4 BULLETIN 188, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
EFFECT OF PLANTING ROWS AT DIFFERENT DISTANCES APART. 
The different widths between rows were tested in one-fifth acre 
plats, the rows being 264 feet long. The plants within the rows 
stood approximately 5 inches apart on all the plats, except where 
the stand was somewhat reduced by imperfect germination. . The 
average number of plants per row, of mature heads per row and per 
plant, and the yield per acre are given in Table II. In this table, as 
well as in the following tables, the number of mature heads per plant 
and per row includes the mam stalks and tillers, but not the branches, 
which when given are in another column. 
Table II. — Results of planting milo in rows at varying distances apart at the San 
Antonio Experiment Farm in 1913 and 1914. 
Distance between rows. 
Number 
of plants 
per row. 
Number of mature 
heads— 
Average 
number of 
branches 
per plant. 
Heads 
pendent. 
Yields per 
Per row. 
Per plant. 
In 1913: 
36 inches 
350 
405 
339 
459 
478 
439 
498 
529 
504 
S79 
899 
1,155 
508 
472 
532 
552 
542 
2.5 
2.2 
2.8 
2.6 
1.06 
1.07 
1.08 
1.04 
1.08 
Per cent. 
Bushels. 
42.9 
40 inches 
45.8 
44 inches 
45.3 
4"v inches 
46.2 
In 1914: 
36 inches 
0.22 
.41 
.45 
.64 
.50 
4 
9 
9 
9 
7 
25.3 
39 inches 
24.9 
23.6 
45 inches 
18.6 
16.1 
As Table II shows, no very marked effects were produced on the 
number of heads per plant by varying the width between the rows„ 
The. differences in yield were small. The results of the 1914 tests 
were similar to those conducted in 1913, except that an extra plat 
was included, as shown in the table. 
There was practically no difference in the number of heads per 
plant when the rows were spaced at different distances, nor was there 
any consistent variation in the number of branches or pendent 
heads, although there is a tendenc}" for the number of branches to 
increase as the distance between the rows increases, as shown by 
the 1914 results. The yields, however, uniformly increased as the 
distances between the rows decreased. This was to be expected, 
as the season was so favorable as to rainfall that even with the rows 
3 feet apart the plants did not suffer from the want of rain. This 
table indicates that varying the distance between the rows does not 
appreciably affect the tillering or branching. The distance between 
rows will have to be governed by local conditions. Where the soil 
is rich and the rainfall abundant, the rows may be much closer 
together than they otherwise should be planted. 
