LEAFLET NO. 37 
MRH15
RATES and
METHODS
PLANTING-
(T/WL33Y. 0
)Qa'eyinn ed
and
muin..~U~i low
1
cqecCd
iVelin ted
COTTON SEED
AGRICULTURAL EX PERI MENT
ot the ALABAMA P'OLYTECHNIC
E. V. SMITH, Director
STAT ION
IN ST IT UT E
Auburn, Alabama
MARCH 1953
RATES and METHODS of PLANTING
FUZZY, REGINNED, and
ACID-DELINTED COTTON SEED
H. B. TISDALE, J. T. WILLIAMSON,
J. T. COPE, Jr., and I. F. REED2
Different methods and rates of
planting cotton seed have been
used to conserve seed since cotton
seed became a valuable commodity
in the cotton industry. The practice
of planting reginned and acid-de-
linted cotton seed has been grow-
ing rapidly in recent years. Wide
variations occur in the rates at
which these seed are planted. The
Agricultural Experiment Station of
the Alabama Polytechnic Institute
has conducted two rather extensive
series of experiments to determine
the best rates and methods of plant-
ing fuzzy cotton seed and 
seed that
have been reginned or acid delinted
(sulfuric).
PROCEDURES
Series I. The first series of these
experiments was conducted from
1942 through 1946 at the Monroe-
ville and Prattville Experiment
Fields, and the Sand Mountain and
Tennessee Valley Substations.
These experiments included the
following six treatments numbered
in the order listed:
1. Fuzzy seed-1 bushel per
acre, drilled, constant depth,
thinned to 1 to 3 plants every
16 inches.
2. Fuzzy seed- bushel per
acre, drilled, variable depth,
thinned to 1 to 3 plants every
16 inches.
3. Fuzzy seed-9.4 pounds per
acre, hill-dropped, 3 to 5 seed
spaced 16 inches, thinned to 1
to 3 plants per hill.
4. Fuzzy seed-9.4 pounds per
acre, hill-dropped, 3 to 5 seed
spaced 16 inches, not thinned.
5. Fuzzy seed-21 
pounds per
acre, hill-dropped, 8 to 10 seed
spaced 16 inches, thinned to 1
to 3 plants per hill.
6. Acid-delinted seed-7 pounds
per acre, hill-dropped, 2 to4
seed spaced 16 inches, not
thinned.
The seedbeds of the plots were
thoroughly prepared and uniform ap-
plications of 600 pounds of the
recommended grade of fertilizer
were applied in the furrow and bed-
ded on 2 weeks before planting.
Three dates of planting at 2-week
intervals were used for all treat-
ments at each location. Depth of
planting was increased from ! inch
Tests were conducted in cooperation
with F. E. Bertram, R. C. Christo-
pher, W. W. Cotney, S. E. Gissendan-
ner, C. L. Kornegay, E. L. Mayton,
J. W. Richardson, E. F. Schultz, J. F.
Segrest, Fred Stewart, and D. G. Stur-
kie on the Substations and Experiment
Fields of the A.P.I. Agricultural Ex-
periment Station.
2
Plant Breeder; agronomist 
(deceased);
and associate agronomist of the Sta-
tion staff, and agricultural engineer
with the U. S. D. A. Tillage Machinery
Laboratory, respectively.
for the first planting to 1 inch for
the second, and 1' inches for the
third planting. Treatment number 2
was planted with a variable depth
planter, which varied the depth by
about 1 inches,
Series II. The second series of
Iexperiments was conducted at 12
locations in the State for 3 years
from 1949-51. These experiments
were designed to compare different
rates of hill-dropped, acid-delinted
(sulfuric) and reginned seed with
the conventional method of drilling
approximately 32 pounds per acre
of fuzzy and reginned seed of the
same variety of cotton. Seed of
Plains cotton were used for all
tests.
The reginned and acid-delinted
seed were processed by commercial
plants and the fuzzy seed were
treated at Auburn. All tests were
planted in randomized 
blocks of six
,ireplications using one-row horse
drawn planters with adjustments for
drilling and hill-dropping cotton
seed. Corn plates with 8, 12, and
16 holes were used with the
dropping attachment for hill-
dropping the acid delinted seed at
the approximate rates of 8, 12, and
16 pounds per acre, respectively.
The reginned and fuzzy seed were
each drilled at the approximate rate
of 32 pounds per acre using the
regular attachments 
for planting
cotton seed.
.Counts for missing hills were ob-
tained for each method of planting
by measuring all skips four or more
feet long and calculating the num-
ber of missing hills. None of the
tests were 
replanted.
RESULTS and DISCUSSION
Series 1. Results of the averages
of the three planting dates in these
experiments are presented in Table
1. The average of the experiments
at all locations shows that yields
are proportional to the amount of
seed planted. Thinning of plants
in treatment 3 reduced the yield
slightly below the unthinned treat-
ment 4. The 7-pound rate per acre
of acid-delinted seed did not yield
as well as other treatments at
heavier planting rates. No compari-
son of the different types of seed
at the same rate of planting was
included in these experiments.
From the results obtained, it is
evident that rate of seeding affects
yields of cotton more than method
of seeding. For instance, variable
depth planting at the half-bushel
rate did not yield as well as 1
bushel planted at constant depth
in Series I experiments. In earlier
experiments at the same locations
(1939-1941), no yield differences
resulted from the same seeding
rates at constant and at variable
planting depths, except for unusual
seasons. The one exception was
the difficulty in getting stands from
shallow plantings that were fol-
lowed by dry weather. 
Under these
conditions variable depth plantings
resulted in higher yields. Such was
the case at the Tennessee Valley
Substation in 1941 when variable
depth planting yielded 800 more
pounds of seed cotton.
Also compared in these earlier
experiments was planting with and
without a seed press wheel in ad-
dition to the regular surface press
wheel. No increase was obtained
from the use of a seed press wheel
on the planter.
Results of these experiments em-
phasize the importance of planting
enough seed to get a good uniform
stand. On the basis of these data,
rates less than 1 bushel of seed
per acre cannot be recommended.
TABLE 1. YIELDS OF SEED COTTON FROM DIFFERENT METHODS OF
PLANTING SEED AT FOUR LOCATIONS, 1942-46
Monroe- Pratt- Tennes- Sand Weighted Compared
ville ville see Moun- average with
Treatment 1942, 43 1942-46 Valley tain (13 ex- treat-
and 46 1943-46 1942 peri- ment
(3 yr.) (5 yr.) (4 yr.) (1 yr.) ments) No. 1
No. Lb. Lb. Lb. Lb. Lb. Lb.
1 1 bushel fuzzy seed "
drilled, constant depth-1 758 1,272 1,632 1,923 1,314 ....
2 /2 bushel fuzzy seed
drilled, variable depth 639 1,216 1,594 1,793 1,244 -70
3 3 to 5 fuzzy seed at 16
inches, hill-dropped
1  
642 1,173 1,477 1,789 1,191 -123
4 3 to 5 fuzzy seed at 16
inches, hill-dropped
2  
643 1,164 1,528 1,823 1,206 -108
5 8 to 10 fuzzy seed at 16
inches, hill-dropped
1  
782 1,251 1,588 1,746 1,285 -29
6 2 to 4 acid-del inted seed
at 16 inches, hill-
dropped
2  
522 1,150 1,495 1,895 1,166 -148
Thinned to 1 to 3 plants every 16 inches.
2
Not thinned.
Series II. Results of the 35 tests
conducted over a 3-year period
(1949-51) at 12 locations in Ala-
bama are given in Table 2. Both
the yield and the number of missing
hills from the various treatments
are presented. The averages for
all locations appear in the last line
of the table. These averages are
also shown graphically in Figure 1.
Best yields resulted from the use
of 1 bushel of either fuzzy or re-
ginned seed drilled in the row.
These treatments produced about
80 pounds more seed cotton than
did 16 pounds of acid-delinted seed
planted by the hill-drop method.
Acid-delinted seed hill-dropped at
the 16-pound rate produced 55
pounds more seed cotton than re-
ginned seed planted by the same
method and at the same rate. Yields
from both the reginned and acid-
delinted seed increased as the rate
of seeding was increased.
The yield of seed cotton in these
experiments was determined by the
stand obtained from the different
treatments. As the number of miss-
ing hills increased between treat-
ments the yield decreased. The
difference in yield between the low
and high treatments was about 150
pounds of seed cotton. Yields from
both the acid-delinted and the re-
ginned seed increased as the
amount of seed planted was in-
creased. The highest rates of these
two types of seed used were 16
pounds of acid-delinted and 32
pounds of reginned seed per acre.
In the experiments at several
locations during years when soil
and weather conditions were favor-
TABLE 2, YIELDS OF SEED COTTON AND NUMBER OF MISSING HILLS FROM
DIFFERENT METHODS AND RATES OF PLANTING Fuzzy, REGINNED, AND
ACID-DELINTED COTTON SEED, 3-YEAR AVERAGE, 1949-51
Planting method and seeding rates per acre
yields and number 
Hill-dropped 
Drilled
of missing hill s Aci d-del inted 
1
ReginnedjReginneat Fuzzy
per acre. 8 lb. _ 12 lb. 116lb 
16lb '3 lb. 32 Th
BREWTON
Yield, 
lb.
*'Missing hills, 
no.
MONROEVILLE
Yield, 
lb.
Missing -hills,no.
..P RATTVILLE
'Yield, lb.
Missing hills, no.
ALICE VILLE
Yield, 6b.
Mising hills, no.
TUSK EGEE,
Yield, lb..
Mi.ssing hills, no.
TAL LASSEE
YieldIlb.
Missing hills, no.
AUBURN
Yield, lb.
Mi ssing hills, no.
CAMP HILL
Y ield, Ilb.
Missing hills, no.
ALEXANDRIA
YieldIlb.
Missing hills, no.
WIN FIELD'
Yield, lb.
Missing hills, no.
CROSSV ILL E
Yield, lb.
Missing hills, no.
BELLE MINA
Yield, lib.
Mi ssing hills, -no.
AVERAGE, 35 tests
3-year period
Yield, lb.
Missing hills, no.
981 938 982 966 991 1,020
605 694 178 872 383 
142
1, 113 1,122 I1138 1,104 1,195 1,229
1,995 1,775 1,475 1,410 935 840
1,480 1,499 1,507 1,458 .1,480 1,450
220 125 240 20 10 
0
1,275 1, 375 1,400 1,433. 1,529
2,r409 1,67 15 10 1,534 342
1,444
189
1,047 1,051 1,073 1,039 '1,084 1,166
3,300 2,669 3,005 2,884 2,974 1,640
851 859 860 865 944 968
3,272 3,627 3,646 2,7 16 979 1, 108
1,426 1,387 1,542 1,636 1,821 1,797
Z2900 2987 2,387 1,980 399 164
775 766 837 725
1,539 1, 274 1,181 2,404
882 892
391 322
1,036 1,104 1,068 942 1,224 1,140
1,516'1,090 802 1,596 133 415
1,380 1,590 1,723 1,471 1,820 
1,802
1,296 1,367
1j, 580 780
1,374 11,244 T1,471 l1,372
876 1,339 483 490
1,163 1, 272 1,292 1,199 1,326 1,491
2,519 Z 119 1,787 2,387 1,474 860
1,144 1,182 1,219 1,164 1,o300 1, 30 2
2,095 1, 775 1, 607 1,785 786 577
'No test in 1951 - 2 year average
Yield of seed cotton Number of missing
oer acre. oounds 
hills per acre
Pounds of seed
cotton per acre
Number of missinq
hills per acre
I, 300
1,500
.1,000
1, 000 
- 500
Fuzzy seed Reginned Acid-del inted Acid-delinted 
Reginned Acid-delinted
32 lb. seed 32 lb. seed 76 lb. seed 12 lb. 
seed 16 lb. seed 8 lb.
drilled drill-ed hill-dropped hill-dropped hill-dropped 
hill-dropped
FIGURE 1. Yields of seed cotton and number of missing hills from different methods and rates 
of plant-
fuzzy, reginned, .and acid-del.inted seed at 12 locations, 3-.year averaqe, -94951.
able for emergence and seedling
growth of cotton, there was very
little difference in yield or stand
obtained from the different methods
of planting or amounts of seed
planted. However, in cases where
there was difficulty in getting good
stands, the higher seeding rates
were consistently superior.
SUMMARY
Two series of experiments were
conducted at several locations in
the State over periods of 3 and 5
years, respectively, to determine
the best rates and methods of plant-
ing fuzzy, reginned, and acid-de-
linted cotton seed. Results showed
that 32 pounds of reginned or fuzzy
seed per acre was superior to all
of the lower seeding rates used in
the experiments. Yields in these
experiments increased as the
amount of seed planted was in-
creased. Yields were decreased as
the number of missing hills result-
ing from the various treatments in-
creased.
Results of both series of experi-
ments lead to the same conclu-
sions. They emphasize the impor-
tance of planting enough seed to
get a good uniform stand. Rates
less than 32 pounds of seed per
acre are not recommended.