EXPERIMENTS WITH SINGLE-STALK COTTON CULTURE. 13 
Table VII shows a slight increase in the total yield from the first 
picking in favor of the old method, though in only 4 of the 13 in- 
stances did old-method rows yield more than single-stalk rows. 
In 7 instances the yields were identical. It is believed that the 
reason for this difference in yield at the first picking may be found 
in the fact that the single-stalk rows were thinned much later than 
was advisable, some suppression of the lower fruiting branches 
already having taken place. By the time the second picking was 
made this handicap had been overcome and the single-stalk rows 
yielded 22 per cent more cotton than the others, making a total 
increase in yield of 7 per cent. 
An interesting point in regard to the value of single-stalk culture 
under conditions conducive to unusually rank growth was observed 
in connection with tins experiment. A hogpen once stood near one 
end of several of these rows and the soil here was much richer than 
elsewhere in this field. The cotton plants grew to heights of 5 to 7 
feet and put on a dense foliage. The plants in the early-thinned 
wide-spaced rows threw out long vegetative branches, and when 
nearing maturity these settled to the ground, in many cases breaking 
away from the main stalk and in all cases obstructing the space 
between the rows. It was difficult also to pick cotton from these 
plants, and owing to its being allowed to touch the ground much of 
the cotton was spoiled. The single-stalk plants, on the other hand, 
stood erect, their fruit well off the ground and easily accessible. 
Moreover, the space between these rows was left open enough to 
allow cultivation. 
The Wilboum experiment. — Cotton of the Brown variety was planted 
on April 7 in low beds in rows about 4 feet apart, and a fairly good 
stand was secured. Wet weather prevailed during the remainder 
of April, followed by drought during May, which was not favorable to 
good growth. 
The thinning of the old-method rows was done on May 17, when 
the plants were 3 to 4 inches high, with 2 to 4 leaves, while the sin- 
gle-stalk rows were not thinned until June 9, when the plants were 
about 8 inches high and had 6 to 8 leaves. The plants in the old- 
method rows were spaced 18 inches apart and those in the single- 
stalk rows 6 to 8 inches. 
There were 40 rows in the experiment and the two systems of 
culture were compared in alternate rows. Only one picking was 
made. The yields obtained from each row are reported in Table 
VIII. 
Table VIII shows that in no instance did single-stalk culture 
yield more than the old method with which it was compared, the 
total increase for the old method being 17 per cent. This is abso- 
lutely the reverse of what was indicated on August 16 by boll counts 
