14 
BULLETIN 188, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
iag as in the plat not thinned. The actual counts show that the 
plants in the unthinned plat average 2.3 inches apart. Assuming 
that the tillers and branches were plants in the plat thinned to 12 
inches, the plants would then average 3 inches apart, or only 0.7 
of an inch farther apart than the plants in the unthinned plat. 
The rainfall at the San Antonio Experiment Farm f roin the plant- 
ing time to the ripening period of the milo in the 1913 experiments 
(\ 
# 4 
Fig. 9. — Diagram made up from figure 8, showing the branches and 
tillers removed and placed between the milo plants: a' and g' , Tillers ; 
d and j, main stalks; b' , c' , e', f, h', and i', branches. 
was about 2 inches 
below normal. This 
condition was partic- 
ularly favorable for 
comparing the results 
obtained from differ- 
ent plaut spacings. 
These results, togeth- 
er with numerous ob- 
servations made in 
previous years, both 
at the experiment 
farm and on other farms in the region, indicate that relatively close 
spacing within the row is preferable to wide spacing, even when the 
rainfall of the growing season is relatively low. The results of the 
experiments indicate that the plants should be approximately 3 
or 4 inches apart within the row. 
VARIATIONS IN TILLERING. 
There is a marked difference in the amount of tillering in the two 
years that the test has been carried on. (See figs. 1 and 2.) For the 
purpose of comparison, Table VII has been included. 
Table VII. — Tillering of milo plants differently spaced in rows 264 feet long at the San 
Antonio Experiment Farm in 1913 and 1914. 
Perfect stand. 
24 inches apart. 
18 inches apart. 
12 inches apart. 
8 inches apart.. 
5 inches apart.. 
2 inches apart.. 
Not thinned.... 
Actual spacing 
(inches). 
1913 
20.2 
13.3 
10.5 
7.2 
3.8 
3.5 
1914 
24.5 
17.7 
12.7 
9.8 
6.3 
3.5 
2.3 
Stand (plants 
per row). 
1913 1914 
157 
237 
293 
439 
833 
895 
129 
179 
254 
324 
504 
902 
1,364 
Number per plant. 
Mature heads. 
1913 1914 
5.2 
4.3 
3.6 
2.6 
1.5 
1.3 
3.04 
2.48 
1.48 
1.23 
1.07 
1.04 
1.04 
Branches. 
1913 1914 
3.44 
3.31 
2.64 
2.02 
.51 
.41 
.31 
Branches 
and tillers. 
1913 
4.2 
3. 3 
2. 6 
1.6 
.5 
.3 
5.48 
4.79 
3.12 
2.25 
.58 
.45 
.35 
The most striking difference in the 1913 and 1914 results is in the 
reduction of the number of tillers in 1914 and the appearance of 
branches, which did not occur the previous year. However, in the 
