18 CIRCULAR NO. 115, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 
of time is required to produce a crop, for the reason that large luxuri- 
ant plants do not begin to produce flowers and bolls as early as 
plants of more restricted growth. This is not in accord with what 
might be considered as the most logical view of the subject. Most 
people are ready to argue that the plants making the most rapid 
growth must produce the earliest and largest crop, but the actual 
behavior of the cotton plant is otherwise. In such cases the bio- 
iogical facts have to be taken into account instead of relying upon 
the logical deductions. 
The biological fact in the present case is that the large luxuriant 
plants are later in setting and maturing a crop. This is because the 
young plants in a condition of luxuriant growth develop vegetative 
limbs at the expense of the lower fruiting branches that are neces- 
sary to the production of an early crop. The cotton plant has two 
different kinds of branches—vegetative branches, sometimes called 
“wood limbs.” which correspond te the main stalk of the plant, and 
fruiting branches, which produce the flowers and bolls. 
When the habits of branching are understood it becomes apparent 
that the idea of the largest plants producing the earliest and largest 
crops does not apply to cotton. Spreading, treelike plants, with 
numerous vegetative branches, do not represent a favorable condi- 
tion for earliness or for large vields in short seasons. In the interest 
of correct thinking on cultural problems the row rather than the 
individual plant should be considered as the unit. The advantages 
of the new method are gamed by improving the form of the rows. 
More plants are left in the rows, and yet injurious crowding is 
avoided. Plants that have numerous vegetative branches are more 
crowded at 2 or 3 feet than plants with single stalks at 8 or 10 inches. 
With the vegetative branches controlled, the spacing is no longer a 
question of feet, but of inches. Rows spaced at 6 inches have usually 
given better results than those at 12 inches or any greater distance. 
EXPOSURE OF FRUITING BRANCHES TO LIGHT. 
By avoiding the development of the large wood limbs the rows are 
kept narrower and more hedgelike, so that the fruiting branches 
receive sunlight throughout the season. This provides much more 
favorable conditions for the ripening of the crop. When the vegeta- 
tive branches are allowed to shut off the light by growing up be- 
tween the rows. most of the bolls on the lower fruiting branches fail 
to reach normal maturity. Fields of large luxuriant plants often 
produce very small crops because only the upright growing ends of 
the stalks and vegetative branches have access to the light. This 
undesirable condition is avoided by restricting the development of 
the vegetative branches in the earlier stages of growth. 
[Cir. 115] 
