Experimental methods with cotton. IV. A study of the effects of gap-filling on the development and yield of cotton plants in poor stands of hand planted cotton

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Abstract
1. Experience raised doubts as to the usefulness of filling gaps in bad stands of cotton at Barberton and experiments were conducted in two seasons to measure its effectiveness. The experiments gave clear-cut results.2. Randomized gaps ranging from 20 to 40% of the stand were filled and left open for comparison, the filling being done 13 and 19 days after planting.3. Any reduction in stand, though reducing yield per acre, led to large and significant increases in yield per plant, even when the spacing was 3 by 3 ft., wider than that normally used on the Station.4. Replanting the gaps in a bad stand did not lead to any increase in yield per acre; there were, in fact, indications that this practice actually reduced yield per acre, the refills preventing plants of the original sowing from benefiting fully from the extra space available to them in a bad stand.5. The general conclusion is that no useful purpose is served by refilling the gaps in poor stands of cotton with up to 40% of gaps.

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