GEAIN SORGHUMS IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 
11 
EXPERIMENTAL METHODS. 
The prime objects in conducting the experiments reported herein 
were to determine the best time to sow the crop and the rate of seed- 
ing from which the best yield can be obtained and to compare yield 
and composition of crops from home-grown seed with those from 
imported seed. These experiments were conducted in plats under 
conditions which conform as closely as possible to good farm practices. 
PLAT EXPERIMENTS. 
The plats used in these experiments were 8 rods long by 1 or 2 
rods wide, containing either a twentieth or a tenth of an acre each. 
The rows were 132 feet long and 42 inches apart, each row repre- 
senting approximately 0.01 of an acre. In some cases 10 rows 
constituted a plat, and in others 5 rows. In sowing the seed the 
rows were made longer than 132 feet, and when the plants were 
about 1 foot high the ends of the rows were trimmed to the proper 
length. Each plat was bordered on either end by a road, but the 
sides of the plats adjacent to the roads at the ends of the series were 
protected by guard rows from undue influence from that source. 
CROP ROTATION. 
The crop rotation practiced on the experimental area for at least 
the past six years has been cowpeas, small grains, and grain sorghums, 
in the order named. 
METHOD OF SEEDING. 
A 2-row corn drill fitted with special sorghum plates was used 
for sowing the crop in all these experiments. Seeding was done at 
a rate heavy enough to insure a thick stand under normal conditions, 
with the idea of obtaining a stand sufficient for these experiments 
if the conditions were unfavorable. Occasionally, the desired stand 
was not obtained. When the plants were from 6 to 10 inches high 
the plats were thinned by hand, wherever possible, to the stands 
desired. 
METHODS OF OBTAINING DATA. 
The data on plant and stalk spacing and on the occurrence of 
suckers and heads were obtained by actual counts of the plants, 
stalks, and heads in all the rows of each plat for which such data 
are presented. The percentage of suckers is determined by dividing 
the difference between the number of stalks and the* number of 
plants by the number of stalks. The percentage of erect heads in 
Dwarf milo is determined by dividing the number of erect heads by 
the total number of heads produced, and the percentage of headed 
stalks is the number of stalks that bore heads divided by the total 
number of stalks in the plat. The growing period as given here is 
the total time elapsing from seeding until the crop is ripe. The 
