103}1, 311\1, 286 a8 190} 11, 237 
| 
Although the first flowers appeared in all plantings at nearly the 
same date, the more advanced development of the early-planted 
cotton resulted in a higher flowering rate for this planting during the 
first part of the flowering period. On July 11, the date on which the 
first counts were made, 817 flowers were counted on the first planting, 
as compared with 616 for the second, 549 for the third, and 390 for 
the fourth. A higher rate of flowering was maintained by the first 
planting until July 27, at which time a larger number of flowers was 
recorded on the second planting. Beginning on August 6, the April 
25 and May 4 plantings were flowering more profusely than the two 
earlier plantings. 
The sudden decline in the rate of flowering which occurred during 
the second week in August is attributable to infestation from migrat- 
ing weevils and the defoliation of the plants by the cotton leafworm. 
7 Cook, O. F. Boll-weevil cotton in Texas. U.S. Dept. Agr. Bul. 1153, 20 p., illus. 1923. 
| 
