4 BULLETIN 279, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the first representing early, the second late, and the third very late 
thinning. 
In-section D the two systems were compared in alternate rows, 
the rows being planted 3, 4, 5, and 6 feet apart. 
A guard row between sections A and B was not thinned at any time 
during the season. 
Throughout this paper the rows representing the common practice 
of wide spacing are designated as wide-spaced rows and those repre- 
senting the new system of close spacing are referred to as single- 
stalk rows. 
PLANTING AND GERMINATION OF SEED. 
It has been found desirable to plant from 25 to 30 pounds of seed 
to the acre if the rows are 4 feet apart, in order to secure a stand 
SEZCT/ON A SECTION B SECTION SECTION D 
Sees. OLD AND NEW 
40 ROWS 4 FEET APART |\40 ROWS 4 FEET APART |THINNED |SYSTEMS OF 
IN WHICH OLD AND NEW|/N WHICH OLD AND NEW TO CULTURE COM7- 
SYSTEMS ARE COM- |SYSTEMS APE COM- _\DIFFERENT| PARED IN AL” 
PARED IN ALTERNATE | PARED IN ALTERNATE \OISTANCES|7EANATE ROWS 
SINGLE ROWS. BLOCKS. ON DIFFERENT 
DISTANCES 
DIFFERENT) O'S 4 a+ 
K 
y 
COF FEET 
ve 
aE 
¥ 14 
Fig. 1.—Plan of the field at San Antonio, Tex., in which the common system of wide spacing and the 
new single-stalk system of cotton culture were tested and compared in 1914. 
in which the young plants become crowded sufficiently to restrict 
the development of the vegetative branches. Accordingly, the seed 
for the San Antonio test was sowed at the rate of about 30 pounds to 
the acre. The planting was done on April 14, with a 2-row planter. 
Heavy rains and low temperatures rendered the conditions unfa- 
vorable for the germination of seed; but on account of the high rate 
of seeding a good stand was obtained. Nearly all rows had a short 
‘“‘skip” or two in which no plants appeared, but none of these skips 
were more than a few feet long, and it is believed that they had little 
effect on the yields. The skips were more numerous in section B 
than in any other section of the field, but were as frequent in single- 
stalk blocks as in wide-spaced blocks, and they therefore balanced 
the comparison of the two systems. Aside from these occasional 
skips, the stand was very satisfactory. 
