COTTON GROWING IN THE NEW REGIONS OF THE USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210002-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 338
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 16, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: March 13, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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STAT
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tIESTRICIED
S OFT &~
COTTON GROWING IN THE NEW REG
FIRST COLLECTION
INuTrnJE FOR SCIENTIFIC PESEARCH ON COTTON GROWING, DEPARTMENT OF
GRICULTUP~AL TCHNOLOGY IN THE NEW REGIONS OF THE USSR.
A
Gosizdat for KolkhoZ and Sovkhoz
Publications, NoSCOw and Leningrad. 193L.
. .. , . .
____ IN THE NL'W FcEGIO'NS
RESULTS AND PROSPECTS G G4T2WING '
-_--ri--- T. I. KVITKO
RESULTS OF THE DEVEWPMENT OF COTTON GROWING IN THE NEW REGIONS.
Attempts to introduce the cotton plant into the new regions
ion. The reason for this lay in the social and economic structure
Revo lut
cation growing in the new regions remained undecided until the October
i.c war. But the question a.s to the possibility of large-scale
aaist
new regions continued intermittently up to the outbreak of the imperi_
of Dagestan. From 1888, planting of cotton at different points in the
canon was planted by separate farms in villages located on the plains
biL.ty of cotton growing in the South Ukraine commenced. In the 1880's
decade of the 19th century the first preliminary studies of the possi-
~
Cri.mea, are noted at the end of the 19th Century. During the second
sowings of cotton in Terek, North Caucasian Kray, and in Kerch, in the
'icultlvato cotton' in Astrakhanskiy Kray. The first experimental
began at an ea.riY date. In the 17th Century measures were taken to
of Czarist Russia; price regulated the development of the national
ur to invest his funds, using as his starting point the market
prene
economy. It was by virtue of price which caused each private entre-
nd in whatever branch afforded him the possibility of obtaining a
dema
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IRICTEU
large profit in a short time. Market conditions in Czarist Russia
were such that cotton grown in the new regions could not compete either
with cotton from Central Asia nor with that from America, produced
under conditions of i ntensif ied exploitation of labor in both the
latter cases - of the Dekhans in Russia and of the Negroes in America.
This is why all attempts to introduce cotton growing into the new
regions during the pre-revolutionar.Y period met with failure.
Only under the conditions of the planned Soviet economy did
large-scale commercial cotton growing become possible in the new
regions. In its historic resolution of July 18, 1929 "Qn the Develop-
ment of Cotton Growing", the TsK of the UKP(b) pointed out the need
for "taking more decisive measures to develop cotton growing in the
new areas (Dagestan and North Caucasus) and to expand the experiments
in cotton growing (Ukraine, Crimea, Astrakhan) by widespread distri-
bution of the proper varieties of early maturing seed, by granting
insurance against crop failure and conferring other advantages, so as
to bring the total acreage under cotton in the new regions up to
200,000 hectares by the close of the Five Year Plan, .F~
As a result of the accomplishment of the Party resolution, the
new regions scored a major victory on bhe cotton front, expressed in
the clearest way by the very significant increase of the acreage under
cotton,
The Party's direc~ive to expand cotton acreage in the new areas
to 200,000 hectares by the close of the first Five Year Plan was thus
over-fulfilled by more than 50 percent, as may be seen from the table,
'raa1
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(1
i1 IRIC TED
large profit in a short time. Market conditioru in Czarist Russia ,
were such that cotton grown in the new regions could not compete either
c
with cotton from Central Asia nor, with that :from America, produced
under conditions of t ntensifi.ed expioitati.on of :tabor in both the
:latter eases - of the Dekhans in Rus;3i.a and of the Negroes in America.
This is why all attempts to introduce cotton growing into 'the new
regions during the pre rcvoiutionary period met with failure.
Only under the conditions of the pi.anrxed Soviet economy did
large-Eacale commercial cotton growing become pos;3i.b1e in the new
regions. In its historic reso:luti.on of July 18, 1929 "0n the Develop-
rnerib of Cotton Crowing ", the TsK of the VKP(b) pointed out the need
for "taking more decisive measures to develop cotton growing in the
nc3W areas (Dagestan and North Caucasus) and to expand the experimenti
in cotton growin (Ukraine, Crimea, Astrakhan) by wide ~3pread di.s tri-
bution of the proper varieties of oar;l;y rnaturin.g seed, by granting
insurance against crop "failure and conferring other advantages, 80 as
to bring the total acreage under cotton in the new regions up to
200,000 hectare t~ by to close of the hive Year Plan. a'
As a result of the accornpiishment of the Party reso1uti.on, the
new regions scared a major victory on the cotton front, expresf3ecI in
the clearest way by the very significant incre~r.se of the acreage under
cotton.
The Party's direc t,ive to expand cotton acreage in the now areas
to , 200,000 hectares by the close of the first Five Year Plan was thus
ov'ex-fu:LCi1ied by more than 0 percent, as may be seen f'rorn they table.
dESfaiCTEfl
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IIESI RIOT ED
The movement of cotton acreage in the socialized sector shows
that this sector has played a dominating role here since the very
beginning of extensive commmercial cotton growing i n the new. areas.
In 1930 it had 72,3 percent of all such acreage in the new regions,
93 percent in 1931 and 89.3 percentan 1932. The importance of this
fact for the development of cotton growing` in the new areas was
decisive. The sovkhozes, as the leading force in agriculture, were
the pioneers in cotton growing on great tracts of land, and played a
tremendous role in its development in the new regions. The population
became convinced by the example of the cotton sovkhozes that cotton
growing was possible and expedient, and took the first steps on the
path of widespread commercial planting of cotton,
The following table shows the total harvest of raw cotton in the
separate krays and republics.
TOTAL PRODUCTION OF LINT COTTON, 1928-1932
..
(in tons)
RAYON
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
Dagestan
55
210'
167
3,891
5,080
North Caucasus
3ij.
3,187
5,819
29577
25jS38
Crimea
.-w
9
275
51.02
2331
Former Lower Volga
2L
113
262
215
441
TOTAL FOR NEW
REGIONS OF RSFSR
113
1,519
7,823
3115
h
33)71.10
Ukraine
ww
~..
1,323
336
251.81
TOTAL FOR THE
NEW REGIONS
1,13E
1519
91L1.6
'? $651
5,621
RESTRICTED
II
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The new cotton regions thus yielded 1I~5,050 tons of raw cotton ;
rptt44
ryF,
E~
a"{
to the country during the First Five-Year Plan, which made a practical
Ott
contribution to the fulfilment of the directives of the. Party and the
a~
. , ., 1,1
government on the liberation of the textile industry of the ? USSR from
n
dependence on foreign countries,
F
It must be noted that the technological quality of cotton from
the new regions is not orse than that of the old cotton regions.
1tThe strength of fabrics woven of cotton fiber from the new
areas does not compare unfavorably with that of the usual factory
assortment produced from Central Asian cotton, and sometimes excels
it; in this respect variety Number 1306 showed a higher quality than
the other selected varieties.' (From the report of the Cotton Sector
of NITI for 1931.) .
This quality refers to the cotton of the 1931 crop, when the
Ukraine bolshevistically organized the cotton campaign, as a result
of which the average yield in that year was about 3 tsentner per
hectare from the total harvested acreage of 1L~1i.,500 hectares. In 1932
the textile industry commenced to note a certain 'deterioration in the
thecnological qualities of the raw cotton from the new regions, which
may be attributed to 'poorer tillage of the cotton fields here, which
considerably increased the proportion in the total crop of lint picked
after the frost, and exerted an unfavorable influence on its quality.
Data on productivity, per wait area is also. of interest in any
appraisal of cotton growing in the new regions.. The yield of lint. per
f.~
19`2 is given' in theJ following table.
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The table shows a somewhat varied picture of the average pro-
ductivity of cotton in the different krays and republics, In Crimea,
Lower Volga and Ukraine, the productivity rises in some years and falls
in others, while for the remaining areas it rises uninterruptedly
throughout the entire period, reaching in 1932, 2,L. tsentner per
hectare for Dagestan and 1.8 tsentner per hectare for. the ;North
Caucasus, These yields, however, still appear low in comparison to
the possible productivity of these areas.
The cause of the low average productivity of cotton may be
found not in unfavorable n atural conditions in the new areas, but in
failure to fulfil the basic requirerrtent~caf cultural practice for
cotton growing. This is emphasized by the data on the progress of ful-
filment of cultural operations for this crop in 1931 and 1932. Of the
extremely important breaches of sound technical procedure, which
repeat themselves year after year in the new regions the following must
be pointed out; the stubble from the preceding crops of wheatJ corn
J
etc. is not disked. into the soil before plowing, very little plowing lowing is
done on the 'seedbed, preliminary tillage of the ground is very inadequate
(light plowing and insufficient harrowing), and the sowing 2s unduly.
delayed.
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YIELD OF LINT PER HECTARE, 1929-1932
(in Tsentner)
RESTRICTED
H ?YEARS
A R E A
192
929
. 1930
1931
1932
Dagestan
0.5
0.6
1.17
1.52
2.I~,
North Caucasus
O.5
2d()
0.82
1.77
1.
Former Lower Volga
0.3
0.7
O3
3.13
1.35
Crimea
_,.
1,0
0.75
1.S7
o.86
Ukraine
_..
0.66
2.92
1.7
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' Cultivation, which is of decisive importance in securing high
yields, is carried out ohly partially and broken
off at the third
stage.
FULFILMENT OF CULTIVATION OPERATIONS
(in percent)
Stage of C,,, ---~ Two Year Average
for 1931'1932 1931 1932
First Stage (to June 10) 51
bL L1.2
Second Stage (to lay 25) 15 31 10
Third Stage (to July 15) o
o 0
Percent of acreage with .
crop failure. 22 27
/ranslator ' s Note; the dates f'or the first and second stages are.
either transposed in the text, or, what is more
probable, the second
stage should be June 25 instead of May 25.7
serious breaches of sound technical procedure, a normal yield cannot
be expected if the three compulsory cultivations are carried out in
this fashion.
All these circumstances, taken together, are responsible
IJ
for the high percentage of cotton acreage with crop failure (22 percent
in 1931 and 27 percent in 1932) the diminished
~ productivity and the.
deterioration in the cotton fiber as a result of the increased propor?
tion of boils picked after the frost.
What is the reason for these omissions ?in the field of cotton
growing in the new 'regions?
We must note in the first place 'the embittered resistance
. of
It is entirely . clear that e) en without considering the other
RESTLUCTE
?RESTRtGTE
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of workers among the permanent production brigades, the absence of
personal or group responsibility for specific areas in cotton planting
and the equalization of wages, which had a pernicious effect on the con-
tinuing processes of cultivation. Production was also unfavorably in-
fluenced by the ignorance of regional and local organizations, who did
not understand the proper method of using state advances against
cotton, in goods and money, as a means for stimulating the collective
farmers to better tillage of the cotton fields; and even, in a number
of places, criminally diverted cotton funds from their designated
purposes.
An immense amount of damage was also done to the development of
cotton growing in the new areas by the opportunistic underevaluation of
cotton in a number of rayons and MTS. Some workers of the krays,
rayons and MTS adopted, the entirely incorrect view that cotton was a
crop of the second grade, to which they owed less than to other crops.
This was the origin of the neglect of the most elementary rules of cotton
growing technique and the complete ignoring of mechanized methods of
producing this crop by a large number of rayon organizations and MTS.
Some.of the local workers try to justify this opportunistic under-
evaluation of cotton by reviving the famous theory, long since buried as
not corresponding to reality, that cotton growing is impossible a.nd una
t
profitable in the new regions. But they fail to understand that"we can-
not look at profitability ma mercantile way, from the point of view a
U
I
of a given moment. ` We must consider it from the point of view of the
whole national economy, over a number of years.` Only such a paint of
view can be called truly Leninist, truly Marxist,. And this point of
view is obligatory not only in relation to industry, but, to an even
greater degree,, in relation to kolkhozes and sovkhozes !' (Stalin).
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Krasna~ ~Boyets" D y~ Y ,
Leninets"Simferopol r Skiy 128
i 1 1
it it +' Y ( J~ L r~ . r \ 1(r A t a (t1` YI s
,I1l~r~rli~~i it ~-~M ~~~I~a ~~~~I?~~~~~k~~~~~,~~~~~~I~ i +~~;
y N
d',t,igSEP..dlf'a,. ,fYR~
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iiESTRICTED
The data,from the experiment statiorns located at different points
in the new regions emphasizes the high yields that are possible with
proper management. Such stations have consistently obtained yields.
ranging from 10 to 15 tsentner per hectare, year after year for a
number of years, from very considerable acreages. These possible yields
are emphasized as well by data from hundreds of kolkhozes that have
obtained lint yields ranging from 3 to 9 tsentner per hectare. Thus,
in Ukraine, the average lint yield in 1931 was 2.92 tsentner per
hectare for the total planted area of i)44,500 hectares; but a number
of ko1khozes obtained yields two to three times higher than this
average.
(in Tsentner per. Hectare)
1931 1932
r
W Q) rd
(I) H H
cj Cu
~-4 ~i Q)
Name of Kolkhoz Rayon
1 (3) -Ti:) ( (6)
DAGESTAN
"Kra.sniy Pakhar" Achikulakskiy 20 L.6 75 3.3
nVsem Druzhba" Shelkovskoy -w --- 225 ).~.5
"KrasniY Partizant'`Baba-Yurtovskiy -- --- 35 5~9
. . :. NORTH CAUCASUS' KRAY
"Zavet I1' icha" Mozdokskiy 600 )i.0 160
"Krasniy Sunzhenets" . it tr
"Krasniy Oktyabrt,' Petrovskiy
F
+r.Oktyabr 1 Pxikumskiy
CRIME
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"Perebulova't Golopristanskiy 1!.0 800. X25
Pyatirichkatt Skadovskiy 876 8.0 ..-- ...~
t?peremoga," Kakhovskiy 279 5.2 ...~-
Tn 1933, which enjoyed less favorable meteorological conditions
for cotton than the preceding years, a number of k olkhozes that cones
scientiously tilled their cotton fields obtained excellent yields.
Thus, for instance, in North Caucasus, the k olkhozes of the Arzgir MTS
harvested 2,918 hectares in cotton and obtained yields ranging from
I4 to7 tsentner per hectare; the kolkhoz "Krasniy Suzhenets" in Mozdok-
skiy Rayon harvested 280 hectares and obtained a yield of 10 tsentner
per hectare from its 20 hectares in cotton. In the Ukraine, the
Skadov Khlopkosovkhoz had 1j..9 hectares in cotton, which, being tilled
properly yielded 5.8 tsentner per hectare.
different koikhozes in the cotton zone of the new areas, with different
climatic conditions, and for different years, prove thattkt is
entirely possible to obtain satisfactory unit yields of cotton in the
new regions, in any year, without irrigation and at a considerably
lower labor cost than 'in the irrigated areas. These data completely
destroy the opportunistic unbelief and the theory of the well-known
saboteur Zaytsev, the agronomist Bushuyev and their followers to the
effect that cotton growing in the new areas is scientifically fantastic,
since the natural environment does not meet the biological requirements
of the cotton plant.
(1) ' (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
UKRAINE
It follows from all that has; been said above that cotton is
becoming entrenched in the new areas. A new and mighty cotton producing
Thus these selected data on, the productivity in raw cotton in
TRIG
TRICTE
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ESTR1CTEU
base is being established in the new 'areas of the south'. of the European
;Y
part of the USSR, to supplement the main cotton.base cf the USSR in
Central Asia and Transcaucasia. Today thenost northerly' cotton growing
the world is being carried on in the new areas of the USSR, where
in
the cotton plant has advanced up to the 18th parallel of north latitude,
while in most of the old cotton growing regions of the world it is dis-
tributed between the Llst and l~2nd parallels.
The successes achieved in the development of cotton growing in
the new a.rea.s are consequences of the following:
(1). The fundamental social and economic reconstruction of the
agriculture of the new regions, on the foundation of the widespread
development of the sovkhoz construction, the gigantic groth and
stren hteni of the kolkhoz movement, end the liquidation of the kulaks
~' ~'
s which allows reconstruction based on solid and unbroken
as a class
collectivization.
The new cotton areas, consisting of North Caucasus, Crimea; the
former Lower Volga and the Ukraine, are the advanced areas of solid
collect za.tion in the USSR, in which the collectivization of peasant
~.v'~.
was substantially completed by the end of the first Five Year
f arm~.ng
Plan.
(2). The increasing technical equipment of the sovkhozes, and
also of the kolkhozes through the MTS, based on the far-reaching,
success in the industrialization of the country has aided development
of the cotton growing industry.
(3). The determined struggle against the opposition.of the
class enemy to the introduction of cotton growing in the new areas,
and against the opportunistic disbelief ?n its possibility has been a
'
,.,
B
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lIES TRIC Tt
The existence in the new 'areas of immense tracts of land
suitable for cotton growing without capital investment in irrigation
works is a great advantage. As a general rule it is unirrigated
cotton growing that is being expanded.
The achieve lent of cotton growing in the new regions takes on
special significance in theight of the unprecedented crisis through
which cotton growingin the capitalistic countries is passing.
During recent years, the acreage and harvests of cotton have
been uninterruptedly declining in all the capitalistic countries.
Thus, for instance, in the United States, the cotton acreage
in 1932 was cut down by 1,000,000 hectares to 1L,500..,000 hectares
from its level of 18,500,000 hectares in 1929;and an imense number of
farmers were ruined.
In British India, cotton acreage in 1932 was down by 2,100, 000
hectares to 8,100,000 hectares against 10,500,000 hectares in 1929,
In Egypt, cotton acreage dropped in 1932 by 315,000 hectares to
J59,000 hectares against 7.7Li.,000 hectares in 1929.
~
In the capitalistic countries, cotton growing has been chased.
into a bland alley; curtailment of cotton acreage is proceeding, and the
working masses are being impoverished. In the Soviet Union, cotton
growing is expanding, new areas are being conquered in the struggle with
nature, andthe standard of living of the broad masses of workers and
collective f arners is being raised to a higher level. Here are the two
sets of consequences which have resulted fromthe activities of two
dixferent systems; the socialist and the capitalist.
tIES TRiO TED
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help in 'the expansion of the industry.
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R~~~rkm~tl.~~sr~
()4). The existence in the new areas of irnriense tracts of land
suitable for cotton growing without capital. investment in irrigation
works is a great advantage. As a general nrle it is unirrigated
cotton growing that is being expanded.
The achieve --lent o f cotton growing in the new regions takes on
special significance in the3'ght of the unprecedented crisis through
which cotton growinj n the capitalistic countries is passing.
During recent years, the acreage and harvests of cotton have
been uninterruptedly declining in all the capitalistic countries.
Thus, for instance, in the United States, the cotton acreage
in 1932 was cut down by L4,000,000 hectares to lL~,500.,000 hectares
from its level of 18,500,000 hectares in 1929;and an imense number of
farmers were ruined.
In British India, cotton acreage in 1932 was down by 2,100,000
hectares to 8,L~00,000 hectares against 10,00,000 hectares in 1929.
In Egypt, cotton acreage dropped in 1932 by 31$,000 hectares to
L59,000 hectares against 77La,000 hectares in 1929.
In the capitalistic countries, cotton growing has been chased
into a blind alley; curtailr~aent of cotton acreage is proceeding, and the
collective fara~rers ;S bang raised to a higher level. Here are the two
nature, andy the standard of living of the broad masses of workers and
working masses are being impoverished., In the Soviet Union, cotton
growing is expanding, new areas axe being conquered in. the struggle with
sets of eonsequences.which have resulted frornthe activities of two
i'fe$nt systems; the socialist $.nd the capitalist.
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east of Greenwich. The great diversity of the physical and geographical
conditions in the zone and the specific nature of the climatic end soil
requirements of cotton are responsible for the distribution of the
cotton districts in the .form of separate and distinct oases, frequently
separated from each other by immense distances.
tween )41 and 18 degrees north latitude and 31 to ~O degrees longitude
Cotton has been grown commercially in the wide zone of the new
regions in the south of the European part of the USSR, located be-
The location of these cotton-growing districts in the new regions
is as follows:
The Dagestand district embraces the level portion of the re-
public, lying along an extensive stretch of the Caspian shore. It is
divided into a northern steppe zone and a southern zone, which is more
or less elevated and runs in the form of a narrow belt between the
sea and the dissected relief of the foothills.
The Azov-Black Sea cotton district adjoins the Black Sea and
rather indeterminate, and large-scale planting of cotton is being
carried out in the approximate area of Slavyanskaya Station.
data of experimental plantings, cotton growing is possible an this
In the northern part of the Azov-Black Sea Kray, there is a
district along the Don River, 'between Konstantinovskaya and.Tsymlyan-
skaya Stations, immediately adjoining the unirrigated cotton-growing
Rayons of Stalingrad Kraye. According to analyses of the climate and
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The North Caucasian cotton district acuppies a rather extensive
territory, and includes the Mozdokskiy, Vorontsovo-Aleksandrovskiy,
Prikumskiy, Vinodelenskiy, Petrovskiy, and Blagodarnenskiy Rayons.
On the south it merges into the level portion of the Chechin between
the terek and Sunzhey rivers.
The Stalingrad cotton district is composed of two parts: the
irrigated cotton region, located in separate areas on the lower course
of the Volga from the sea to Stalingrad, and the unirrigated cotton
region, which is situated further- north, adjoining the River Don and
embracing the Nizhnechirskiy and Koteltnicheskiy Rayons.
The cotton zone of the Oradea takes in only the flat central part
of the peninsula, from the western shore of the Black Sea to the Kerch
Strait on the east.
The northern boundary of the cotton zone of the Crimea runs from
Ak-Mechet' on the west to Ak-Chekrak: Biyuk-Onlar, Ichki and thence along
the railroad to Kerch City. Its southern boundary runs from the village
of Nikolayev to Bulganyk, Sarabuz, Dzhalaby and through Old Crimea to
Feodosiya.
The Ukrainian cotton district lies to the south on the shores of
the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, and extends from the western frontier
of the USSR eastward 'to approximately the ]ongitude of Mariupol'. Its
northern boundary runs 'eastward from Zel' d to Severinovka, N. Odessa,
Vladimirovka, and from there runs along the left bank of the Dnepr to
V. Rogachik, descending thence to S. Terpeniya,then running in a
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fIESTRICTED
In their climate' the new cotton areas belong to the semi-arid
and arid zone of the USSR. In spite of this it should be noted that
what is least available in the new areas is not water for the cotton
plants, but heat. Thus, in the.extrernely arid year 1929, when most
of the crops of the Tarrian peninsula literally burned up, the cotton
fields "looked like green oases" and gave excellent harvests. On the
other hand, in 1933 which was a very wet year, the development of the
cotton crop was delayed in consequence end its productivity reduced.
The soil cover of the new cotton areas of the RSFSR and Ukraine
is characterized by the prevalence of chestnut chernozems and
chestnut soils of various shades, loamy in composition.
In the downstream areas of the Unepr sandy loam soils of alluvial
origin are prevalent (Golopristanskiy and Skadovskiy Rayons), which
are more favorable for cotton. The preference is usually given to the
loam and sandy loam soils, which are lighter in mechanical composition
and more easily warmed through and are thus more favorable for cotton
growing under the conditions of the new areas.
There is no uniformity among the cotton districts we have men-
tioned with respect to the degree to which natural conditions favor
the development of cotton culture. In connection with this the Fifth
Conference for Cotton Culture in the New Regions held in 1932, in its
resolution divided the cotton areas into three groups or subzones, accor-
ding to the degree to which cotton growing was favored by natural con..
ditions, and on the basis of actual production to date:
_ r
"To the first .group belong the areas which are unquestionably
cotton areas and have the highest and` least fluctuating productivity
of cotton, and in which cotton is already' the ]e ding crop.
ES TRIG I
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b. To the second group belong the areas which are also un-
questionably canon areas,but have a lower ..productivity than the
areas of the first group.
C. To the third group belong the areas with low and unstable pro-
ductivity of spring crops, but with obvious primacy of cotton culture."
zone is distinguished fronhe other two subzones by
The first wub
its higher temperatures, longer growing season anal, abundance of sunlight,
which is very vnportant for the development of the cotton plant. Ex-
perience has. shown that in this subzane cotton culture gives the highest
and least fluctuating 1 y ields, if harvested. at the proper time. A
greater proportion of the cotton is ripe for harvesting before the
the better textile qualities of the lint.
frosts, which accounts for
Cotton growing is most widespread in the regions of the first
subzone. Natural conditions are less favorable in the second subzone,
but sufflci ? nt to obtain a satisfactory yield of lint. Cotton has a
e
cultivated f ield.s of this subzane. The third
conspicuous place on the
and has a shortened growing season. Cotton culture
subzane is coolest, ,
here has a subordinate place aniong the other crops, with present tech-
niques and varieties, and is confined to relatively small acreage,
on the lighter sails and on southern slopes.;
mainly
METHODS OF INCREASING COTTON PRODUCTIVITY
"The central task of the Second Five Year Plan should be the
roductivity,of sovkhoz and kolkhoz fields"
p .
decisive enhancement of the
(from the re5olut' on of the 17 Party Conference). There are very con's'
technical prerequisites for the fuifilment of this
siderable material and
While the cotton culture, of the new
..task in the ..new .cotton regions.
IIESTRICTEB
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tEST RICIED
., w
 rr:
--i
(1)
Petrovsko- e
Elagodarncye
Divnoy e
ProkhladnaYa
E
NaurskaYa
1
Khasav-Yurt
v
Makh - 1
ach
gala
1
Achikulak
Kperson
Latitude
Longitude
Elevation
latitude 2414.3l4
Longitude 1tIt?39
Elevation 106.0
Latitude 36.38
Longitude 32,88
Elevation /6, S
Furnished for these stations by the GIDRONETBYURO of Dagestan
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(2)
Latitude .23
Longitude 2.52
Elevation
Latitude
5
Longitude 243.30
Elevation
Latitude 245.51
'Longitude 13.21
Elevation
Latitude ` 6
c~3.
Longitude 24)4.01
Elevation 199.0
Latitude 24)4.246
Longitude 24)4.240
Elevation 118.5
Latitude L3.15
Longitude 246.36
Elevation 115.0
Latitude
9
Longitude .247.
. 31
Elevation 32a0
}
192)4 - 1931
j
(3)
1925 - 1931
1925 - 1931
1
1925 - 1931
1921 - 1931
1926 - 1931
1912 - 193
1891 - 1930
from 1896
and from 1911
to 1930
1905 - 1930
-3.8
-3.6
1.2
-3.9
-2.b
.2
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-6.3
-5.9
-6.1
-3.2
(5)
-6.1
-5.6
0,1
0.9
1.7
0.1
0.2
1.2
0.8
3.2
3.8
1.0
2.6
10.0 18.0
8.9 19.E
9.2 18.0
8.5 17.7
$.b 17.2
10.2 18.2
10.2 16.6
21.7
20.5
21.3
19.4
21.1
20.24
21.1
22.0
21.2
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17.3
11.14
17.0
10.8
16.8
10.9
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(9) (lo) (11) (~.2) (13) (11I) (15)
21.3 2I~.1 it. O 17.3 11.4
I9.l 23.8 23.5 17.0 10.8
2 bI6)
L 2 2.O 16.8 10.9 4.9
20. li 23.2 23.6 17.5 9.9 !~. 8
21.1 23.9 23.8 17.5 10.1 1~.6
22.0 250 21~.8 18.3 .1z5
21.2 , 2tt.o 23.5 17.9 11.8 6.0
21.7 21.9 2li.9 19.3 13.7 7.1
21.9 25.1 21~.l, 18.0 20.6 5.5
7 16.6_ `20.5: , 23.1 21.9 - 16.9. 10.1 14.7 -0.5 10.01.
.
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002 10002-6
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Kh. Sennoy Tsimlyanskaya . Poltava
Feoc3,osia
Prikurnsk
Naunskaya
Figure 3. MONTHLY PRECIPITATION AT TYPICAL FOINTS OF NETY COTTON AREAS
in that area is grown under irrigation. The reason for this i s that on
the Ukrainian seacoasts, though precipitation is light, the atmospheric
humidity is usually high and sumniers are cool, while swnrner in iJagestan
is very dxy, even though temperatures are very- high. Undoubtedly the
eastern dry winds, which are more prevalent in Dagestan than in the
Ukraine, also play a prominent part.
On the Kalmyk steppes and in the Lower Volga Kray, unirrigatea
cotton culture is doubtful at pointswith precipitation under 300
millimeters and with very hot and dry summers.
IESTRICTE,D
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PRECIPITATION DURING THE 1~5.-YEAR PERIOD SINCE 1885, IN
(According to data of KRAYGIDftOIETBOp1ITETA of North Ca
Divnoye
YeYsk
Kit -ar
Krasnodar
1~?~akhach-Ka1-'}}
1_ a
ozdok
M
I
_.aurska
QI. _glno
Petrovsko
ye
Taman'
February March April
35 30 31
12 2!3
16 16 20 26 ~
21 20 19 29
12 12 12 26
27 lb 23 23
20 17 gb 25
36 30 36 36
36 - 28 - 26 31
12 12 12 30
16 - 27 27 37
13 13 17 2!~
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36
36
42
33
43
1~6
33
33
23
26
37
17
35
32
so
32
35
L~6
-l~2
39
31
39
32
29
_51
51
1.6
30
39
29
35
33
1~5 .
11
36
30
70
gp
75
59
60
3~
 39
1.6
tj1
51
1~?6
21
21j.
300
23
26
328
l,
39
15
21
295
31
31
386
25
25
316
41
56
512
t8
!i8
- 14i9.
21
18
Sod
32
27
536
20
24
337
2h
29
la77
1)4
18
360
2~t
lg
431
58
52
576.
51
46
l~23
1~3
44
1,50
i4l
56
5ll
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F DURING THE !S-YEAR ;PENSOD, SINCE 1$80, IN NiILLIMEETERS
to data of %RAYGIDROKOMITETA of 'North Caucasus)
Jii1 Au~ttst September October November December Annual Value
(,o
(11
12
28
25 _
31
38
I2
33
21~
18
33
33
26
20
i7
17
52
!~4
so
32 !
30
ig
b2
39
)~6
27 ,
32
29
38
79
I.i
b6
36
46
29
35
57
42
36
30
30
21
75
59
h8
38
3b
2h
20
67
52
h3
33
_tc7
36
147
22
>r2
1~2
36
26
63
46
52
140
3~
30
17
51
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}1ESiMcTED
In consequence of the complexity of the physical-geographic
conditions the a.sahyetal line$ of equal precipitation shown on the cli-
ma.ta.c map represent a very interesting pattern. The mountains exert their
.
the increase of precipitation, and therefore in Crimea
influence toward .
aucasus the higher valued isohyetal lines show marked dis-
and. the C
placement towards the north. The dry winds in the east reduce the pre-
ipitataon, and therefor e the lower valued isohyetal lines bend sharply
c
and turn west. The influence of the wands overcomes the influence of
the sea between the Don and the Stavropol) highlands, where these low
asohyetal1ines proceed further in a westerly direction. The winds,
travelling further, then form a belt of reduced precipitation in Northern
~.
Ukrainian littoral. The isohyetal line of X00 millimeters
Crimea and. the
forms a closed curve in the western cotton district, enclosing the entire
Ukrainian cotton district, hail' of the Taman Peninsula and the Crimean
cotton districts. In the eastern part of the cotton areas, the also
hyetal lanes of 300 a.nd X00 millimeters proceed southward in the northern
section, but when they approach the mountains they turn to the east
and proceed further along the parallels of a latitude. The isohyetal
lane of 500 millimeters runs along the fo othill8 . of Dagestan and from
the basin of the Kuban' River turns northward to Akhtari, and then
descends steeply to reach the sea between Anapa and Novorossiysk. In
Crimea COQ millimeters is noted only in a few points on the southern
the mountains. Precipitation in the steppe part of Crimea
shore and an
is between 250 and L00 millimeters, while in the remainder. of 'North
Caucasus Kray it is between lOQ and BOO millimeters,
The n?wcoteon regions are thus. sufficiently supplied with
precipitation, especially in summer, since mpst of it falls in June and
.....
/ants need it the most. But this does not ex-
July, when the cotton p
t~1CTED
i.8
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aEST RICT ED
elude the possibility of prolonged injurious droughts, which appear.
in allthe cotton districts without exception. Droughts in June and
July are particularly harmful if accompanied by scorching dry winds.
Droughts last as long as 137 days, as for instance in the case
of the drought in 1929 on the Taman Peninsula, from April 26 to
September 12, during which time less than 30 millimeters of rain fell.
Droughts lasting from 60 to 120 days are observed on the Crimean steppes,
and in Dagestan there have been droughts lasting 97 days. Atoll points
there may be whole months entirely without precipitation, not excepting
even relatively rainy places like Krasnodare
The more arid zone, or as it :is customary to say, the seed-
desert zone, is located in the northeast corner of the cotton districts
in the fo rmer Sal'sk Okrug, in the northern parts of the former Stavropol'
and. Terek Okrugs and on the Kalmyk steppes, where droughts may last 3 - L.
and even 6 months. Droughts are often accompanied by dust storms that
blot out the sun and carry dust in whole clouds for hundreds of
kilometers. The wind sometimes tears away the upper plowed layer of
the topsoil and scatters the plantings over very great distances.
The average frequency of droughts is as follows: droughts of
15 - 20 days occur every year, of 30 - LSO days, every three years,and
over 140 days, every eight years. However, not every drought is harmful
for cotton. If it lasts for 20 or 30 days in August and September and
is not accompanied by dry winds, it is even beneficial' to the cotton
plant. As an example of a ha.x iful drought we may cite the drought in
all the cotton districts that lasted from the middle of July to 10 August
1930, when the temperature reached 42 degrees, the humidity fell to 15 -
20 percent, and wind velocities reached' 10 - 1S me tern per second. In
f1ESTRICTID
yy~}'yytl ph~rqni~!~,a ~ d .~}' I',f. j( '-t ~ F
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this drought the cotton plants lost most of their buds, ovaries and
leaves, a phenomenon which wa.s especially marked in Prikumskiy Rayon,
Drought is the principal scourge for all crops in the new cotton
regions and therefore the struggle with it should be vigorously waged
in all the districts using all posdble methods, even including
artificial rain-making.
Violent downpours and rainy spells during the growing season are
also harmful to the cotton plant, especially if accompanied by mists,
slight cold drizzling rains or completely overcast skies. The cotton
plant needs sunshine and gloomy weather stunts its development very
much, delaying germination in Nay, delaying ripening in August and
September, and retarding the opening of the bolls in September and
October. Besides this, prolonged dryness may cause the bolls to rot.
Severe downpours also damage the cotton plant, particularly during
the period of germination. In June, July and August, however, as was
obsered in 1931, they do no particular damage.
As an example of exceptional rains, we may mention the one which
occured on 5 July 1931, when 118 millimeters fell in Prikumsk during a.
single day (2) hours), in August of the same year 12~ millimeters fell
in Slavyanskiy Rayon. To judge by the data of many years covering, in
some cases, as many as 36 years, these,.instances apparently represent
the maximum diurnal rainfall. in the cotton regionse Such diurnal rain-
There are sporadic` downpours every year, but, they usually, do no:
damage, if unaccompnied by storms a.nd hail. Sight hailstorms, occur
almost every year, with insignificant.damage., but large hailstones killing
70 - 100 percent of the cotton plants fall no oftener than every 1 o
20 years. w ~ ;,
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Among the favorable meteorological factors should be mentioned
the abundant sunlight in a.l1 the cotton areas. In the western districts
the mean number of sunlight hours during the growing season reaches
1700 - 200, in the eastern districts 1600 - 1900 hours, and in Dagestan
1500 - 1700 hours. The most insolated points are Yevpatoriya, Feodosiya,
Akhtari, Anapa, and the Taman' Peninsula. Ukraine, Prikumskiy and
Priterechniy Rayons are somewhat less insola;ted, but in any case sunlight
is entirely sufficient.
The mean number of sunlight hours during the summer is from
9.5 to 11.5 in the western districts, or from 75, to 90. percent of
the possible number of sunlight hours, while this proportion is 65 to
80 percent in the eastern districts and somewhat lower in Dagestan.
The detailed. distribution of winds is till insufficiently
studied. When we refer to winds, we mean the direction and velocity,
both of which are usually observed by meteorological stations at alti-
tudes of 9 - 12 meters. No data at all is available on wind conditions
at the level of the cotton plant, since they have never been observed.
However, wind velocities at these levels are considerably lower. Strong
winds are very damaging to the cotton plant., and may do mechanical
damage during.. the seedling period, as the plants are still not streng-
thened; during the blooming period winds may damage the flowers;. but
the most damage maybe done during the ripening period, when thf,,wind
can unravel` the lint and scatter it over a whole field. Strong, iris
furious winds of lit to 20 meters per second occur at all seasons of the
year and visit each point two or three times a year. if they are dry
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tSTRLCTED.
of-the winds. It is clearly shown on the climatic map how the
isohyetal lines and the lines of equal frost-free periods bulge to the
west under the influence of these winds. The winds reach the Sea of
Azov and are usually especially strong near Akhtari. Then, crossing
the Sea of Azov, they cool the northern part of Crimea. Climatic con-
ditions become worse over all this expanse and are somewhat less
favorable: than in the places to the south (south of Tikhoretskaya).
and to the north (north of the Don). Cotton is therefore not widely
cultivated here. The lowest wind velocities are noted in Krasnodar
and Slavyanskaya, where the mean annual velocity is 3.2 meters a second
and the mean velocity /ossibly printer's error for "mean summer
ve1ocity"7 is 2,5 meters a second. ,
To recapitulate, we may arrange the cotton regions in the
following order with respect to favorability of climatic conditions:
very Favorable; Taman' Peninsula, Anapskiy Rayon, Naurskaya and the
part of Mozdokskiy Rayon below the Terek, the central part of
Dagestan, Yevpatoriyskiy, Feodosiyskiy and Lenin$kiy Rayons in Crimea,
the left bank littoral part of Ukraine between Skadevsk and Genichesk
(very wide at Skadovsk, very narrow in Khorlovskiy Rayon and somewhat
broader again towards Genichesk). These areas are characterized by
frost-free periods of 200 to 225 days, mean annual temperatures of 10
11 degrees and annual precipitation of 250 to L6o millimeters, with
most of it falling during the sumu~er. The first halfof autumn is dry
and warm, and there are no.killing frosts in May or September. Strong
winds and the possibility of. drought belong on the negative side of.
the balance sheet.
Favorable; In the Ukraine; the belt from nchakov through Nikolayev,'
.......
Kherson and Melitopol' to Nariupol'. In West Caucasus: Slsvyanskiy
Rayq4 `h arts of Primorsko?'Akhtarsltiy and Yeyskiy Rayons, Tsyin1yanskiy
~ESiRiCTED
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1iESTRICTED
Rayon and many places in Dagestan. The frost=free period is 180 to 200 `.
.
daYss the mean annual temperature is 9 - 10 degrees, and the annual.
precipitatlon 350 500 millimeters, with most of it falling during the
summer.
Killing frosts are very infrequent and insignificant in May,
autumn is cool, with possible rains, autumn killing frosts begin on
the average about October 120
Least. Favorable; that part' of the Ukraine mrth of the L 7th parallel,
the Don cotton district from Beshenskaya to Kamyshin, Krasnodarskiy and
Timashevskiy Rayons, the northern rayons the former Stavropol.' Okrug
'vne ..v~ skiY and Proletarskiy Rayons), the northern part of Dagestan, and
(D~.
the elevated parts of the mountainous regions.
The irrigated cotton regions (Lower Volga and Dagestan' are very
rich in summer heat and have a sufficiently long frost-free period; 170
to 180 days in Astrakhan and 220 to 250 days in southern Dagestan.
Summer rains are trifling in amount - less than 100 millimeters in
stralchan'- but are very considerable in Dagestan - 300 to X00 milli-
A
meters.
We may say in conclusion that meteorological science has
not yet spoken its last word on the question of the posibility of cotton
growing in the new regions.
Though this question may be more or less settled for the large
continuous cotton districts, things are considerably less clear with
respect to separate details, and we may still find separate territories
and separate tracts, mare or less considerable in size,which can be used
for the further development of cotton growing, as we have seen in the
example of the Don cotton district.
dESTRICTED
S)4'
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ESTRICTED
In the general complex of meteorological factors,taken as a whole,
sDme climatic defects, such as temperature, for instance, may be compen-
sated by others, such as humidity, sunlight and so forth. It is
therefore entirely probable that the cotton districts will be con-
siderably expanded in the near future.
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210002-6
COTTON AND WEATHER IN THE NEW AREAS
(A report to the VI Con-
ference for Cotton Growing
in the'New'Areas, held at.
Prikumsk in July, 1933.)
by S.. D. Iysogorov
The dispute as to whether cotton growing is possible in the
new areas and in particular, in the Ukraine, which occupies the. northern-
most position among the cotton areas in the world, has lost all basis
and practical significance by now, for during the last few years cotton
has assumed a firm position here as one of the leading crops, and its
acreage is counted in hundreds of thousands of hectares.
In areas where, according to the formulas of the saboteur Zaytsev,
the cotton boils could not possibly open under any circumstances before
the autumn frosts, it has been shown possible to obtain, year after
year, very reliable yields of lint of the order of 5 to 8 tsentner per
hectare, and higher.
Fro his it is clear how comp]etely unfounded it is to mechanically
apply conclusions about the relation of cotton growing to climate, con
elusions obtained under the conditions of the old cotton regions, to
regions where the totality of climatic conditions is sharply contrasted
with those of the old areas and where cotton growing, moreover, is
based on entirely different and peculiar methods of agricultural tech-
nology.
The interest aroused by the clarification of the behavior of
cotton under the climatic conditions of the new areas is thus entirely
natural, and an evaluation of the probable. productivity of that area
among them which is leash supplied with heat (Ukraine) is likewise
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flWf?
 -
important, since heat is indisputably the factor -among all other meter?I
orological elements which is most potent to limit the practical economic
possibilities of cotton culture.
It may therefore fairly be awaited that here, of all places, in
these territories where we have conquered nature and won new fields for
cotton growing, the dependence of its cultivation and productivity on
meteorological factors should be most clearly and concisely explained.
The practice of cotton growing in the new regions including:
the Ukraine during the past few years, has very definitely demonstrated
that the primary prerequisite is not so much a matter of weather con-
ditions as it is of agricultural technology., For failure to meet the
fundamental demands of agricultural technology is the reason for in-
stability of yield and sometimes even crop failure, and in genera,, for
the immense gap between the size of actual cottom crops and the size of
those which the weather and other natural conditions here would permit
us to obtain.
.Itis cur urgent task for the near future to aiquidate this gap
and reach a high productivity with the aid of the accomplishments of
science, a task of which the solution lies in the organizational economic
and political strengthening of the sovkhozes and kolkhozes.
But the significance of meteorological factors in cotton
growingis still very great, even where the demands of agricultural
technology are met..
conditions and on the individual components of that totality must be
carefully sketched in detail against the background of u niform agri-
The dependence of cotton growing on the totality of meteorological
ES TRIOTED
iE$1 i'gi U
a
k
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tESTRtCTEO.
cultural technology, consistently maintained from year to.. year. And
the same must also be expected even where sowings of cotton'are made
at different periods within the same year.
Experimental sowings of cotton have been made since 192 in the
northern zone of the New Cotton Areas on the territory of the Ukrainian
Zonal .Station Kherson). Data is thus available covering a period of
8 to 9 years, and it already allows us to draw very definite and valuable
practical conclusions in a number of instances as to the relation between
the productivity of ` cotton and the meteorological conditions of the year.
.
Among these eight to nine years there are some with vividly
contrasting meteorological conditions, and contrasting as well in their
respective productivity of cotton. This is' -a premise favorable to the
elucidation of the relations and interdependence which are of interest
to us.
It must however be remembered that a connection so manifested does
in all instances necessarily prove to be the result of a causal
not
sequence. Two phenomena are not infrequently asE.ociated only by ex
t -
ernal linkage, and simultaneously bear a causal relation to a third
phenomenon.
Comparison among themselves, with respect to meteorological con'
ditions, of entire growing seasons or of their separate sta.ges,each of
considerable length, such as for instance germination-flowering,
-flowering or `f lowering-ripening, could not reveal many critical
budding
moments in the life of the cotton plant.
For this reG:son the statistical
method of analysis of the correlation between climate and growth must
necessarily be supplemented by direct experiment to clarify the relation
of growth to the specific meteorological factor being investigated.
RESTRICTED
w.8 w
i
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Work with the vegetative and laboratory-field methods of agro-
meteorologyis just` starting' to develop, so that ma number of cases
the conclusions to be presented below must be 'regarded as only first
approximations.
The characteristics of the correlation between weather and cotton
growth in the new regions are of greatest interest in the data from the
Ukrainian cotton planting zone, since this is the northernmost of the
new regions.
In complete accord with the findings in the published literature
on cotton (tysenko, Miroshnichenko and others ), a very close correla-
tion has been observed under Ukrainian conditions (at Kherson) between
rapidity of onset of various phases of development of the cotton plant
and the temperature, the Fiore rapidly does the cotton plant traverse the
stages of its development, the sooner does the onset of maturation
arrive. The truth of this statement has been demonstrated in general
in all cases under investigation, by analysis of the weather and by
analysis of the results of cotton sowings at different .periods of the
sarne year, and it is also true for each stage in the life of the
cotton plant, taken separately, as is apparent from the following
table
There as the.same close and regular correlation between the
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development of'the.cotton,plant end soil temperature
year the , shorter' the period of ; ^development of the cotton plant from
sowin ;to; natu?city; ;wi;th.::;var ety,;lb9'athe length of ~thispexiod fluctuates
,between ar~120and 172 sdays according totemperature conditions, or a
 A12IGSPHERIC TENIPERA7[TRE AND THE LENGTH OF THE GROWING SEASON OF THE COTTON PLANT
Coefficient of
ea~rsl925 1926 1927 1928 1929 193 1931 1932 Correlation
Mean temperature from
nnination to blooming. 20 22 22.7 21.2 21.0 18.1 22.6 21.
~ ?9 ~ 3
rs, Number of days between
csgermination and blooming 97 67 61 68 63 87 56 61~
..tee
-Mean temperature from
E
rriblooming to opening of
the bolls
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1Lt.2 17.6 , 23.E 19.2 26.2 '17.3 23.1 2.1.
Number of days between
blooming and opening
of the bolls S8 66 lt5 54 43 56 54 54
0
O
Mean temperature between
planting and opening of
the bolls. 18.? 19.7 21,3 _ 20.3 22.L~ 19.0 21.5 20
Number of days between.
planting and opening
of the bolls 172 11t3 127 133 120 164. 130 133
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-0.66 = 0.13
-0.77 = 0.09
-a?9L. = 0.03
v
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This regularity noted in the cotton literature, however,
proves on more detailed analysis of the data to be confirmed only in
general. Instances of very considerable deviation from this regularity
are by no means infrequent. Thus in a series of experiments with
plantings of variety 1306 at different periods in 1932 the following
results were obtained:
Days to Mean Temperature Aggregate Temperature
Date of. Planting Budding During the Period During the Period
August 1 L~.8 21,1 degrees 1012 degrees
May 30 L.2 20.9 degrees 880 degrees
. It will be,seen from this data that cotton planted August 1
took 6 days longer to reach the budding period than that planted May
30, in spite of the higher mean temperature and the considerably higher
aggregate temperature during the later period. The reasons for this
are partially revealed by analysis of the conditions ofthis
experiment.
Number of Days Number of Days
with Maximum with Minimum
Temperature Temperature Relative Humidity
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Date of Planting over 30 degrees under 13 degrees at 1300 hours
August 1
17
13
10.8 percent
May 30
0
2
56.l. percent
The delay in budding; is evidently?connected with the sharp up.
F
1
ward and. downward deviations from, the mean 1n the diurnal march of
temperature, as well as with the reduction in relative humidity during.
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In another experiment with variety 1306 in 1931, the following
were obtained:
June 19 30 ? 2. i 733 l5 2 7
July 2 29 25.9 752 21 6 6
(Note: Low minimum temperatures did not occur)
Number of Number of Number of
days with days ~d.th days with,
Maximum Maximum Relative
Temperature Temperature Humidity
Number of Mean
Date of days to Temperature Aggregate over 30 over 35 under 35
Planting Budding During Period Temperature Degrees Degrees Percent
.-~._.- ------
Cotton planted on, July 2, though it enjoyed a mean diurnal
temperature 1.5 degrees higher than that of the earlier planting of June
19, still took almost the same time to reach the 'budding stage.
The relative retardation in the bearing of the July 2 planting
must apparently be attributed to the extreme increases of temperature
during the daylight hours. Obviously temperatures over 30 degrees, and
s in the meteorological
according to the readin
d
booth do no accelerate, but rather tend to retard, the march of the
processes connected with the formation and appearance of buds.
The injurious effect of high temperatures is even more apparent
from the results of a1931 experiment on Variety 1306 (at Kherson):
egrees
perhaps over 35
g
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FIESTRICTED
Mean
,Number of Temperature
Date of days to during the Aggregate
Planting Budding Period
-- -- - Temperature
May 30 33 22.2 733,1
June 9 L~1 23. 958.0
Number of
days with
Maximum
Temperature
over
30
degrees
7
16
Number of
days with
maximum
Temperature` Mean
over 35 relative
degrees Humidity
0 6o. o
59.9
The retarding effect of high temperature is alst Confirmed
by experiments performed in 1932 by the vegetative method of P. A
Yakhtenfel' d. Increasing the temperature of the air in the i mmediate
proximity of the plant above 35 degrees and-brin in it
g g up to 40 degrees
already resulted in marked retardation of the transition of the caftan
plant to the reproductive' st&te'and noticeably increased _ the ha.eght
of the first sympodium. (See the periodical Za. kadyan'sku Bavovny,
Numbers 10 - 12 of 1932, "The Bavov Vernalization", by P. A. Yakhternf
el a.)
Frequent and sharp temperature increases to the limits when
they begin to retard the development of the cotton
plant do not appear
to be characteristic of the new cotton regions, On the contrary, it is
the weather in the old regions that manifests an abundance of high reM
Larding ternpera.tures to a very considerable degree, as is apparent from
the long-term data for maximum temperatures 'at Kherson
and maxima for
shorter periods at Tashkent.
In spite of the fact that the absolute maxima are given for
Kherson, while for Tashkent only the maxima are given for the periods
of observation, which are usually lower : that the absolute maxima,
these data still who sharp rises in temperature to be customary in T
ash
-
kent.
Thjc TEJY
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ESTRICTEO
MONTH
POINTS APRIL MAY JUNlia JITLY AUGUST SEPTEMBE OCTODER
Kherson 28.7 3~.5 39.8 38.5 38.8
36.0 32.0
L. A. Molchanov, "A Contribution to the Question of the climatic
Regional Distribution of the Cotton Areas' (in Numbers S 6 of
Khlopkovoye Delo for 1925).
In the development of the cotton plant the phenomenon of the so-called
temperature after-effect is observed. If high effective aggregate
temperatures are accumulated during the early stages, then the later
stages are able to proceed with lower aggregate temperatures, and
conversely; thus in 1930 Variety 1306 required a total aggregate
temperature of 968 degrees for the completion of the phase "blcomin
g
to ripening", in spite of the relatively low temperature of 17,3
degrees during this period, while in 1931 the same phase took an aggre-
gate temperature of 12L.6 degrees, though this period, with a. mean
temperatureof 22.3 degrees, was much hotter in 1931.
One o f the main reasons for this phenomenon was that in 1930 a
total of 1875 degrees of mean diurnal temperatures had already been
accumulated, while the corresponding value in 1931 was only 1599 degrees.
In consequence the phase ?Iblooming to ripening in 1930 took only as
long as in 1931, in spite of the low temperature.
It should not be thought, however, that this temperature com-
pensation proceeds beyond the levels of supplementary heat which are
actually useful to the cotton plant. This would be untrue even if o
~ only.
ESTR!CTED
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Tashkent3. 3) .6 X0.1 l~2.I !2.6 )2.O 37.6
3.7
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because the degree of reaction to any given factor may in general
' tant variations in other factors. But in addition
vary with concoml
to such variations, changes in the norms of reaction to temperature
may also occur in consequence of the specific phenomena of
conda.ta.ons
after-effects.
It would finally, be errcmeous to assume that plants necessarily
with heat only under h igh levels of temperature. Thus
become charged
most of the "plantingato-bJ.oom~-ng? period was cool,
in 1930, though
there was still an increased. aggregate temperature before blooming.
Accordingly the phase t'blooming=ta ripening" required a lower
aggregate tempsrature9 that is, this phase proceeded at an accelerated
tempo.
But very low temperatures, if they occur on many days, can
operate as an external factor to counteract this phenomenon completely
arid. thus prevent its appearance, as was the case during the unusually
cold year in 1933 in the Ukraine.
The regularity reappears if ineffective temperatures are excluded'
from cons ation. The correlation between the aggregate teraper7tures
~.de~r
during the planting-to.germination and the germination-to-budding
phases during the planting times of Variety number 1306 in 1933 was
as follows
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r1Mc*TEU.
Excluding Excluding Excluding Excludin
Excluding
Temperatures Temperatures Temperatures Temperatures Temperatures
C degrees
of 10 De rees of 11 Degrees of .12 degreea of 13 degreel of 1~
Calculated g
..~..~_.... .--
as Usual and Below and below and below -and below and below
~p ? ~,1
0 ? h~. o.1 ~ 0.01 0.12 -0.01 '
Excluding Excluding
Temperatures Temperatures
of 15 degrees of 16 degrees
and below and below
-9,4 0.21.
that is, the preparation far budding proceeds at temperatures above
.
1$ degrees, and.. it is therefore natural that the exclusion of
physiologa.ca.lly effective temperatures of 16 degrees should again
reduce the inverse correlation.
The phenomenon of temperature aftereffect is of more general
occurrence than that of vernalization, since for instance cotton plants
the budding stags under different temperature
which have reached
condltlons manifest different Stag es of preparation for blooming and
r lower aggregate temperatures after budding
therefore require higher o
to reach the oJ.lowing stage of blooming, according to 1i ether. they have,
. f ,
received lower a r higher aggregate temperatures before budding;.. The
same is also observed with other periods. Confirmation is given by the
.
subjoined table, showing the coefficients of correla.tian between the
aggregate temperatures of paired development stags in the life of the
`
cotton plant. These talculations are based on data for various points
. ,
ton regions, and the graph in Figure l (on page'
in the new and old cat
39) vividly illustrates the car .relation between the aggregate temperatures
necessary for growth during the vani ous periods of development.
RFSiHl~TEO
)y
g14~rni~, j11F
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. PERIODS
-; Sowing to th leaf and
i th leaf to budding ...
Sowing to budding and
budding to blooming ...,....
Sowing to budding and
budding to ripening....... .
Sowing to blooming and
blooming to ripening. ......
Germinati?fl to budding and
to blooming........
budding ~,
Gennination to budding
and
budding to ripening. . . . . ...
Gemination to blooming and
blooming
to ripening. ......
N
cr1
O\
rt
O
N
(tS
r-{ ?
c:h0
Q..
H4
to a) cj U)
?H :iU1 cD T9
?r4 r! S~ ~N
cr\c ? `~ o. -a cli
?
?H
co
.~ ~ O ?
Cam- o
NA
~
N
NH
U} N
0\ ~t
r- Q)
?H rO
b
N
? co
N
O\.4
Ha)
A
Q O\ ~D
H)
D rH ?H \O
rn ;
~
ca .,a
U) r- O
?HI G '.O
n
~+ c
cd c~1
O ~
Gi c ? Z
~z
?
O C H r1
cti ?r-I ~ r?i
o -
4G
~
4:
T
~ W
o
U) c\ r-I N o
Q}
N
Dc::
?a)
N{ O
U) O O
N
,
cd N
Op
S-
~H
H
.H H ,
~
tJ 'f"I
I r-i ?H
U2 ~ ~
..
f
p
ma
G) ?
) 'd
1)
.
?H cYl
c'J
N
qjQ (d
i
/
y
c
x
1
o
a\
c~ ci oD
ryQ'~ }-1 cj
cc j.
?-I F,
H c~Z e%y
,~ ?
R r ' z
z
.1
1-`-1
r
w
V J
F+i ?H Y'
N-4
r~n
v
-0.63
-0.35
-0.37
-0 .
-0.73
-0.77
-0.65
-0.72
-0.88
-0.55
-0.30
-x.08
-0. [1
-0.59
-0.3)4
-0.52
-0.440
-O;87
he earliest dates with physiologically ineffective terPera:tures have been omitted in calculating the coefficients of correlation.
.
CORRELATION BE'IWEEI3 THE AGGREGATE TEMPERATURES OF TWO D1FFEkEPtT STAGES IN THE GROWING PERIOD
OF THE COTTON PLANT
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roe:
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Thus the correlations between al 'hese pairs uniformly retain
the minus sign and in a number of cases reach significant values.
This inverse correlation between two different periods of development
indicates that the actual amount of heat required by the cotton plant
during a given phase of development i s not determined only by the
nature of the plant itself, or only by the concrete circumstances of
development during that particular phase, but is also determined by the
conditions under which it developed up to the time in question, 'or
this reason it is clear that the harmful isophase theory of Zaytsev,
when applied to any period of growth, independently of the age of the
.
plant and of the preceding concrete conditions of development, is shown
to be insolvent just as
soon as it is applied to conditions radically
different from those under which it was originally introduced. k
The phenomenon of temperature after-effect, which appears
under analysis by the method of graphic juxtaposition of "parallel ob-
servations" and by statistical methods, demands verification by
direct experiment, but it also demands the most intensive scrutiny and
the undertaking o f special investigations (which have already y been
initiated), inasmuch as further study of its nature might render possible
the complete control of the growing season of cotton and the use of
that control to increase productivity,
fk {tl!~' eluE'.[
~~ ix f 1 i ti~1?~~~a` ', ~i ;y~
~114L. i .t?h );aa.. E y6 ~r, i,1~i +~zN}~~ i.av 9,~d~zti~l rrn,knE
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 Aggregate o
Tempera-
ture in o
Degrees
;iEstAicTEo
Years of
Observation
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Figure )4' Aggregate Temperatures During the Periods Germination-tom
blooming and blooming to ripening, of the Cotton Plant,
Shown in their Relation to each other.
Soil temperature is also very important for the cotton plant.
The works of K. V. Flerov and S. I. Yakubtsov (The Influence of Soil
Temperaon the Development of Cotton, 193) have thrown light on
this question. But the work of NOVNIKhI in 1933 showed the exceedingly
great importance of the relation between atmospheric and soil temperatures
for the development of the cotton plant. A great gap between these
temperatures retards development, stunts growth and may even cause death
of the plant. The optimum atmospheric temperature for cotton plant
development is thus correspondingly reduced where soil temperatures
are lower, which involves some readjustment in our appraisal of the
temperature conditions in the new regions. This .is confirmed by the
following results obtained in pot experiments at Prikumsk in 1933 with
variety Number 1306.
RESTRICTED
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Date Date of
Place Condition of Planted Budding
28.6
2l. I.
2L.0
20.3
20.E
20.0
It is very important for a fuller description of the correlation
between development of the cotton plant and the temperature conditions,
to discover, even though only approximately, what limiting temperature
must necessarily be exceeded if the processes preceding the appearance
of the reproductive formations (buds) are to take place, that is, the
minimum temperature required for the stage of vernalization under
natural conditions.
It :i.s well known from the work of Comrade Lysenko that the
processes of vernalization begin almost as soon as the seeds start to
grows if the necessary conditions are present. It follows that if
heat is sufficient, pas.?age through the stage of vernalization can
commence urnnediatelY after planting and the swelling of the seeds,
before seedling emergence. Thus by analyzing the data on planting
dates we may learn what levels of temperature during the period between
the two plantings result in retardation of budding and consequently
what temperatures may be utilized in the preparation for fruiting in
the vernalization process. .
The fact that the actual temperature conditions between two
budding begins, is also confirmed 'by the correlations established
` between planting and
between the aggregate temperatures in the periods
budding us, for instance,, the coefficient of correlation;
. in each case. Thus,
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Soil May 13 J,. une 2
Courtyard Hot May 20 July 23
dies
Courtyard Warm May 20 July ?
Courtyard Cool May 20. July 5
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lIES TRIG TED
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calculated for these values from data given in Lysenko's work Influence
f Thermal Factors on the Length of the Phases of Plant Development
proves to be equal to 0.92.
Analysis of the data by planting date given for Various points
of the Ukraine and Variety Number 1306 (see table on page 38) shows that
under natural conditions the stage of vernalization of the cotton plant -
based on temperatures shown by booth readings - may already proceed with
mean atmospheric temperatures of the order of 18 - 36 degrees Centigrade.
Normal atmospheric temperatures at Kherson during May are 11.9
degrees during the first ten days, 16.8 degrees during the middle ten
days, and 18.0 during the last ten days. Therefore the processes
connected. with fruiting of the cotton plant can already proceed from
the middle ten days of May, and even.on some of the first ten days.
The relatively intensive stage of these processes can apparently be
reached by May 21. And the actual retardation shown by sowings after
May 20 is attributable as a rule to the sharp retardation of the budding
phase as well, inasmuch as this can then not take advantage of useful
temperatures. When sowings are made at the normal times, budding
occurs toward the end of June, blooming commences tawrds the end
of July or at the beginning of August, after which the cotton plant
still develops for another month at temperature over 20 degrees and
begins to open its boils in September, mostly during the second half of
that month, with the temperature of the air still holding above 15
degrees.
The normal onset of frosts in the Ukraine and in all
the new
cotton regions is in the middle or the second half of October. Tt
should be pointed out?that these frosts, at least in the Ukraine ,Y are
 Brilevka, 1930
N Brilevka, I930
I
Brilevka, 1931
Skadovsky;, 1932
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ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURES AMID STAGES OF VERNALIZATION OF THE COTTON PLANT
Planting Dates Hig hest Mean Tenperture of Atmosphere (in
s~ieteorolo i a1 Booth)
g c between these date?
in degrees Centigrade.
May 5 and 20 17 17.2 _.17.0 16.5 16. June 27 and
July b
April 30 and. 161 ~ 16.0 15.5 II.E.8
May 10
May 5 and 21 18.2 15.9 16.5 15.9
-- July 1 and
June 2I and
26
June 30 and
July 5
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usually accompanied by a general fall in the march of temperature, so
that as a`rule they apparently do not in themselves result in any
large crop losses.
Let us now go further into the observed relations between the
temperature conditions for the development o I the cotton plant and its
productivity, for which purpose the following table m ay be examined,
together with the chart in Figure 5 (on page L2)
ATOSPHEEIC TEMPERATURE, LENGTH OF THE GROWING SEASON, AND LINT YIELD
1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932.
.
ripening 18.1 19.7 21.3 20.3 22.L 19.0 21.5
Years
Mean temperature
ng to
from somd
Number of days
from sowing to
ripening 172 11.3 127 133 120 16L. 130 133
Harvest before
the frosts, in
tsentner per
hectare 0 0 5.1 O d 11.3 0.5 6.1 10.7
There is an intimate relation between the productivity of
cotton and the temperature conditions of.. the year,; the warmer the year,,.
the shorter the period between sowing and ripening,and
harvest, both before the frost and, the total yield of raw' cotton.
correlation between the mean :atmospheric temperature from sowing;
ripening is expressed, for instance at Khersnn, by the coefficient of
correlation 0.87,, while the correlation between the interval? in days,
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between sowing and ripening, and the size of harvest is expressed by
the coefficient of correlation O7)
Analysis of the data of past years, obtained under the con-
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ditions of the Ukrainian Zonal Station, indicates that total ~.int
yields exceeding S tsentner per hectare, with about o.~ tsentner per
hectare, with about 0.! tsentner per hectare harvested. before the
frosts, may be readily obtained under conditions analogous to 1928, which
was characterized by the following ind.icia: mean atmospheric temperature.
from 1"Iay to October was 17.6 degrees, from August to October 1S.5 degrees,
number of days with atmospheric temperature not lower than 13 degrees was
1L8, not lower than degrees was 128, and not lower that 20 degrees was
If we start from these figures, then of the total of 26 years with
temperature data, for hherson studied by us, the following percentage of
this number of years according to the various indicia must be assigned
to the category of years with less than mean productivity:
ording to mean temperature from May to October, inclusive...27.percent
Acc of these
years,.
According to mean temperature from August to October,
Inclusive...19 percent.
According to number of days with temperature no lower than
13 dgrees-------1~ percent
cording to number of days with temperature no lower than
15 degrees------------------11 percent
According to number of days with temperature no lower than
egrees---- --11 percent.;
20 degrees--------------11'
AVERAGE.. , ...16.6 ~ perce`n
it is clear from this that the indicia pointing to the probability
of unfavorable temperature conditions, even in the most northerly
ill! y II.
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zones of the new regions, are not great and even these relate to sowings
of Variety No 169, with still far from complete application of the most
recent achievements of agricultural technology. In the meal time we already
have varieties of cotton that are much earlier and more productive than
Number 169, while agronomic pra Lice has also made great strides forward
during the past two or three years.
At this point it w11 be appropriate to give an evaluation of the
temperature conditions for cotton in 1933?
Weather conditions for cotton in the Ukraine add up to an exceedingly
unfavorable situation for 1931.
Figure !?
Total Harvest of Lint, number of days from Planting to
Maturation, and mean atmospheric temperature during the
growing season, shown in relation to each other (Data for
Kherson).
All months without exception have been cooler than normal in the
Ukraine, with average departures ranging from 1 to 2.9 degrees. If
we compare 1933 with 1930, when weather conditions were the most un-.
favorable of all the ears in which we have been growing cotton on a
TRIO TED
15..
d\ t
/
oq j
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practical scale and the temperature indica sharply deviated from
normal on the bad side, then 1933 appears to be even more unfavorable,
for all of its growing months were considerably colder than 1930, and in
addition the first killing frost of autumn occurred almost half a
month earlier than usual in 1933?
Sharp retardation was noted in allphases of cotton development
in 1933, and the cotton plants were killed by frosts before they commen-
ced to mature and open their bolls. This forced us to determine the
frequency of seasons like that of 1933 by calculating the aggregate
effective temperatures during the growing season for each such ten-day
period from 1882 to 1933 inclusive. The temperatures included in the
calculatio were those known to be physiologocally effective both for
the initial and final stages of cotton development,and thus omitted
all temperatures below l5 degrees.
The data were taken for Khersony which is situated at the
center of the Ukrainian cotton zone, and the following results were
obtained:
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The rre an longterm normal of this aggregate, for the growing
season, is 286.LL.. degrees. The highest such aggregate was 352,3 degrees
in 192. The lowest was 197.3 degrees in 1933. Before that this
value had never dropped below the 222,8 degree lead reached in 1916.
Similar results obtained by the calculation of other. temperature
indicia also point to the exceptional position occupied by the year
1933?
The percentage of summers with sharply depressed temperatures,
that is with such aggregates not over 250 degrees, calculated on the
basis of 52 years of observations, is 13 percent in all, including
1930 and 1933.
The year 1933 in its relation to cotton is unusual, and it is for
this reason that the results of our agricultural technology deserve
attention and are interesting indications of the accomplishments of
our work; for, applying all th st important achievements of that
technology, it was possible, even under these "imposdble" weather
conditions of 1933 for the Skadovsk base to obtain a yield of 5.8
tsentner per hectare of raw cotton from a field of L.9 hectares.
Moisture
We turn now to the conditions of natural watering of the areas
of cotton planting, and shall attempt to evaluate them, starting with
these needs of the cotton plant for water, by the satisfaction; of which
an economically useful effect can be obtained. We shall therefore
~i
first of a,11 explain, as far as the available data permits;, ?the` role
of precipitation and soil moisture in the creation of the 'lint yi;eld., ,
cipitation during the growing season, from Ukraine data;,? g;ive$. i ri .`genera
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EZTRICTEO
The mp an longterm normal of this aggregate, for the growing
season, is 288dG degrees. The highest such aggregate was 352.3 degrees
j..n i921. The lowest wss 197.3 degrees in 1933? Before that this
value had never dropped below the 222.8 degree lead reached in 1916.
Similar results obtained by the calculation of other temperature
indicia also point to the exceptional position occupied by the year
1933.
The percentage of summers with sharply depressed temperatures,
that is with such aggregates not over 250 degrees, calculated on the
basis of 52 years of observations, is 13 percent in all, including
1930 and 1933.
. The year 1933 in its relation to cotton is unusual., and it is for
this re ison that the results of our ap,ricultural technology deserve
attention and are interesting indications of the accomplishments of
our work; for, applying all th st important achievements of that.
technology, it was possible, even under these "impose ible" weather .~
I
conditions of 1933 for the Skadovsk base to obtain a yield. of 5.8
tsentner per hectare of raw cotton from a field of L.9 hectares,
.Moisture
We turn now to the conditions of natural watering of the areas
of cotton planting, and shall attempt to evaluate there, starting with
these needs of the cotton plant for water, by the satisfaction of which
an economically useful effect can be obtained.. We shall therefore
first of all explain, as far as the available data permits, the role
of precipitation and soil moisture in the creation of the lint yield.
The direct juxtaposition of cotton productivity with the pre-
cipitation during the growing season, from Ukraine data, gives in general
NESTRICTEA - 79
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?l- t44
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This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that wetyears are as
a rule cooler than dry years, while heat is one of the decisive factors
for the outcome of the cotton season, so that::.its influence is more
strongly reflected in the productivity of cotton than the direct
effect of precipitation. Observations made over a period of two years
on the, territory of the Ukrainian Zonal Stafi~ion and of its bases on.
the withdrawal of moisture from soil under cotton as compared with that
in fallow, and also experiments on the immediate estimation of trans
iration of cotton plants by the pot method, have shown that these plants
p
use very little water during the initial phases of development, or
roughly up to the budding stage. Nearer to the blooming period, the
consumption of water increases, and sharply increases just before that
period is reached, attaining a maximum with the flush of anthesis and
boll formation. It subsides again as maturation approaches. If we
assume that the critical period, with respect to soil moisture, in the
development of the cotton plant, coincides with the period of most in-
tense consumption of water by it, then we should expect to find that
soil moisture conditions during this period had a powerful effect on
the productivity of cottons With rare exceptions (as in 1931) this
period comes in August, under Ukrainian conditions. It would therefore
be necessary to seek a positive relationship between August precipitation
and the size of the harvest. However, Chart 3 (Figure 6) shows plainly
that even in this case heat is more important for the cotton plant than ,
moisture since even here the precipitation still maintains its inverse
variations with respect to the size of the harvest, whil`e' the distinct-
ness of the positive correlation between mean temperature and harvest
is still unimpaired. I1is, therefore,. entirely `natural that inyears
with ample heat watering of the,. cotton plant at blooming time sharply;
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In such eases , as is generally known from the work
of.the Ukrainian
Zonal Station, the Brilevsk Irrigation Station and the Dagestan Zonal'
Station, irrigation can more than double the yield of the cotton plant,
. CL
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since in warm years, greatly resembling each other in therma onditions,
.large cotton crops are obtained when rainfall is heavy during the
growing season. The data on temperature, rainfall and cotton yield in
the following table graphically illustrate and confirm this point.
1927 1931
Rainfall from May to October,
inclusive, in millimeters 128.5 205.6
Lint Yield in Tsentner
per Hectare 8.814.5
This yield, which is with irrigation, is less than normal. Without
irrigation it was even less - about L. tsentner per hectare.
Direct juxtaposition of the lint yield and that of precipitation
in those separate zones and subones of the new regions which have
most heat and least rain may be expected to reveal a positive corre-
lation between them, and this work will be done o n the basis of the
data available when the appropriate stage of the study is reached.
The data for 1929 throw a eertain amount of light on the question
of theinfluence on cotton yields of considerable deviation of precipi_
ta.tion from the norm in single years. In that year 1UL. millimeters of
rain fell from May to October, dur::Lng the growing months of cotton.
Based on many years' data, the norm in Kherson for this period is 21(
millimeters. Thus in 1929 precipitation was 66 millimeters short of
the normal for this period, which amounts to a deficiency of 31.E 'per-'
cent, and ;yet the yield of cotton in that year amounted to 12`.2 tsen
tnex'`
PRECIPITATION DURING THE GRCMING MONTHS AND YIELDS
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ESTfiICTEO
per hectare without the use of irrigation.
Among the factors participating in the growing of the cotton
crop are not only the precipitation during the..growirig period but also
the presence of soil moisture stocks from the very moment
of .. planting,
and consequently also the precipitation that originates these
stacks
of soil moisture. In fact, if two years ar.e selected both with ample.
warmth, both with sirmilar precipitation during the growing seasons. but
different preciptation during the prece din autumn-wi
g titer period,
before the `planting, it will be found that the larger harvest is ob-
tained with more abundant pre-sowing precipitation.
THE CONTRIBUTICI OF PRE-COTTON-PLANTING PRECIPITATION TO THE SIZE
OF THE RESULTANT HARVEST
Precipitation durin. the 1927 1.
..
~' pre-planting
months of October to April, in
millimeters 116.0 0
Spring soil moisture,in millimeters,
in the top 1-meter layer of soil.....,. 162.8 220.8
Precipitation during the growing
months of cotton in millimeters...,,.'.. 138,5 iL 0
Yield in tsentner per hectare.... , .... , 8.812
.2
Note: The partial increase of yield in 1929 as compared with 1927
must be attributed to better thermal conditions.
*See the footnote to the preceding table.
It is entirely natural that the role of the spring soil moisture
stocks should vary with the quantity and character of recipi?
p tataon
during the growing season. In years when the cotton growing season is
arid, the role of these stocks will increase, while on the
. contrary, in
wet?years, when rainfall is abundant during the period while the cotton
plant remains in the ground, its role will diminish.
liEs TR;C TED
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;iEST81CTED
yield by 2602 percent as compared with the control . this under the
arid conditions of the second half of the 19;32 growing; season - so that,
calculated on the. hectare basis, they yielded, about 5 tsentner per
hectare.
Thus, provided spring moisture stocks are sufficient, it is
apparently possible, even if the precipitation during the growing period
is considerably reduced, to obtain cotton harvests fulfilling the
quotas set by the planned national economy. Under. drought conditions,
moreover, which are especially c1e7r1y expressed towards the end of
the grcwing season, the bolls open earlier, but a certain deterioration
of fiber quality must be noted when there has been no rain. Thus the
fiber length was shorter than that of the control by l.5 millimeters in
the cotton grown on the plots protected from the rain since germination,
while on the plots sheltered since budding it was 0.6 millimeters shorter.
At the present time profounder investigations are being made into
the significance of precipitation and. the surface stocks of soil
moisture, using the same method of protection froir ain by rre ans of movable
roofs (Kherson, Prikumsk, Tarran' ), and also the method of enclosing
soil columns (monoliths) in isolation cells, assuring normal area of
supply and approximately normal depth for root propagation; with the
depth of some of these columns reaching i5p centimeters.
We dwell finally on the critical value of soil 'mois'ture,' at ..which
the normal nutrition of the plant is disturbed. Repeated observations
Ira de by us in 1932 on the territory of the Ukrainian Zonal. `Station
the soil moisture at times of acute water withdrawa1 sympto, s ,of the
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L14y Lt LL ujlt moisture in the deep layers below 80 ?- 90 centimeters
For this reason it is passible that water starvation m n
ay of occur when
ordinary maximum hygroscopicity of the cotton plant, provided there are
still moisture stocks in deeper sail layers available for consumption,
field in full bloom, columns of soil, including the roots of a few
growing cotton plants, were dug up. Each column had a cross section
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iESTR1CTED
to be made more precise, us
on agricultural meteorology.
The new regions enjoy a sufficiently favorable normal distribution
of precipitation throughout the year, falling principally or in sufficient
norm~la.mounts in June, July and August, when it is most needed. Thus
at Kherson, Kho Sennoy, prikumsk and.Khasav-Yuri, the precipitation by
MONTHS
PLACE.- ~__ uary February March April Mra, June July
Kherson 20
15 18 2I~ ~0 ~2 L1.0..
Khutor-Sennoy Li 27 33 28 26 Lj 3L.
prikumsk 13 7 15 31 ) 67 81
Khasa.vMYurt 20 29 23 33 53 67 53
August
September
October
November
Dec
December
Year
-----~-
--
herson
K
. 3L
2~
30
27
2
7
3 ]
Khu tor-Sennoy
prikumsk
39
37
) 2
111
La
23
L3
19
)4
15
4L2 r,5
f
393
Khasav-Yuri
Li.8
51
L6
36
6
3
498
It must be said of the May precipitation that it has a dual
character. On the one hand, moderate moistening of the sown layer in
May, during the period of the sowing and gennination of the seed is
useful; on the other hand, rainy weather in May reduces the number of
working days during the strenuous planting period and delays its come.
pletion, while excess rain leads to the formation of incrustations and
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frequently also to subsurface packing. With the increasing disorders
under these conditions, such as root rot etc., it leads to considerable'
mortality among the seedlings, unless` corresponding agrotechnical
measures are taken. Excessive precipitation is particularly harmful when
it precedes the general emergence of the seedlings.. The rains during
the second ten days of May are an example of this in the Ukraine.The
experience of 1930 and 1932 there showed that when rainfall increased
to around )4.O - 60 millimeters, it already became necessary to take .
energetic steps to control incrustation. To jude by the data of man
r~
years, however, all these har~lful results of excessive May rainfall
are relatively infrequent in the new regions.
We note that. September droughts are especially characteristic
of the Ukraine, before ripening and opening of the bolls. This tends
to be on the whole advantageous rather than the contrary, since, asp
we have already noted, if soil moisture is insufficient just before
ripening, the cotton plant begins to shed its leaves and accelerate
the opening of the ripening bolls.
Finally, rain is harmful during the harvesting period, at the
end of September and October, since it reduces the number of working
days and also to some extent shortens the working day by causing mists
and dews, increases the dampness of the lint and the probability of
fungus infection and adversely affects its quality.
To sum up all the material on the relation between cotton and
precipitation and soil moisture, the high degree of adaptability of
this plant should be noted. It can react favorably to improvement in
water conditions, but at the same time it is also able to reconcile
itself to very severe deprivations of soil moisture and still give
economically useful results.
RESTRICTED
g8 .
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Taking all this into account, we reach the conclusion that all
conditions in the new regions meet all the theoreti
w---.- - cal prerequisites
for the development of unirrigated cotton growing as the fundamental
background of their agriculture.
Sunlight is a very important factor in the development of
plants
in general, with not only the duration of insolation
but its intensity
and character (whether direct or diffused lig'ht) imraor?tant elements
for developrnent and. growthb
It is well known that a considerable section of the
plant
warld is divided into two groups: the sowca
lied "long-day plants" and
t'sho rt~day+- plants. The former. category, s has been shown by T. E.
Lysenko in his work Have Agricultural Plants an
,--. Intrinsic. Photo-period
Requirement? , require uninterrupted illumination for passage through
One of their stages and can only adapt themselves
. to s ome~..degree of
alternation of dark periods, while the latter category requires
uninterrupted darkness for passage through one of their
s t,ages and
similarly can only adapt themselves to a certain
degree of alternation
of light periods. Besides these two categories
there is also an inter
mediate category that behaves indifferently to the
alternation of light
and darkness.
Cotton is a short-day plant. For this reason its northw~3,rd
displacement towards latitudes with longer days, into the new regions,
should Obviously of itself operate to delay boll
formation if all other
conditions remained unchanged. However the early varieties grown in the
new regions are either completely indifferent to the greater length of
the day or almost so. (H, Konstantinov The
--Influence of the Length of
RES TRIC TED
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the Period of Illumination on the Developmentof the Cotton Plant, 1930)
It is also pointed out in the agricultural literature that the
'mdative processes of the cotton plant reach their m aximum during
ass~.
most intense ins oiation and that cotton thus appears to be
the hours of
'cd i sll~'1W loving ovin_. ~.plant. (V? A. Novikov, A Conte ution to Physiology -
~, typl.
of the Cotton Plant. :Invest ns ice- ceeses of Assimilation,
the Dynmics of the StomaApparatus and the Transpiration of the
Cotton Plant.
Parallel to the increased duration of ins olation there is an
improvement in the temperature, regif1en of air and 'soil, and the atmos
'c humidity diminished with the increasing intensity of insolation
pheric -
and the rise in temperature levels. These factors act to accelerate
{.. ~1 I A W6~h~.},} ,I ~Pa m7va hlrf,~,l +a?~ dl
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through the stages approaching maturation (heat) and ais
passage
mechanically accelerate the process of opening of the ripe boils
~.
atmospheric humidity and heat). 'It is of course obvious that clear
(
sunlit days sLmplift' cotton picking and keep lint quality at the proper
level (drY,white, undamaged by fungus, etc.).
,
An experiment was carried out in 1932 on the territory of the
Ukrainian Zonal Station to clarify the role of direct and diffused light
in the development of the cotton plant and the harvest, even though only
in the sense of furnishing rnishin.. very general orientation. The experiment
consisted in growing cotton without direct sunlight, o r with 'oniy
restricted amounts of it (suchs allowing
morning hours or only in the evening hours) The plarits were shielded
..
..
" f romdirect sunlight' by portable plywood rao
set up pit the height of
l
y ~.n~
f~~hese ;plots fore,;the'~ other e~,perimeia~ on
'
n
. ~.ants
the
; .~
va ad AS ;a result the Co ~wv~a
inly w~eather~ ~hii ~ ~a~he sky , W ~,
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if EST RIOTED
Illumination on the Development of the Cotton Plant, 1930)
the Period of
- -------- - --
It is also pointed out in the agricultural literature that the
ass e processes of the cotton plant reach their m aximum 'during
~.ma.lata.v
intense insolation and that cotton thus appears to be
the hours of most
a typical sun-loving plant. Ur A. Novkov, A Contribution to Physiology
atian,.
Plant. Investigations the 'rocesses of Asp
of the Cotton P1 -
th e Dynamics of the 5tomatal Apparatus and the Transpiration of the
0otton P'1a,nt. )
Parallel to the increased duration of insolation there is an
he temperature regimen of air and soil, and the atmos-
~.mprovement 1 n t
pheric humidity diminished nished with the increasing intensity of insolation
and the rise s e in temperature levels. These factors act to accelerate
passage through the stages approaching maturation (heat) and also
accelerate the process of opening of the ripe bolls
mechai~cally
(atmospheric humidity and. heat). It is of course obvious that clear
sunlit days sa. 'mplify cotton picking and keep lint quality at the proper
level (dry, white, undamaged by fungus, etc.).
An experiment was carried out in 932 on the territory of the
~.
Ukrainian Zonal Station to clarify the role of direct and diffused light
in the development of the cotton plant and the harvest, even though only
of furnishing very general orientation. The experiment
in the sense
rowing cotton without direct sunlight, o r with .'only
consisted in g
as. a.1lc~ri.ng direct sunlight only in the
restricted amounts of it such ,
enin hours). The plants were shielded
morning hours or only in the ev g
fromdirect sunlight by portable plywood roofs, set up at the height of
the plants and taken f romyhese plots for the other. experiment only in
rai.nly weather when al he sky was overcast. As a result the cotton
lIES TAlC TEQ
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evenirr liuur, , gave only o1iL~+ry 1:~iooni? anti e c ei:~t~ car a:l.i r :a e a t, that:
IRICTER
plantB depri.`re tD t` aucii.re.ott sunlight e1noe Lncef;~t on of buctcl.l r
and limited exriuaive1r.to ;inci:i.rect light end, out fruiting branelree
but cl.i:1 r}til !`7er arid yie1dct1 iro cops (Figure 7) P'lantte dcpr"tved
of cti rec k: Ft uu:l.i ht dur:i.rig morArrIn nc1 nri.clcl;ry hours, or duririg mi( ctay Mn+
t1're ii:1eip:1.entt be1?1 d::i.d nc~t f'iri1r h tare:i r cl
.Vf3 :iO1)rtre.t1t 3i')c1 d:1.d no i rir tur
before the forsits , w1ti.i.e 11. 1:~o17.s iii the conttioi J::l.ot~ tUI(d arid
olJett et:l be t L) t,h tt 't.iiire ,
t':i.n,a1'tr, :1.rr ttlto~ e 111 tirtt a icelv~tt frotrr ii 11 ugh :.1iice i`Low-e.t,u
by iirg l.e axid double l tyre11$ of tin l'au e oS:en Lrrg of tie tai,>11a w u
r?ett ..rdecl acid yield roniet~rhrl1. rerf.lceclF
Figui1e i a i ~t;w oil i~h.i.elr Cotton P1aritte Developed Fx~a.itr udd:t.n
Time Wi.Uroutt Direct Surr1.ight~ Thee Plarrt leave ]eaves but no Open
Fou1.s.y while Po111 leave Ai:redy Opened core the Conttrois
s
lu aeccsrdarrese t .itch tttki , c i.r' ct Corre1anon way established
try r~rat;hemat.ical a.rr 1.y i , betwc err the tot, .1 du.rratiorr 0f iri oL tic)n i.rr
iiour s trxng the growing period +nra the yield of eottto,rrm 'phe coef.f':1.
c,:Lentt of co rre1at_ic n between tIre total. yi.el.cI of rate cotton and the
number of houre of irr5oiatt1on between Augu t air~:t October, incIu ive, at
Icchereon (i9 - 1930) wa 0.60; tl~at between the :}x ~:f'ro t lint yield
and *the nrxirii:ier of loin of . n, olation 1.etween May and octobexy, 1ncluaive~
was oA lrex"Y eio8e direct carrel tiort is a o observed between the
~. 9l
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number of hours of insulation and the speed with which the various stages
of development were traversed by the cotton plant.
Among the reasons for the positive influence of sunlight on the
yield acid on the speed of passage through the phases of development are
the improvement in the temperature regimen in the plant itself, besides
the well Imown reasons (the need of l ight for normal assimilation, etc.).
Measurements of leaf temperatures in 1932 showed them to be much
higher in plants receiving direct sunlight than in those hot receiving
it, while the difference between the temperatures of insolated and un-
insolated plants showed a regular daily march, rising towards midday
and falling towards evening, like the amount of s olar radiation itself,
(Leaf temperatures were measured by thermometers with small mercury
bulbs. The bulbs were placed flat 'against the leaves, which remained
on the plants. See Geiger The Climate of the Surface.Stratum of the
Atmosphere on this method.) which difference was of the order of
- 6 degrees Centigrade for the midday hours
The data in the table show that the temperature of cotton
leaves is much higher during the midday hours than that of the
surrounding air, and that this temperature is already higher during the
morning hours, while on the contrary, the temperature of leaves on
uninsolated plants is lower throughout the whole day than that of the
surrounding air.
.. 92 -
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number of hours of insolation and the speed with Mich the various stages
.of development were traversed by the cotton plant.
Among the reasons for the positive influence of sunlight on the
yield and on the speed of passage through the phases of ? development are
the improvement in the temper2ture regimen in the plant itself, besides
the well 1~nown reasons (the need of light for normal assimilation, etc.,).
Measurements of leaf temperatures in 1932 showed them to be much
higher in plants receiving direct sunlight than in those hot receiving
it, while the difference between the temperatures of insolated and un-
insola..ted plants showed a regular daily march, rising towards midday
and falling towards evening, like the amount of solar radiation itself;
(Leaf temperatures. were measured by thermometers with small mercury
bulbs. The bulbs were placed flat against the leaves, which remained
on the plants. See Geiger The Climate of the Surface Stratum of the
Atmosphere on this method.) which difference was of the Order of
- 6 degrees Centigrade for the midday hours
The data in the table show that the temperature of cotton
leaves is much higher during the midday hours than that of the
surrounding air, and that this temperature is already higher during the
morning hours, while on the contrary, the temperature of leaves on
uninsolated plants is lower throughout the whole day than that of the
surrounding air.
RESTB1CiED
92
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The data in the tables show that the tempex ture of cotton
leaves is much higher during the midday hours than that of the surrounding
hours while, on the contrary, the temperature of leaves on uninsolated
plants lower throughout the whole day than that of the surrounding
. is
that this temperature is already higher during the morning
air, and
the thermal energy of sunlight. This idea has been noted in connection
with a. number of other plants in the general literature . Plant Life
.
of Professor A. Kerner von Mariulane
If this is really the case, then it is incorrect to calculate
conditions of plant development only from the temperature
the thermal
of the a.tmospheres without taking into account the conditions of
In this case the actual amount of heat received
i11uminationas well
daylight, even where atmospheric temperatures were identical. Thus
, ,,.
a. temperature
we might expect a reduction inthe aggregate tmoshperic
as :cotton
rowin season to maturity,
required for completion of the g g
growing moved northward from latitudes with short days into latitudes
ti
r .
with longer days.
by the plant organism under identical temperatures would be higher with
/anger exposure to sunlight. The actual. amount of heat so received
in a. day might well prove to be higher in latitudes with longer
Future investigations into this subject will bring firm con-
more definite status. It is even today necessary
clusaans and gave it a
to note., as a highly desirable method a.nd calculation of thermal eon-
topment of the cotton plant by immediate measure
d~.tions o f the deve
ment of plant temperatures:.
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A large number of physiological processes_ in the plant organism
are unquestionably influenced by atmospheric humidity, such as trans-
piration, heating and cooling of the plant tissues, etc., and therefore
his factor, during the period of the development of the p la.nt in the
field, may be expressed both in its behavior and its productivity.
For instance, the excessively dry air of the so-called arid regions,
where` a number of crops. Suffer from insufficiency of soil moisture, dry
winds, etc., is obviously an unfavorable factor for such regions.
the Ukraine nevertheless gives an inverse variation as the rule: drier
air; more rapid development and higher yields. However, we have no
reason to treat this variation as causal in nature, for atmospheric
humidity depends most closely on temperature. As a rule the march of
atmospheric humidity repeats the general pattern of the march. of
temperature, but inversely; the warmer the air, the drier it is.
For this reason the above indicated connection with atmospheric hu-
midity may be shown to be in reality merely the result of a causal con-
Our comparison of the atmospheric humidity with the rapidity
of development and the productivity of cotton under the : conditions of .
nection between the rate of development and. productivity of 'cotton on
the one hand and the thermal levels. on the other. Experimental veri-
fication of this is expected from research in the near future.
The inverse connection with humidity shows that its reduction
in general does, not result in extremely sharp reduction of cotton crops,
which in turn indicates:the relative stability of cotton yield under
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Phases of Development of the Cotton Plant under Various , es of
The literature on cotton growing refers to the retarding effect
of extremely low atmospheric humidity on the. development. of cotton.
Thus E. E. Fedorov and A. V. Gedeonov remark, in their ''Duration of the
Weather, ;that 'mean humidities under LO percent "clearly have a tendency
to prolong the phases, with the possible exception of the final phase;
be;:I formation and maturation". However there is also some indication
in. the literature (Moiseyenko, The Quality of Cotton Picked a c`?Various.
Dates-) that the littoral districts of the new regions (with their
higher atmospheric humidity) yield lint of higher grades than these
remote from the sea.
It is natural that questions involving more detailed study of
the part played by atmospheric humidity in the development and crop
formation of cotton as well as other meteorological factors, on lint
quality, should attract the attention of research workers. They
accordingly have a definite place in the current program of`NOVNIKhI.
To recapitulate, there is still no solid reason to consider
increased atmospheric huiiiidity harmful for the cotton plant, and in-
creased dryness beneficial. Further than that, extreme dryness of the
air can apparently reduce both quality and quantity of the crop..
Dryness of the atmosphere is perhaps clearly beneficial only during
the period of approaching maturation and that of the opening of the
bolls, since it accelerates. the mechanical processe's of dryin and g opening
g
of the bolls, reduces the probabiLty of fungus infection of the lint,
reduces the moisture content of the lint, etc. This leads to im-
provement of the quality of the raw cotton "and simplifies its storage
and utilization.
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It,
The new and. old cotton regions may be compared as to atmospheric
,., : humidity by taking the available data for mean humidity from April to
.
in Kherson and Tashkent In Kherson is is 6.9 percent;
October
with ~3 percent for Tashkent (L A. Molchanov, A'Contributon
compared w~a
to the Question of the division of the Area into Climatic
Re ions.). Comparison between other points of the new and old regions
gave. results substantially the same if not more striking.. It is
evident from this that cotton growing in the old regions is charac
l ~ increased dryness of the air as compared with the
terized bysparp~
new regions, and that, if extreme dryness of the air really has an
effect on quantity and quality of the cotton crop and
unfavorable
hampers to development of the cotton plant, etc., then the new
regions will be found to be considerably more free of these unfavorable
phenomena.
finds
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II ESIRICTED
Winds play an immense part in agriculture in general, and in cotton
growi.ng in particular.
Strong winds immediately before or immediately after the planting ...
season are unquestionably harmful, since they dry out the topsoil and
the cotton seed then lies in an insufficiently moist soil layer.
Dry winds in the period of fruit, formation are also harnfLul,
especially during the period of the inception of the bolls, as they
result in excessive transpiration and insufficient water supply to the
above ground parts of the plant.
Boll opening is accelerated, however, where insufficiency of
moisture develops only shortly before their normal opening, and in most
cases this should be considered a favorable event.
RESTRIcYp
8
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In the ?erature C. D. Novikov, Research into the Assa..mz.lative
,h.i~
Procewes D arrlics of the Stomatal Apparatus and Trans
The establishment of connections between the development of the
cotton plant and single meteorological elements has still given us no
tz
answer to the problem of their Influence and joint action an the
yield, which is the most important practical question. Its solution
4
F~
in a given set of natural
should show us what yields may be counted on ;
(climatic) conch-tions in a given locality, which information is
essential for purposes of planning, etc.. sk,
iration of the
0!I there is also a reference to the closure of the
Cotton Plant, (193
stomata/ fissures provoked by strong winds thereby reducing the level
..
which assimilative processes function.
at
have an unfavorably effect on the duality
of winds may also ha
out of he bolls, soiling it with dust, .
of the lint by tearing it
interfering with p1cking, etc. Work has .:just. been completed` on a
classification of the winds according to their degree of harmfulness,
.
as well as a study of their role as it affects the cotton crops in
other ways end therefore we shaJ4 not linger here on a further
desucssion of their characteristics and significance.
There are still no completely reliable and verified practical
methods of calculating the ensemble of climatic influences as a single
factor exerting a unified effect, and we must still use indirect methods
for evaluating that ensemble. We start with the conditions that the
maximum harvest obtained in a given year on the territory of the area
to be appraised shall be an index number expressing to totality or
t
resultant of climatic influences for the year, assuming further the
. highest attained level of agricultural technique.
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The data on the recorded harvests in Kherson, where agricultural
methods also include irrigation, sketch the, following ;picture:
Mean,
YEARS 1925 1926 ` 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 Excluding
1932
Yield in
Tsentner
Per Hectare 2.0 6.5 16.7 6.2 30.0 10.3 26.1 11.6 13.7
We see from this that modern agricultural techniques, including
irrigation, are capable of obtaining annual cotton crops in the
K
nerson area not lower, as a rule, than 6 tsentner per hectare, based
on the total harvest, that is, even under unfavorable meteorological
conditions as a whole (as in 1926) a yield of 6 tsentner per hectare
is entirely attainable. This is apparently contradicted only bar the
figures for 1925. But in that year the yield from bolls that did not
open of themselves was excluded from the total; moreover, the specific
agricultural techniques for cotton growing in the new regions, including
the Ukra ne, had not yet been worked out, and finally the figures for
that year relate to a less early variety (169) than those at present
in practical use.
The results from the practice of ui4rrigate4 otton growing are
even more convincing. Although these production figures include such
times and such years of unfavorable weather as 1930, when there were
damaging heavy rains in spring and exceptionally low temperatures in
spring, the beginning of summer and in the fall, the better kolkhozes
a
complying with the rules of cotton agronomy, did not fail even in such
a year to obtain a yield of lint higher than 6 tsentner per `hectare.
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100
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Thus in? 1930 the Perebudova Artel in Golopristanskiy Rayon obtained
an average yield of 6.4 tsentner of lint per hectare and the Chervoniy
Prapor also obtainedthe same yield, while. similarly' situated Kolkhozes
that knew nothing of the methods of handling cotton obtained only insig-
nificant yields.
In 1931 yields of 10 12 tsentner per hectare were obtained by
a"number of kolkhozes, and on single farms as much as 16 - 18 tsentner.
In 1932 the highest yields on the best farms reached 8 tsentner
per hectare (Obshchiy Trad . Khleborob in Genicheskiy Rayon, Kolkhoz
imeni X Godovshchiny Oktyabrya in N. Odesskiy Rayon)
Thus the decisive Factor here in obtaining cotton yields is not
weather conditions but agr:i.cultural technique, the role of which
becomes particularly responsible when weather conditions are bad,
since with bad management of cotton, crop losses in years with un-
favorable combinations of meteorological conditions grow up faster
than in favorable years. It is enough to point out that badly organ-
ized incrustation control measures in years' of excessive nay rains can
result in the elimination of extensive tracts from the category of .
plantable acreage.
In cool and humid years, little favorable for cotton, the plants
are subject to great danger from the rank development of weeds. In
such years failure to observe the rules of cotton agronomy on weed
contort has a particularly pernicious effect on yield.
In cool years, with early onset of frost, all measures of
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agr:; cultural technique directed at accelerating maturation' acquire
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RESTRICTED
particular importance;_ area of `supply,' planting date, etc. The 'newer .,
methods, such as vernalization, transplantation of seedlings, etc.,
should also be used, and also the proper varieties. Whiie in years
with favorable weather conditions some departure from the rules of
agricultural' technique may entail only relatively minor reduction in
yield, the same departure in unfavorable years may cause tremendous
reductions in yield as well asimpairment of quality, since every day
gained plays a great part in the outcome of the cotton season.
Poor organization of the measures to controlvarious causes of
crop loss will also cause sharper drops in the yield.if the autumn is
cool and windy than if it is dry, calm and warm.
Finally the responsible part played by cultural practices under
unfavorable weather conditions is obvious, as is its exceptionally
important role in the efforts to improve quality and assure proper
picking, drying and storage at the proper time.
CONCLUSIONS
Heat is the most important element for cotton in the entire
climatic picture, at least. in the northern part of the new regions
(Ukraine), and therefore, given the same cultural practices, the yield
of cotton depends upon it most of all. The more heat the cotton plants
receive in any given year, the shorter the time it takes to mature and
the higher the yield per hectare, if the basic rules of cultural prac~
Lice are followed, .
The. correlation noted in cotton literature between the time
required for the development of the cotton plant and the temperature:
levels prove on more detailed analysis to be confiremed only in general.
RES TRIC TED
-102
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In a number of cases, one phase or'the other takes longer with a higher.
temperature, and this maybe ascribed in some instances to the retarding
efects of the ma.:nimum temperatures and the increased dryness of the
air, but in other instances it may be due to the retarding effect of
high temperatures. To a certain extnet the weather in the new regions
does have minimum temperatures low enough to retard the development of
cottonp/ants. The weather in the old regions, on the other hand,
frequently show the retarding effects of high maximum temperatures.
This partly explains the lack of correspondence observed between the
behavior of the cotton plant and the thermal resources of the old and
new cotton regions, judged by the mean diurnal temperatures alone.
The lack of correspondence not infrequently observed between
thermal conditions and the rapidity of development of the cotton plant
I
in its later stages may be explained to a great extent as the result of
the temperature after-effect, which appears on analysis of the tempera-
ture conditions under which cotton develops in the old and new cotton
regions. The phenomenon of the temperature after-effect is apparently
of more general.occurrence than vernalization, and consists in the re-
duction of the total temperatures required for the completion of the
later stages of development where increased total effective temperatures
have been accumulated during the earlier phases, and vice versa.
The isophase of.the saboteur Zaytsev, applied to any period of
development of the cotton plant without being related in any way to the
preceding temperature conditions, must be deemed inapplicable if only
because it distorts the actual relationship of the cotton plant to the
1 1 thermal conditions.
The significance ?.oflY atmospheric' `te'mperature ;conditions for cotton
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, mareover, modified by its relation to soil' temperature, which
Zs., ,
into account in apprais ng any cotton region.
must be taken
Judging by the terperature readings in the meteorological
booth, the processes of vernalization of cotton under natural
conditions can probably proceed with mean diurnal air temperatures of
the order of 18 to 16 degrees. These levels are usually attained
...
during the middle decade of Ma,yand more definitely so during the. final
,
decade. If sowi ?ng is done later than May 1~ - 20, therefore, there is
:
retardation of budding and of the subsequent phases
usually a.marked
of develo ting in both quantitative and qualitative development, resin inferi'
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The normal temperature indices over a number of years for
the Ukraine c rrespand town above average productiveness for cotton,
a..e, to a total yield of 6 - 8 tsentner per hectare. Tempera ure
conditions are unsatisfactory in about 16 percent o f the growing
in view of the latest achievements of science, this figure
seasons, but
may be considered exaggerated.
temperature and precipitation, it appears difficult to develop the
role of precipitation in the formation of the cotton crop on the basis
of general statistical evaluation. Under the same temperature conditions
6. In view of the observed inverse correlation between r
higher yields of cotton are obtained in years with higher precipitation
during the (growing period. In comparing years with the same precipitation
during the growing season, we find, that higher yields are obtained in
, xec Oding the sowing period and higher
uyears with higher precipitation p
,
~stocks This agrees perfectly with the
of ,mo~.~ture~sup , td, that ;time .
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result of the experimental irrigation of_ cotton in the new cotton
regions, in which irrigation at the flush of anthesi.s, in hot dry
years, succeeded in more than doubling the yield.
The cotton plant can, however, reconcile itself. to extremely
severe soil moisture conditions, and is able to complete its d
velopment more or less normally by drawing fully on all available
stocks of soil moisture, and even when it receives moisture only in the
layers deeper than 80 - 90 centimeters, it still gives an economically
useful yield, and meets the requirements of the planned assignments of
the national economy in its present stage of development.
For the overwhelming ma'orit of the cotton districts in the new.
re ions,~unirrigated cotton growing majM therefore be developed as the
basic ag otechnical form of its culture.
7. Though cotton belongs to the short-day group of plants,
the early varieties cultivated in the. new regions react only slightly
to a shortened day, and therefore there is no reason to.expect noticeable
retardation of fruiting to result from the shift from the old regions
to more northerly areas with a longer day, while in this case the leaves
have an additional opportunity to utilize the thermal energy of sun-
light. The temperature of leaves of plants exposed to sunlight can be
as much as 14 - d degrees higher than that of leaves not so exposed.
Insolated leaves may be warmer than the surrounding air by an amount of
the order of 2.5 - 3. degrees. Finally, leaves o insolated may be
1.! - 2.0 degrees cooler than the surrounding air during the daytime.
This circumstance,:is very important for cotton, as a warmth-loving
plant, since with equal atmospheric temperatures it.does in fact receive
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more heat during a'longer 'period of daylight illumination (a longer day)
8. There would seem to be some confirmation of the phase-retardation
.
- to which the literature alludes, as a result of exceedingly low atmos-
pheric humidity. Low atmospheric humidity has not, however, been
definitely shown to be a factor retarding development, perhaps because
very low atmospheric humidity is relatively infrequent in the new
regions. Further direct experiment will/ be required to verify this,
. Exceedingly high temperatures arid'great dryness of the air are
characteristic of the old regions to 'a higher degree than of the
new regions.
r
. 9. The climatic conditions in the new regions allow total
annual lint yields not lower, as a rule; than'S - 6 tsentner pr
e
hectare.
10. In the next plan for winning higher productivity it is
essential to give priority to the question of eliminating the spread
between the actual yield and the yield that would be assured by the
natural conditions in the new regions if the presently available
The path to this is only through the organizatj.ona1, economic
and political strengthening of the cotton sovkhozes and kilkho
zes,
since only under such conditions will it be possible for them
to
master perfectly the technique of growing cotton on the northern borders
of its cultivation.
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DYNAMICS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE ROOT SYSTEM OF COTTON
The development of the root system of cotton, like that of the
plant as a whole depends on the whole complex of the factors that
surround the ant, on the nature of the plant itself, on the variety
I~-
o which it belongs, and, to some extent, in cases where it is, not.
t
indigenous, on the degree to which it has become accliiT.ted to our cony
ditions, i, e.s whether it has been reproduced locally or has been
imported from another locality. Plants react differently to cultural
methods according to differences in all of these factors, and we must perforce consider the results obtained by the Ukrainian Zonal Station
on the development of root systems as having merely a general sig-
nificance for orientation only, and assume that deviations in one
direction or another are always possible, owing to the above mentioned
factors or the meteorological conditions of the particular year in
question.
At the beginning 0$ vegetation, the aboveground part of the
cotton plant develops rather slowly. All the vital energy of the
plant is turned towards the development of its root system.
I
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Before the seed lobe has succeeded in freeing itself from the
Y
seed cover, the rootlet has already attained a depth of 10 - 12 centi-
k
1 meters. By the time the first leaflet appears, the root (in 1923)
i ?s four tames as long as the. stalk (height 7.8 centimeters, length
of root 30centimeters).~-
'luring ;the budding phase, the roots are five times as long as the
above-ground parts of the cotton plant (height lip centimeters, root
length 71i. centimeters). '
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Figure 8. Dynamics of development of the root system and the above-
ground parts of the cotton plant (variety Shreder 13o6) according to
.
1932 data.
.?_ff, ^rM?~~r.?.~m'~oHJUMI~'414Nyf.~IK%A%UMD$ W44i +Aq
Days 'after Ripening
Germination
Figure 9.. The root system of the cotton plant in the various stages
of develoPment
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A11 cultural methods in cotton growing should therefore be
directed towards giving the plan an opportunity 'to utilize the nutrients
from the humus horizon, since the earlier the area of feeding roots is
shifted to lower soil horizons, the lower' the yield will be..
During the flowering stage, when transpiration reaches its
maximum, the cotton plant once more energetically propagates its roots
downward (figure 1 - 2), taking over new soil regions with moisture
stocks as yet unconsumed, and expanding its water supply basin all the
time.
Even during the stage of maturation the growth of the roots does
not cease. The difference between the development of the root system
of cotton and that of the grains is most striking during the flowering
period.
In the gramineous plants, the downward growth of the roots
usually stops after flowering, while with cotton t still continues quite
energetically.
This may apparently be explained by the fact that maturation in
the cotton plant proceeds gradually and that even when some of the
bolls have already matured and opened, there are still flowers and ovaries
on theplant that continue to demand moisture and nutrients from the
THE MAGNITUDE' OF THE ROOT SYS i'M IN THE COTTON PLANT
Contrary to the commonly encountered opinion that the root system.
of the cotton plant is weak, sparise and that it ro a a
p p g tes itself only
wi?hin a one4heter soil horizon; it has been established by the work
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THE MAGNITUDE OF THE ROOT SYSTEMIN THE COTTON PLANT
Contrary to the commonly held opinion that the root system
of the cotton plant. is weak, sparse and that It propagates itself only
within the 1 meter soil horizon, it has been established by the work
of the Ukrainian Zonal Station that this system reaches 200 to 250
centimeters and more. .
The taproot of the cotton plant sends off first-order laterals,
which propagate at first almost horizontally. Second-order roots
branch off from them, and third and fourth order roots then ramify
from these, so fine and delicate as to be almost imperceptible in
earth dug up for observation, and only by washing away the soil through
a fine sieve can their approximate quantity be determined.
The cotton plant can propagate its laterals to very great
distances if given ample room at planting.
Comparison of the Rotmistrov root coefficients, obtained by
multiplying the depth of the vertical roots by the diameter of the area
occupied by the laterals, for cotton and other field crops gives the
following result:
Crops
Depth of
Roots
Diameter
of the
area of
the root
s stem
Root Coefficient
__
1
3.
Winter wheat
116
126
14,616
Winter Rye
130
92
11,960
Barley
110
72
7,920
Spring
heat ?'
103
104
10,712
Oats
110
94
10,340
Continued next
~RfS
page.
112 ?
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i
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65. 22.1 '~~ ?'~
9.6 6.? 8O
10.2 1L..1 12.2
3L?7 23?6
10.9
3.8 22. ~ 13.8.
100 100 100
This should be compared with the distribution of the roots of
the gramineous plants among the soil horizons, which was as follows:
O -2Q ~7 Al 0 r 1~ 60
20 - 140 20 A 2 1S-s 17
0-60 9 B1 -8~ 20
60 80 6 B2 8-l20 120 3
80 - 100 S --ri-r
100 - 120 3 ----- rr
1 According to data of Yu. Sokolovskiy of the Poltava Experiment Station.
2 According to data of N. Pushkareva in 192, at the Rostov-Nakhichevan
Experiment Station.
It should be noted that cotton makes more uniform use of all
soil horizons and that .a considerable part of the roots are propagated
at levels below one meter. This makes it very drought resistant.
This distribution Is subject to sharp changes, however, depending
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Al 0-20
A2 20-30
B130-fin
Cl ,0-100
0 2 100 - 200
0 - 200
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on other factors, of which moistureand nutrients are the basic ones.
THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURAL NETHODS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COTTON
_ n
ROOT SYSTEM
The dynamics of development of the root system of cotton also
depends, in its various phases, on cultural method ?
s, the depth of
plowed soil beneath the cotton plant, the depth to
which fertiliser is
worked in, etc.
The opinion has been expressed that the medium in which the
roots of a plant grow, whether it be water, sand, light loam or heavy
clay, does not exert a decisive influence on the
development of the
form of the root system (V. I. Rotmistrov. The Root System in
Cultivated Plants, 1927, pp,
The results of a two year sutdy of the development of the root
system of cotton under varied cultural methods indicat
es its extraordinary.
plasticity and that its form is a meansof ro aga '
p p ta.on through various
soil horizons, depending on sharply differei
ng conthtions.
The form of root system of cotton is very plastic, as may be
seen from the photographs in Figures 10, ll and
12.
As we see, with a turnover of the fallow soil to a depth of
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J~0 centimeters and introduction of fertilizer to an equal depth, the
principal mass of rootlets was distributed atthis :depth. Rootlets were
fl%
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Figure 1U. Propagation of the root system of cotton with
. ordinary tillages
Figure ll. Propagation of the root system of cotton withters
turnover of the soil to a depth of 10 centimeters
and. introduction of mineral fertilizers at the
same depth.
Figure 12. Propagation of the root system of cotton with
ordinary tillage, but kith introduction of mineral
fertilizer at the depth of 1~O centimeters.
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On introduction of fertilizer to a depth of i0 centimeter's, with-
two belts.were formed, the first in the humus
out turnover. of the soil,
layer and the. second along the.line of the fertilizer. (Figure 12)?
ring further investigations an the development of the root
Du
system, the opinion that the size of the above-ground part is
directly proportional to the size of the underground part of the plant
in cases where the soil contained sufficient
was not confirmed, since
moisture and nutrients of system with only a small weight can yield
: ~a root
a large above-ground mass.
It is also inaccurate to deny the influence of plow depth on
development of the plant; V. Rotmistrov draws the following conclusions
in his pamphlet The Root System
deep as l meter, and beyond, then, the pulverization of the soil to 10,
r'20 centimeters will help the roots just as little to go deeper
into the soa.]. and .1`0 - 20 centimeters is only an insignificant part of
. , ,
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horizon developed normally, while those sawn in the subsoil were stunted
and developed feebly. In October the column was dug out, and the
roots washed off rt,appeared that those plants which had been
forced to nourish themselves ;exclusively on the lower horizons had
been unable to develop normally.
Although the root system of cotton descends more or less
evenly to a great depth, traversing all the soil, the value of the
different soil horizons for plants is not the same.
The root system goes deep into the soil in search of moisture,
occupying larger.and larger volumes of soil, but soil nutrients are
mostly gathered by the roots that have propagated not far from the
surface,
-j-t is in this location that the biochemical processes of the
soil proceed most energetically of all (which can be seen, th"pugh only
in the energy of intensification); here too, near the surface, the
roots can obtain oxygen and better temperature conditions.
The nutrients available at a depth of 1i.0 centimeters were not
utilized, and the plants starved and were stunted. The behavior of
these plants was the same as'that of cotton grown on subsoil.
The results of investigation into the levels from which the cotton
plant takes its nutrients give reason to believe that the fu
nctaon of
roots propagated through the deep horizons of the subsoil is prin.
cipally that of obtaining water for the plant,
It may be assumed that roots with different functions would
also have different chemical compositions, and this
is c onf axmed by
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analysis.' The nitrogen content of cotton rOotS was as follows, in
percents
Depth
Roots taken from deep soil layers are considereably poorer in
nitrogen than those from the upper regions. This also gives some
assume that with respect to nutrition the principle part is
reason to
played by the upper soil horizons and. the root system propagated through
....
them.
To elucidate this question we made the following experiment.
soil columns with undamaged structure, 10 x 100 x centi-
nuraber of
meters in dimension, were taken out in the spring. Some of them were
buried in the ground with the normal arrangement of their horizons,
while some were inverted co as to place the humus horizon on the bottom
and the loess horizon on the top. In November, when the boils had already
opened on the c o tton plants in the normal columns, the c otton plants
up and washed out.
It now appeared that the roots in the column with the humus ,
horizon on the bottom had reached that horizon; and developed a fairly
dense network there, but that they had not utilized the nutrients at
that Jeveg.,, so far below the surface, as soil analysis showed.
The cotton plants did not develop nprmally under these ;conditions
and remained in the budding phase until; almost the end of, the growing
season, reaching a height of 1L. centimeters, while inthe normal
column the height reached 6 centimeter's and gave the same yield o
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in the inverted columns were only budding. 'he columns were then dug .
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tamed under field conditions. Thus the depth to which the plant
had to go for its nutrients determined the yield in this experiment
as well.
The humus horizon is very important for the developmentof the
plants, and therefore the depth to which that horizon is plowed, which
conditions the water, air and nutrient regimen of the soil, is of great
significance. This is as also confirmed by the results of another
experiment on this question which was carried out in the laboratory
section in 1932.
plowing and to the varying depth of workingin fertilizer, in other
words, at the depth of the fertile horizon, to find the optimum re-.
lation of the factors to enable the root systdm to supply the plant
with the optimum amount of water and nutrients.
There i-s adirect connection between this experiment and the
solution of the questions of depth of plowing and methods of intro.
ducing fertilizer under the plants, which are important questions in
cotton growing.
Starting from the consideration that the richest upper soil
u ~~ 1 ~'n Vf ~a
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horizon usually dires out very much during the course of. the growing
season and thus is only lightly uti1ized'by the root system, it was
attempted by tilling the soil and turning over the sod, to depress the
that drying out could
. i `.
be reduced and it could be better uj ijzed b the
.r r ~,,, y~ cotton plant.,
The object of the experiment was to ascertain; the extent to
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The tillage of the soil to the corresponding depths was per'-
formed on April ~, 1932?
We shall not now dwell in detail on the results, the obser'-
vatlons on the water and nutrient regimes of the soil in their re-
lata.on to the depth of plowing, on the time of inception of the phases
.
of development in their dependence on the depth of tillage and the
in fertilizer, and can only remark that the ten-
depth of working
dency of the cotton plane to delay its phases when its nutrients are
,
1ocated at considerable depths below the surface - which tendency we
had noted during the experiments on soil columns with undisturbed
structure was fully confirmed by these field experiments on laboratory
lots. It was most clearly reflected in the case of the plowing to LO
p
centimeters with sod turnover, with fer,tilazer already introduced at the
line of the humus horizon. In this case the budding phase was retarded
by 14 days and the flowering phase by 13 days. lNhile only 20 percent of
the bolls had opened on these plots by the end o the growing season.
With deep plowing and sod turnover, with fertilizer in. the
upper horizon, and also on the plots with tillage to )0 centimeters
,
without, sod turnover, no retardation on the onset of the phases was
Even though the root system of cotton plant goes down to 2
1
meters and ~d;eeper, , and the 10 - 20 centimeters of the upper horizon
ant part" in relation to that volume of soil
is "only an insigna.~~.c, ,
through which the root sys'em is propagated, this "insignificant part"
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can nevertheless determine the size of the cotton craps
THE INFLUENCE OF DEPTH OF SOIL TILLAGE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
ROOT SYSTEM OF THE COON PLANT
The computation of the weight. of the roots made during the
latter half of August included both small roots :and main roots (the
skeleton of the rootsYstem) and revealed a considerable difference
r
in the scope of development and the method of propagation in the
various soil horizons, depending on the depth of tillage and the depth
of working in of the fertilizer.
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Analysis of the data in the above tables shows that the greatest
of roots is found in the upper horizons along the lines of the
quantity
occurrence of the humus layer or along the lines of introductionof
` with plowing down to 80 centimeters, the small roots pro-
fertilizer.
teed through the compressed horizon and form, as it were, a second belt,'
in which apparently the plant takes water when the plowed horizon dries
with plowing to ~0 centimeters, with sod turnover, there is only.
a single belt of roots; the active zone of roots is then located at
the 140 - 60 centimeter level, and there are considerably fewer small
roots in the upper horizon when such .lowing is done. This lack of
small roots is due, in this case, to the fact that the upper horizon
proves to be less fertile when plowing is too deep. with such plowing
the humus layer lies at a depth of 1~0 centimeters, and therefore the
greatest distribution of roots is just in that horizon. But the
conditions for biochemical processes are less favorable at such a
depth. The same must be said of temperature conditions and the air
regimen of the soil.
Under conditions of
(18 - 20 centimeters on chestnut soils) does not cover the top of the
subsoil, a dense little network of roots usually develops in the upper
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horizon when moisture conditions permit.
As the moisture supply in the
upper horizons decreases, the network of feeding roots spreads out lower,
where there is more moisture. The, roots leave the plowed horizon only
after conducting a careful search in a horizontal direction for
moisture and nutrients. They find more moisture but less nutrient in
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The root system is most developed on the horizon that has.
most nu,/s.ents. Though nitrogen as nitrate can readily travel in
r
he soil when there is rain `, and also have the `ability to follow the
action of evaporating water the roots are, nevertheless, mainly
distributed in the horizon where the fertilizer was introduced,. i. e,,
..
they follow the f ertili..Zer ?
the depth of the fertile horizon was re-
The. difference in
ibution of the thick roots, resulting in the
Elected in the d?str
most extensive development in the. fertile horizon. All of this
agrees with the observations of the same nature at the Rothamstead
Experiment Station in England, where the roots were noted in all
.
cases to be in contact with the fertilized horizon, where they were
.
not more densely developed and more widely ramified, but also
plaa.nly held back by that layer from travelling on to lower horizons.
~'
THk DISTRIBUTION OF R00TS IN THE SOIL PROFILE WITH DIFFERIT
~
PLOWING DEPTHS.
Observation on the distribution of root systems in the soil
by the method of cubid.s The method of cubits was developed by
Comrade Taranovskayaa makes it possible to learn not only the
total quantity of root material in each horizon but also the den-
sity of the root system at different distances from the plant.
This has shown that when the rows are spaced as closely as - 10
centimeters the root system of the cotton plant develops in most
cases on both sides, and that almost all the laterals spread into the
spaces between the rows, running almost horizontally to the middle
of these spaces and then turning 'sharply downward.
A
AICTED
srRicrEo
12gr'
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Depth of Working in Fertilizer
rking
WEIGHT OF ROOTS IN SOIL LAYER 0 - 200 CETVTINETERS, WITH FERTILIZER INTRODUCED AT DIFFERENT DEPTHS
mss:
H
w
Fertilizer applied to depth
of centimeters
.
Fertilizer applied to depth
of 10 centimeters
Fertilizer apl plied to depth
of 20 centimeters
Fertilizer applied to depth
~
of 0 centimeters
Fertilizer applied to depth
of 2. centimeters
weight of Roots in
Kilorams er hectare
Large Small
Roots Roots Total
Yield of Lint eight ?ht of Above-ground
't ~ ue~.
mans in tsentner per
in Tsentner
hectare
r Hectare
7,29 3.72 11,01 13.57
7.12 3.79 11.21
13.68
6.28 3.06 9.14. 11~.13
4.17 2.25 6.b2 11.69
7.06 3.31 10.20 13.22
29.63
Root: weight in percent of
g.
Above-ground weight
37.2
31.96 35..1
32.33
29.2
2Lt.1.8 26.2
32.26
32.2.
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 IC TEg
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~;ES;RicrEo
The total root weight for all horizons of the two-meter layer
11.21 tsentner per hectare,. according to the depth
varies. from 6.L2 to
of the horiw~. The most favorable combination of factors for
. fertile
the development and functioning of the root system was created by soil
tillage to 20 centimeters.
1lhen plowing went down too deep, to 11.0 centimeters, with turn-
and the root system was forced from the first days of its
over,
development into unfavorable nutritional conditions, the yield of
the cotton plant was reduced, in spite of a great expenditure of
plastic material on root system development (the weight of the roots
in this case was )~1.7 percent of the above-ground parts}.
If conditions around the root system are so unfavorable as to
disturb its physiological functions, its development will be slow and
feeble and the plant will be backward, so that it cannot give a
normal yield. This is the picture observed with plowing and turn-
over.
All this goes to show that the root system is extremely sensi-
tive to changes in external conditions.
The depth of plowing is sharply reflected in the yield.
RE.
133
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YIELD OF LTti'T ACCORDING TO DEPTH OF FERTILIZER APPLICATION IN TSL+;IVT'TER PER HECTARE
H A R V E S T
Depth of Fertilizer Application First Picking
October 10
Fertilizer worked in at.
centimeters
Fertilizer worked in at
10 centimeters
Fertilizer worked in at
20 centimeters
Fertilizer worked in at
13O centimeters
Fertilizer worked in at 2.
and
tilled down.. to t.0
centimeters
9.58
Second Picking
November 1
Third Picking Change in yield,
November Total in tsentner per Hectare
??? 1.59 13.57
9.82
2.31
1.52
13.68
t0,11
6.11
2.1L.
3.58
1Ii.13
}0.56
2.12
9.1i8
11,60
-1.97
9.116
2.22
1.51
13.22
-C.35
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RESTRICTED
This data shows that the maximum yield was obtained with plowed
depth of 20 centimeters, and that yield of lint was reduced when tillage
was only to centimeters deep.
Plowing to a depth of 30 - L.O centimeters with turnover of the sur
face reduces the total yield of lint to 9, tsentner per hectare, a
substantial part of -which was represented by linters, but when fertilizer
was applied to the upper layer of the plots, their yield improved to
levels among the highest. On fields badly overgrown with weeds, where
deep plowing is one of the most important methods of weed control,
application of fertilizer can completely eliminate the retardation
of phases in the growth of the cotton plant which is observed when the
humus layer is depressed to considerable depths below the surface.
The greatest total lint yield under 1932 conditions was obtained
with fertilizer applied at the 20 centimeter level. But the plots with
fertilizer applied at the 10 centimeter level gave the highest yield
at the first picking. The 15 centimeter level was not included in
this experiment.
when fertilizer was applied at the ).O centimeter level, there
was no harvest at all up to October 10, as not a single boll had
opened on this plot during the entire period.
Even as late as November 5, when all the cotton plants involved
in the experiment were picked, bolls had opened on only 23 percent of
the number of plants on these plots.
n the basis of these data, the following conclusions maybe
drawn:
Varying depth of plowing, which results in marked change in
M i36 YII
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roof system development, also affects to a considerable degree the
- round part of the cotton plant and the yield
development of the aboveg
of lint. The depth of the f ertile horizon and of the fertilizer,
...
application play the major roles in this connection.
The cotton plant develops well when the fertile horizon (the
humus layer of the soil , when plowed and turned over, or the ferti-
lized layer) lies no lower than 20 centimeters.
is most efficient when its active zone is located
A root system
at a depth of 10-1 centimeters below the 'surface, if the field is
~
free of weeds and soil moisture is carefully maintained
completely
throughout the planting period.
With plowing down to 20 centimeters and turnover, the quantity
of the first picking is somewhat less than with a plowing depth of
only lS centimeters, since the former depth brings parts of the less
fertile horizon A2 to the surface. It must be assumed that plowing
down to the boundary between horizons Al and A2, at 18 centimeters,
would give optimum conditions for the cotton plant development.
with excessive plowing depth and turnover (Ij.O centimeters), the
t1 center of gravity" of the root system is found at a considerable
depth, where the unfavorable water regimen and the inferior temperature
conditions prevent` biochemicalprocesses from taking place with
sufficient energy,
Such plowing and turnover, therefore, whileit has a positive
effect during the first stages of cotton plant, development, so long
as the earth has not yet become packed, affects its further development
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gE~~AICTED
negatively and considerably retards the onset of the various phases.
Deep plowing and turnover. does not exert ?n unfavorable. influence`
in the sense of retarding the phases if. fertilizer is applied in the upper
horizon after the plowing.
Depression of the fertile horizon to the U:0 centimeter level by
plowing and turnover, followed by introduction of fertilizer at that level,
`modifies the ordinary pattern of . root distribution even more, resulting
in extremely feeble root development o n the upperh rizon and more vigo-rous development al ong the line of the fertilizer. This has a marked
effect on the ,field, since the bolls had opened before the end of the
growing season on only 23 percent of the plants in these plots, and the
total yield (including linters) was l percent less than that of the
control with extremely poor lint quality, as most of it consisted of
linters .
The results of the experimental data of the study of the effects
of deep plowing on the cotton ;Pant under the conditions of the Kherson
region are in complete contradiction to the conclusions reached by
the experimental irrigational station in the former. Golodnosteppe
(Okrug ? ) , where deep plowing to )i.0 centimeters, with turnover, re'-
suiting in increasing cotton yields up to LO percent over those ob-
tained with plowing to 10 centimeters.
j3esides this, as that author notes, deep plowing and turnover
accelerates maturation by approximately 20 days (Ye. Fetrov)o
Once again this difference emphasizes that the efficiency of any
method must of necessity be tested under the same conditions, natural
RESTRICTE11 - 138
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0002-6
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LESTR1CTED
and historical, in which that method must actually be employed.
THE INFLUENCE OF THE AREA OF SUI- LY AND ITS SHAPE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF
TNS COTTON ROOT SYSTEM
The distribution of the root system in the soil horizons
changes not only with depth of plowing and depth of working in ferti-
lizer, but also depends to a considerable degree on the area of supply
and the shape of that area. The data of the investigation (cf tables)
show that the weight of cotton roots varies with the area of supply, and
that reduction occurs in the aboveground parts and in fruiting as soon
as less moisture, nutrient, etc. become available for the plant under
such circumstances. It is observed, however, that when the area of
supply is reduced, and the struggle for moisture and nutrients increases,
the capacity of the root system for work is considerably increased,
and if planting is dense, the root masses come to neigh more than the
aboveground parts.
LFOr table see page 1L07
If we calculate the yield not per plant 'out per unit area there
is a striking change in the picutre; the maximum yield is obtained in
the plots with the smallest area of supply.
Sowing the plants closer together in rows without reducing
the distance between the rows has no adverse effect on the distribution
of the root systerri. The growth of the roots on two sides is sufficiert
to awsure the normal working capacity of the root system (Figure l4).
[For table see page 1.i7
- 13 9 -
EU
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 Y
0
INFLUENCE OF THE A?s~A OF SUPPLY ON TI-~ DEVELOPMENT OF "'HE ROOT SYSTEM OF TF~ COTTON PLANT (V_'RIETY 1306)
of Abo~ea ~round
Weight
weight of roots
Weight of Aboveground
er
t
weight of roots
tner
in tsen
weight of roots
percent of
in pe
asses in kilograms
in kilograms
n
masses in tsen
er hectare
Aboveground masses
ea of Supply
A
m
0 /ants
per 10 P
F
per 100 plants per hectare
p
r
__
bo x hO
5.62
1.59
23.4
6.2
27.5
6o x 20
5.16
l.zi
43?a
9.3
21.6
6O x 5
2.2)
0.40
7~.6
ii.8
15.8
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INFLUENCE OF THE SFIAPr, OF THE AREA OF SUPPLY ON THE DEtELQPr~NT OF THE ROOT SYSTEM AND YIELD OF TIC COTTON PLANT
Weight of roots in
kilo rams er hectar e Yield of aboveground mass
Shape of the are mall In kilo rams In tsentner o
g g of roots in
Area of Supply area for each plant roots roots Total per _ 100 plants per hectare. percent o ab e
p P p f ov i'aund mates
~ 300 60 x S 7.01 3.28 10.2 15.2 50.67 20.3
300 17X 17 7.97 ).oI 21.01 9.8 32.50 3l~.0
boa 60 x 10 .5.97 2.72 8.69 25.Q l~1.60 20.9
500 25 x 2!~ 5.16 13.7 9.03 17.2 28.60 31.61
1,600 120 x 5 5.6l~ 3.33 8.97 26.2 X3.20 3332
1,200 box 20 1.39 2.51 6.90 38.0 31.63 21.8
1,200 35 x 31. Li.9L 3.50 8.l;h 32.0 26.63 32.7
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1'IESTRICTED
In studying the root system of the cotton plant, it is almost
always observed that the roots, after arriving at the center of the
space between the rows turns downward to horizons with still untapped
moisture. This dolArnturn occurs earlier when the area of supply is
square than when it is he same size but elongated in shape. In the
latter case the roots tap the humus horizon for a loner times
On square areas of supply cotton grows well at first, and spreads
its roots out in all directions but the laterals of two adjoining rows
meet earlier (Figure 16) than where the area of supply is elongated.
Wen this happens, the roots leave the humus horizon for less fertile
layers.
Figure ly. Distribution of the root Figure 16. Distribution of the
systera of the cotton plant when root system of the cotton plant
grown close together in rows. The when area of supply is square.
roots spread out into the spaces The roots soon rieet each other
between the rows, and then turn downward.
THE INFLUENCE OF MOISTURE ON THE DEVLLOPNENT OF TEIII HOOT SYSTM OF
THE COTTON PLANT
. It has been ?hown by the experiments of the Ukrainian Zonal
Station that yield varies with varying soil moisture, changed by
irrigation during various stages of developn~nt of the cotton plant.
RESTRIC TED
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The same amount of moisture gives varying effects according to the
time of irrigation.
Very slight increases of soil moisture productivity were
resulted from increasing soil moisture during the early stages of
development, and in sarr years it even reduced the yield. Irrigation
during the flowering phase gave favorable results.
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Study of the influence of the time of irrigation showed that
during the first stages of development it made the root system less
drought resistant. When the u pper horizons had:.:a:;good deal of
moisture and the lower horizons were poorer in this respect, the root
system did not descend so actively in the soil. When the weather
became hot and dry and the upper horizon dried out, the plants with
increased moisture requirements now found themselves considerably
worse off than the unirrigated plants.
Irrigation during the period from budding to flowering had
the most favorable effect on the Meld. Irrigation at this time is
more effective also by virtue of the fact that it gives the plant an
opportunity to use the nutrients in the humus horizon, which usually
dries out very t?uch towards the :flowering season, under our conditions.
The plant receives nutrients during a critical period and expends
less plastic material on spre.ding out its roots through the deeper
horizons, where it is necessary, to range an immense volume of soil to
get the necessary amount of moisture, thus almost doubling the weight
of its roots between flowering and maturation. The root coefficient d'
the cotton plant is considerably greater than that of other plants.
but it is very subject to change according to conditions.
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REST RICT ED
Water Regime
Yield of lint
in tsentner
per hectare
Dry mass -
lint in tsent-
ner per hectare
Weight of roots
in tsentner
per hectare
:
without
irrigation
13.32
23.62
10.56
Irrigation
during the
flowering phase
l5.oL.
34.Z~1
8.6!~
With irrigation during the flowering phase, the weight of the
roots was 2; percent that of the aboveground mass, while without irri-
gation, which tends to increase the yield of the aboveground mass as
a whole, and of lint in particular, it was percent.
Thus irrigation during the early stages of development, under
the conditions of the new cotton regions of the Ukraine, makes the
cotton plant less drought resistant. Irrigation during the period
from budding to flowering enables the plant to expend less plastic
material on the underground mass and increases yield by supplying moisture
and assuring better nutrition during a critical period.
The effectiveness of fertilizer varies sharply with the time
of irrigation. The maximum effect is obtained by two irrigations
during the flowering stage (0-0-2-0) or by one irrigation during the
budding stage and another during the flowering stage (0-1-1-0). In
the former case irrigation without fertilizer gave increased yield of
26 percent over the control (also without fertilizer), while appli-
cation of fertilizer raises the increase from irrigation to 12.3 percent.
Study of the root system revealed striking differences between
the quantity and method of root distribution on the different horizons.
RE1STRii;TEO
Weight of roots
in percent of
aboveground
mass
2S.10
- 1L-
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AES1RlC1ED
Irrigation and fertilizer shifted the active zone of the
he ls.nt was supplied with moisture. and
roots to the upper hor~.zons. T p
nutrients during a period critical in these respects. The total ab-
.ncreased. The weight of the small roots
saxbent sufacr of the roots ~.
grew, but the ratio of fatal root weight to fatal weight fell, which
.
.
indicates the greater ~e greater productivity with fertilizer;
{or table see page 1l77
When. fertilizer is applied and the nutrient position thus
? bee ected not to develop its root system
iurproved, the plant mzgh b ~
even a relatively smaller absoxpt:ive surface
with the same vigor, since
could aasure its nutrient supply. HHowever, it displayed increased
fertilizer was applied.. Even when it was
moisture requirements when
given a single irrigation during the flowering phase; it was still
aot s stem vigorously in quest of water. This
forced to extend its r y
complex, situation leads to the result that when fertilizer is used an
t of 'the roots over that in the unfertilized
increase in the absolute weigh
plats is often observed, although the ratio between root weight and
boveground weight is lower than without fertilizer.
a
TILE ROOT SYS~ "TEM IN THE DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF COTTON
A study of the root system in dif f ernt varieties of grains led
nclusiom that the rooms are longer,the later
A. P. Mode stov to the ca
maturing the plant happens to be.
In studying two varieties of cotton, the early 1306 and the later
'~Triumf Navrotzkiytt, we also noted that under irrigation the latter has
" ormer, However, without irrigation, the
less of a coat system than the f
root system of the two varieties is roughly comparable We present below
the results obtained for an area of supply 60 x centimeters.
RESTRIC?TEVJ
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Fertilizer plus
irrigation during
the flowering
stage
Dry mass Weight of roots
Y lint in percent of aboveground mass Yield of lent -
2.86 12.7 11.71 31.21 40.7
9.02 3.51t - 12.5 17.13
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Weight of Weight of
Total weight
Large roots Small roots of roots
Fertilizer without
irrigation 9.8
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. . . = wem..=
-
Ratio between weights Above-ground Root weight in
of Large Small of large and small Total weight weight ants percent of above-
Weight Gen- o
Water of _ater Regime of roots tiler per hectare ground weight
kilo rams roots
roots in kilograms roots In g
(I) (2) (3) (h) (5) (6) (7)
(I)
ROOT SYSTEM OF DIFFERENT COfiPON VARIETIES UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS AND PRODUCTIVITY THEHEOF 4d1TH AREA OF SUPPLY.
60 x 5 CENTIMETERS
1306 without
irrigation 51t9 626 0.88 1175 Th? b ~5 ? ~
"Triumf Na rotski "
without irrigation 618
H
c
1306 under
lrrigation
t~76
1.3 1091 76.7
1Lt
)489 394 1.2a 883 75.5. 11.7.
"Triumf NavrotskiT"
under irrigation
0.71 1308 91.0
Tf?E SAME, WITH AREA OF SUPPLY 60 x )40 CENTIMETERS
1306 without.
irrigation
150 576
763
"Triumf Navrotski "
without irrigation 06
1306 under
irrigation
33l4
133 309
"Triumf Navrotskiy"
under irrigation 1493 52lt 0.9)4 1017 58.8. 17.3
0.9)4 926
143.0
840 147.1
Zs14 14)4.2
50.0
li,..5
21.6
17.8
~pt4a'
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1306 without
irrigation
(3) (Li) (5)
THE SANE, WITH APJGA OF SLTPPI,Y 60 x 1t0 CENTIMETERS
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615 23.1
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Irrigation thus very strikingly changes the relation between
large and mall roots of these varieties.
With 1306, the weight of the small roots exceeds that of the
large roots without irrigation; in "Iriuinf Navrotskiy", on the con-
trary, this occur ?s with irrigation.
'tTxiumf Navrotskiy" was more exigent with respect to moisture,
producing a dense network of absorbent roots only under good soil
moisture conditions. 1306 Shreder developed a dense network of fine
roots without irrigation, and reduced that network under irrigation.
Consciousness of agricultural methods and knowledge of the
underground factories of plants and of their requirerne-nts will make
it possible not only to increase the yield of cotton but also to
mark out new paths to the further enhancement of productivity and
to develop new methods of progressive agricultural technique.
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 y, .
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{ESTRICTED,
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COTTON FERZTLIZERS IN THE 1VEW REGIONS
TIE SIGNIFICANCE OF FERTILIZER
V. E. Aleksandrov
Fertilizers play a tremendous role in the cotton growing of
the Soviet Union. In Central Asia and in Transcaucasia, cotton is
grown as a rule with fertilizers.
Tens of thousands of tons of fertilizers are annually applied
to hundred., of thousands of. hectares. This measure is justified by
its very considerable effectiveness m Each kilogram of nitrogen intro-
duced into the soil results on the average in an additional yield
equivalent to 3 kilograms of lint.
The application of fertilizer in the new cotton regions has not
been studied by the experimental institutions, and consequently down to
the present moment fertilizers are still not used in production here.
Nevertheless the development of rriethods of chemical soil treat-
ment represents a. major new achievement of agricultural technology
on the path of strengthening cotton growing in the new regions.
Chemical treatment of the o it is particularly important for
seed ;rowing purposes. Increasing the coefficient of reproduction of
seeds with the aid of fertilizers means accelerating the rate at which
the cotton varieties now current will be replaced by new ones of higher
productivity and improved fiber qualities.
M:c1\TERAL FERTILI ZERS
Systematic experiments were commenced in 1930. During the four
years from 1930 to 1933, inclusive, over 100 experiments were made at
various points in the new cotton areas,, embracing various soil types.
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Taman' - Zonal Station
Naurska North Caucasus K ray Chestnut Soils
Experiment Pont K
E NozdokskiY Rayon
N _
s
1 Khasav_Yurt, Dagestan ASSR Dark Chestnut soils
Dagestan
Experiment point
Astrakhan Lower Volga Kra y Bro m Soils
Kherson Zonal Station Ukraine Odessa Oblast Chestnut chernozems
Skadovsk Ukraine, Odessa Oblast Chestnut Chernozems in association
Experiment Pont
with solonetzes.
Brl 'levsk Experiment Point Ukraine, Odessa Oblast
SOIL TYPE
Light chestnut medium foams in
(complexes with solonetzes u
association c p
to 10 percent).
Lower Dnepr clay sands.
Akurtovsk Experiment Point Ukral ne9 Dnepropetrovsk Oblast Chestnut Chernozems
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(I) (2) (3) (13) (5) (6)
(7) (s) (9) (io) (l,) 1121 (13) (11t) (15) t16> (17) (l$)
Yield in Percent
Q 100 100 100 100
rr:
~NPg 108 103 115 111
~a
::'~?= PK 107 106 lob 108
NK loo 101i lob u3
"-` :vTP 108 105 103 112
108 103 --- 111
lOQ lOG 100 100
loo ioo lco ioo
loo ieo loo ioo loo
122 120 113 111 97 131 100 113 108 121 136 111.6
118 121 lob 108 90 121 91 --- 101 --- --- 107.8
120 119 108 111 79 120 101 --- 102 --- --- 109.0
126 118 98 ii1 97 122 106 --- 122 --- --- 109.9
105 122 53 --- 113 98 --- lo)~ --- ---
io6 101
120
111
_....w,~
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The re suits of the experiments showed that even with improper -
technique of application, when any effect of the fertilizer was dependent
on chance (frequent favorable rains, etc.), the positive role of chemical
soil treatirient in increasing the yield of cotton in the new regions was
apparent.
As may be seen from Table 38 (page 82) fertilizers almost in-
variably increased the yield of cotton. In some cases this increase
is substantial. The mixture of nitoogen with phosphorus and potash ap-
plied at the rate of 60 kilograms per hectare gave an increase of 31
percent in Prikumsk in 1932, in Astrakhan, on the Il' men, of 22 percent
in 1930, and of 20 percent in Taman' in 1931.
With the relatively high productivity of cotton under experimert
station conditions, the absolute increases in yield assume practical
operational significance. Such increases are sometimes expressed by Ij..b:
3.3 and 1.9 tsentner per hectare, which should indicate the definite
operational importance of mineral fertilizer in the new regions.
these cases the return per kilogram of nitrogen is considerably higher
than the mean return for nitrogen content of fertilizer in the old
regions.
The return per kilogram of nitargan was 7.7 kilograms of lint
per hectare at Prikumsk in 1932, in Astrakhan, on the I1'men,it was
5.5, and in Taman' in 1931, 3.22 kilograms per hectare.
4
LFor table see page i7
Thus an effectigeness of fertilizer, expressed by a 20 - 30
Besides the examples of' increased yield up to:36 percent, there
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4 6~J,'
 N
vi
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MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS OF :~'~Ci NFRAL FERTILIZER FOR COTTON IN THE ITET AREAS
Yield in Tsentn Additional 'eld Fertilizer
Point o F Return er Kilo-
xp r
of er5.ment Yea p
hectare wit
out fertile e I
ti r
t
Astrakhan on the:
I1'men
Taman'
-
n sentner er hec tare In er
h
P _ cent ram of nitrogen
1930 1li, 8
3.3 22 5,5
1931 9.7 1.9 20 3.2 ~
Prikumsk 1932
31 7.?
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RESflICTED
were also examples of slight effectiveness. Thus in one case 15 experiments
gave no increase in yield at all, and in other cases there was even a
negative effect; the yield was reduceds
New Regions
----Central Asia
l~ experiments in the New Regions 1930-1932
Experiments in 38 Rayons of Central Asia
in 1929?
Figure 17. Curves of effectiveness of mineral fertilizers
in the New Regions and in Central Asia
On the diagram in Figure 17 two lines are shown. The heavy line
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shows the increases in yield, arranged in ascending. order, obtained in
l~ experiments in the new regions from the application of nitrogen,
phosphor;is and potash at the rate of 60 kilograms per hectare. The
second, thin line shows the distribution, in the same order, of the
results of experiments made in 38 Rayons of Central Asia in 1929, when
90 kilograms of nitrogen were applied, according to the statistical
guide to the effectiveness of fertilizer in Central Asia, issued in 1930
by the Central Asian Fertilizer Station
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As may be seen from the diagram, both lines almost coincide
r:
r,
along their entire length.
The mean values are very close together. The mean increase
in yield in the 15 experiments in the new regions was 14.7 percent, while
Asia for 3$ Rayons it was 19.9 percent, i.e. a difference
in Central
of 1.2 percent in all.
The results are close together not only in prcent of increase
d (difference 1.2 percent) but also in the return per kilogram
in yield
of nitrogen. The additional yield of lint was-2.5 kilograms per
kilogram of nitrogen in the new regions, and 2.S kilograms in Central
Asia
Comi:fete Fertilizer (NPK)
. __Non-nitrogenous fertilizer (PK)
Mean : e eta e
; -:.~ p~rcent
.. ,,., 7.8 percent
I
I
I
_n__ _'..~,.,u ~-- _._.--,_.-.-r._.M
"~ l~ o~. 930 2 1931 ~s,
'C }T43- ----
O B~ansk .~.~.~,
Khasav-Yuri Naurskaya Astralhan,Taman' Prikumsk herson ,~,~
G
Fi ure l$. ENHANCEMENT 0 F PRODUCTIVITY OBTAINED IN THE NETT REGIONS
g S
BY USE OF IUiINEPAL FERTILIZERS
Chemical soil treatment has two advantages in the new regions
as compared to Central Asia; the action of potash is definitely beneficial
which is not observed in general in Central Asia, and secondly it is
lIES fl/Cl'ED
~. x,59 w
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new regions - nitrogen, phosphorus and p otash- while in the old regions
of the approximately equal action of each oi' the three elements in the
possible to use non-nitrogenous phosphate-potash fertilizers on account
increases in yield are obtained mainly with the aid of nitrogen.
On the diagram (Figure 18) the heavy line shows the yield
with complete fertilizer (NPK), and the fine line, showing the yield
from non-nitrogenous fertilizer (PIS), almost exactly reproduces the
first lane at a somewhat lover level, which graphically illustrates
the beneficial effect of non-nitrogenous fertilizers, while the data
in Table 41 show that the action of phosphorus and potash som.etirrles
reaches gains of 21 percent.
MAXh1UM ACTION OF NON-NITROGF 10jS FERTILIZER (PK)
Increase in Yield
In Tsentner W
game of Point Year per hectare In Percent
Astrakhan, Iltmen 1930 2.7 18
Taman' 1931 2.0 21
Prikwnsk 1932 3.1 21
In view of the imperfections in the technique of application,
the results of the experiments to determine the fertilizer requirements
of the soils in the new regions cannot be considered final or com-
pletely satisfactory as proof. The indications obtained Buring the
past three years are plainly under-estimated and may be considered inc-
reased in coming years by the application of more perfected methods (the
local deep application of fertilizer being studied at the present time
etc.).
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TFT w 161 -
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DOSAGE OF NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS
Experiments were carried on during two years (1.930 and 1911)
at five points simultaneously according to three plans:
(a) Mitcherlikh method of determining the soil requirernent of
fertilizers,
(b) Variable amounts of nitrogen with the amount of phosphorus
background remaining constant,
(c) Variable amounts of phosphorus with the amount of nitrogen
remaining constant,
The following amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus were used:
43, 60 75, 90, 120 and 180 kilograms per hectare, The unchanged
amount of 60 kilograms per hectare was used for nitrogen or
phosphorus, respectively.
The results are given in the following table,
Thus the experiment of varying dosage within the limits of 60 to
l0 kilograms per hectare produced no marked difference of effect
either for nitrogen or phosphorus,
The mean increase of yield for the five points was 8,4 percent
for application of nitrogen and phosphorus at the rate of 60 kilograms
per hectare, according to Mitcherlik& s methods, while for the optimum
dosage of nitrogen (amount shown in table 37) with constant amount of
60 ]dlograms of phosphorus, the increase in yield was 11.4 percent, or
on:Ly about 3 percent greater. The optimum dosage of phosphorus gives
even less of a difference; 1,4 percent.
 Name of Point
Khasav -Yurt
Taman t
Prikumsk
Khersan
INCREASE OF YIELD OF COTTON GIVEN BY VARYING AMOUNTS OF NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS
increase in yield
obtained from
Increase in yield eld optimum dosage of
obtained from NP nitrogen with con-
at 60 kilograms , stant amount of 60
in experiment by kilograms of P2O
Year Nitcherlikh method per hectare
In Percent
1930 8 6
1930 3 21
1931 11
1930 lip
lj5 13
120 0
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Increase in yield
obtained from
optimum dosage of
.
Phosphorus with
constant amount of
0 timum dosage of 60 k1l
p ograms of Optimum dosage of
nitrogen-:per
hectare nitrogen er hectare nt
p trogen per hectare
In Percent)
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grams of nitrogen per hectare; 6 forms in Taman with the same dosage
of phosphorus without added nitrogen; 2 forms in Khasav-Yuri in 1930
in dosages of 45 kilograms per hectare, nitrogen being 45 kilograms
for the forms of phosphorus. Four forms of phosphorus were tried at
Prikumsk in 1930 with dosages of 60 kilograms per hectare and 45 kilo--
The right half of the diagram shops almost the same results
per hectare,
THE TECHNIQUE OF FEfTILIZER. APPLICATION
The question of method of application is basic in any study of
the action of mineral fertilizers in the new cotton regions.
The colossal importance of the technique of fertilizer appli-
cation was already shown in 192$ by the results of experiments carried
out as early as 1928 in Central Asia by the Fertilizer Station (launch).
~Stisicau_wto the i'' ~nessq of Fertilizers in Central Asia,
Method of
4pplic ati on
Broadcast
In the rows
3.4
13.7
20.4
Fertilizer applied
9.0
38,5
35.4
before planting
cotton
It is clear from these examples that local application of
fertilizer, worked in at various depths; increases the percentage of
of additional yield due to fertilizer by 1,5 to 3,0 times, as corn-
pared to broadcast application, :In turn, the depth 'to which fertilizer
was worked in increased this additional fertilizer yield by 4 - 6
times both with local and continuous application.
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Experiments on fertilizer application methods were commenced
in 1932 in the new regions,
was amost doubled when :Fertilizer was plowed into the furrows to a
depth of 15 centimeters during the shallow winter breaking, rather
than broadcast during the same plowing
INCREASE OF COTTON YIELD DUE TO V'dUOUS MiUHODS OF APPLYING
FERTILIZER, KHERSON, 1932
Lint Yield
In tsentner
Conclitions of Experiment per hectare In percent Remarks
Control; no fertilizer 9.3 100
Broadcast application of
fertilizer during shallow
whiter breaking
Plowing erti1izer :Lito the
furrows 'ho depth of 15
centimeters during shallow
winter breaking
Application of fertilizer
in the spring in the
furrows, 5 centimeters from
the rows, at a depth of
15 centimeters,
The data shows that the additional yield
9,9
At the rate of 60
kilograms of nitro-
. 103 gen and phosphorus
At the rate of 60
kilograms of nitro-
gen and phosphorus
10.4
111
10.8
115
At the rate of 60
kilograms of nitro--
gen and phosphorus
This experiment, carried out in Prikumsk, showed that local
application of fertilizer at different depths produced a satisfactory
effect, with yield increments of 20 - 23 percent, and indicating a ten-
dency to strengthened action of fertilizer with increasing depth of
application. The gradation between the depth selected was only 2
centimeters, which wu,s too small; this was a shortcoming of the ex-
periment organization and explains the small difference in favor of deeper
application; only 3 percent,
iiESFtiiC
- 16 -
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jti~`
a L'4i ,j 1-j
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Lint yield
In tsentner
Conditions of Experiment per hectare In percent Remarks
Control, without
fertilizer 11.9 100
Application at 5
centimeter depth 11.2 120
Application at 7
centimeter depth
11.2 ? 120
14.6 123
The high effectiveness of fertilizer 8,t Prikumsk in 1932 is
striking. The fertilier was generally broadcast on the suface and worked
in lightly by harrow. Here it must be stated that Frikwnsk in 1932 was
an exception; in this case the fertilizer was applied with the aid of
a sowing drill combine (?t it tvort-DedinaIt ) the drill furrow openers of
which worked in the fertilizer to a depth of 7 - 8 centimeters.
At the present time the work on chenucal soil treatment in
the new regions isJirected mainly towards the study of the action of
fertilizers on local and deep application.
In American cotton growing practice, where very high coefficients
of utilization are obtained from fertilizers, local and deep application
is the usual method.
The applied fertilizer, in the presence of soil moisture is at
first rapidly assimilated by the soil microorganisms and passes into
the living protein of bacteria]. bodies. In this form the nutrients are
unavailable for the higher plants, and for this reason nitrates are
often found to be absent from the soil during the flowering period of
the cotton plant, in spite of the application of nitrogenous fertilizers
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:ESiRICTED
during the spring. This happens because the soil bacteria intercept
the nutrient elements on their way to the cultivated plants and do not
leave them their share of the nutrient elements in mineralized form
at threquired moment.
~Nthen fertilizer is applied locally, the contact surface between
applied fertilizer and soil is several times smaller than when it is.
applied by continuous broadcast, in consequence of which its coefficient
of utilization is three times as great, as for instance in the Kaunchy
experiment.
Deep application of fertilizer has a long series of advantages.
In the first place, the number of soil bacteria grows less as
it goes deeper into the plowed horizon, If fertilizer is introduced
below the plowed horizon, for instance at the 30 - 40 centimeter level,
it will remain almost entirely untouched by bacteria, awaiting its uti-
lization by the plant roots. In this case full use may be expected to
be made of it, with a rise to maximum value of the coeficient of
utilization to the maximum,
The mean value of the coefficient of effectiveness for nitrogen
in central Asia is approximately equal to 3, while single experiments
give as much as 10 - 15. According to data in the American literature
this value has risen to 30 in some experiments.
When the depth of fertilizer application is increased,' its
introduction beneath the plant to be fertilized is achieved while
broadcast fertilizing produces a fertilizing of the soil.
Deep application makes it possible to introduce fertilizer a
ESTRICTEO
-l67
1f334 '
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Method of A
pplication
Control; no fertilizer
EFFECTIVENESS OF LOCAL APPLICATIONS OF FERTILIZERS AT KHF;RSON
Yield of Lent` i
~ in
Tsentner e pr Hectare
Broadcast before shallow Winter. breaking
f'4
0'
Plowed into furrows during shallow
winter brea
ksng
centimeters
to the side of
the
rows at 1
s centimeter level
during sowing
on both sides of taws centimeters
away, at 1 centimeter level Burl n g
g
sowing
0.07
0.08
0.11
0.12
0.13
Increment of yield
J1 ercent
10
62
68
91
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Lines of Equal Mean Annual Temperatures (Isotherms)
,,r- . N_ , ~-Lines of Equal Mean Annual Precipitation (Isohyetal
Lines)
Lines of Equal Frost-Free Periods, in days
Rivers
Railroads
Figure 2. CLIMATIC MAP OF THE NEW COTTON REGIONS OF THE USSR
PRECIPITATION
The new cotton areas are characterized by a wide range of
variation in annual precipitation; from 169 millimeters in Astrakhan'
to 6. millimeters in Krasnodar ('Table 11 on page 28), but a certain
uniformity is obserred in the distribution of this precipitation among
the various months of the year. Thus there is more precipitation
during the summer months and generally during the summer half of the
year than during the winter half. The smallest percentage of the
annual precipitation fails during early autumn, that is during the
second half of August and September. In some places this is also
true of October. Such an average distribution of precipitation is very
favorable for the harvesting of cotton crops. With annual precipitation
under 300 millimeters, unirrigated cotton growing becomes doubtful,
but this conclusion is far from having no exceptions. Thus on the
Ukrainian seacoast (Skadovsk, Ochakov, Genichesk), precipitation is
2L8 - 299 millimeters, and yet these places belong to the areas which
are most predominately devoted to cotton growing in the Ukraine. On
other hand, Dagestan has precipitation ranging from 361 millimeters
in Derbent to 198 millimeters in Khasav-Yuri, and yet most of the cotton
itSTR9CTE0
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In this case broadcast application gave the insignificant
increment of 15 percent, while local application gave 69 percent.
action of fertilizer was accompanied by acceleration of maturation by
10.5 days as compared with the control, and in consequence the pre-
frost harvest was shar:1y increased. The latter was almost 6 times as
great as the control with local application, and about 5 times with
broadcast application. These results were obtained under the excep-
tionally unfavorable conditions of 1933 for cotton growing in Ukraine
and Crimea, and of course cannot be used as the basis for final evalua-
tion of the effectiveness of fertilizer in the new regions.
Deep fertilizer application has the very useful quality of
being readily adapted to mechanization,, since it may be done simultaneously
with plowing, sowing or cultivation of the cotton plant, according to
the need for fertilizer t a given time.
The method of scattering fertilizer by hand out of a pail, which
is widely used in Central Asia, inust be replaced in the near future
by mechanized methods of application.
The Mechanization Department of NOVNIKhI (Comrade Bronitskiy)
has developed a device for attachment to drills or plows for applying
fertilizer in solution or in powder form during cotton sowing or during
plowing.
Two extra "shoes for fertilizer application are attached to the
Armalitov two-row cotton seeding drill (Figure 20) through which
fertilizer is fed through a rubber tube in a solution or powdered form.
The fertilizer in-the tank is stirred by an agitator activated by a
chain drive. The shoes introducing the fertilizer are adjustable by
means of a yoke attachment in a lateral direction along the chassis
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ESTRICTED
of the drill and also for depths up to 20 centimeters,
The same device may be readily transferred from drill seeder to
plow LThe plowshares have been removed from the plow, as the photo-
graph was taken after applying fertilizer to a plowed field for
applying fertilizer during the plowing. It can be adjusted to a depth
of 40 centimeters .
Figure 20~ Device for applying mineral fertilizer. with a tVw?-row
Armalit seed drill seeder. The two shoes (i) apply the fertilizer,
which is introduced :Lrom the trnk B through the rubber tubes CC.
A drill seeder with the device for applying fertilizer was
tested in the spring of 1933 at Frikumsk, where it performed ex-
cellently in handling cotton planting and simultaneous fertilizer app-
lication. But application of fertilizer in liquid form suffers from
the great disadvantage that 40 50 pails of water are needed to dis-
solve the fertilizer for a single hectare, which represents an extra-
ordinary burden under operating conditions. The device is more suitable
for application of fertilizer in the dry form, as is done in American
cotton-growing practice. In the United States fertilizer is applied
to cotton in small amounts three times a year, which increases the
coefficient of fertilizer utilization.
TRICTED -192 -
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I%EST MGI ED
But use of fertilizer in liquid form also has many advantages,
since it allows the simplification of fertilizer manufacturing processes.
Figure 21~ Device for applying mineral fertilizer by plow. Shoe
(A) through which fertilizer is applied, coming from the tank (B)
through the tube (C).
There are two stages in the process of preparation of manu-
facturing nitrogenous fertilizers. The first is the combination of
the ammonia with an acid, usually sulphuric acid, after which the
finished product is obtained ready for use as fertilizer in the form
of ammonium sulphate.
More infrequently, the ammonia is combined instead with nitric
acid. The product - ammonium nitrate, or amrnonia saltpeter - has
the disadvantage of being highly hygroscopic,
The use of sulphuric acid for the sole purpose of fixing
amonia as ammonium sulphate represents a great expense in fertilizer
manufacture. Sulphuric Acid, moreover, is in short supply for other
branches of industry. The method of applying fertilizer in liqutd form
allows the use of ammonia without combining it with sulphuric acid.
the academician D, N. Pryanishnikov reports the follotivIng on this
subject,"Basic tasks in the application of Chemistry to Agriculture".
Leading article in the, Fertilizer Handbook, issued in 1933 by the NTU
NKP under the editorial supervision of academician E. V. Britske and
L. L. Balashevj
ttWe may also recall the suggestion that ammonia in aquaeous
solution be used directly as fertilizer. This idea came up in the
Nitrogen Institute in connection with the question of the long-distance
or'ESTRICiE'D
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iESTRICTE1J
transportation of liquified ammania in tanks; to reduce the pressure
it might be absored into ammonium or calcium nitrate. Such "ammoniates!t
could be transported far more safely than pure ammonia, and they could
then be used on the site after some addition of water as a row fertilizer
applied during planting(the Omsk Agricultural Machinery Experiment
Station is now working on such combine drill seeders)".
The question of whether to use fertilizer in liquid or dry form
will thus be decided after careful study of the technology of
fertilizer manufacture, its transportation to the place of use, and
economic computation of the relative costs
The NOV?NIKhI drill seeder is one of the types already developed
for these purposes, which is in need of a certain amount of modification
to adapt it for practical operational use
Decomposition of the organic constituents of manure proceeds
slowly in the extremely. arid belt of the south of the USSR, and their
influence is conserved for very lone periods. For instance, in ex-
periments at the Ukrainian Zonal Station (Kherson Area), manure was
last applied in 1915 From 1901: to 1915, 2400 puds of manure per
desyatin were applied to the fallow field in a three field system of
crop rotation. Consequently, during 15 years, a total of 12,000 puds
were applied in the course of five applicationsw7, and to this day,
16, 17 and 18 years afterwards, its after-effect is still observed
In 1931 cotton gave an increment of 37 percent, 4.3 t s entner
per hectare, for t1i. manure applied 16 years before ; in 1932, 17 years
afterwards, it still gave an increment of 27.7 percent, or 2,6 tsentner
per hectare.
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Such long and powerful action of manure fertilizer should rather
be considered soil melioration rather than a mere cultural practice.
Where sources of iLnure are available, it makes sense to apply
it in large amounts under cotton plantings once every ten or twenty
years.
The former Kherson Station, on the basis of long-term data on
the calculation of the effect of manure, was unable to reach this
not to cotton, which was planted for the first time in this
experiment only in 1931.
conclusion only because the calculations referred to grain crops and
The manure and mineral fertilizers were applied in spring before
planting. Even with such late application of manure, when only a short
time still remained for its mineralization, it. Estill produced a greater
effect than mineral fertilizers. The action of manure was accompanied
by considerable acceleration of vegetative growth, which w.s reflected
The positive action of manure fertilizer begins in the first
year after it is applied and is more powerful than that of mineral
fertilizers.
The following experiment was carried out at Kherson in 1932
L or table see page l7c
in the increase of the pre--frost harvest, the increment of which amounted
to 42 percent.
The experiment in 1933 at the Taman' Zonal Station is another
example of the effect of manuring.
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RF.T,ATIVE EFFECT OF MANURE AND MINERAL FERTILIZER
H
a'
Total Yield of Lint
In
. tsentner Increment
per In tsentner
Fert111~er hectare per hectare percent
Control; no
12,.2
fertilizer
Manure at the rate
of
of 180 kilograms
nitrogen trvgen per
hecf~.re 691 3.9 32
Pre-Frost Period
In
Increment
tsentner
per n tsentner
hectare per hectare In Percent
Y r o
8.6 2.2
Ammonium sulphate
at the rate of 180
lcilograms of nitrogen
per hectare
1lt.l
1.9
6.2
-0.2
Mineral fertilizer
18
.
NPK
l .8
2.6
21
7.6
1.2
nl
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r
ItEST RICT ED
t
ljF~~,v~NU~:.if
FM rM
EFFECT OF MANURING DURING THE FIRST YEAR
4 4fE'a(
Total yield
of lint Increment
In tsentner In tsentner
. per hectere per hectare In percent
Control without fertilizer 6,6
Manure - 20 tsentner per b
hectare 9.0 2.4 3
Sincq. large quantities: uf~"manure are unavailable on a' large-
. _ ..,
scale mechanized farm, other ways must be sought of obtaining or-
ganic substances instead of manure but with the same specific pro-
perties of melioration.
The favorable qualities of the perennial grasses, for in-
stance alfalfa, are well known. IN . I. Bykov, The Influence of_Alf alf a
and Continuous Cropping of Cotton on Soil StructureBy plowing
under alfalfa as a green manure, improvement in structure and
porosity of the soil is obtained, together with enhancement of the
yield of various crops, including cotton (Central Asian experiment),
The wastes of agricultural production - straw, cotton stalks,
locks of cotton bolls, sea weed, etc, - may serve as another source
of organic material, besides manure.
To avoid denitrification (in the broad sense of the term)
during the first year after manure isplowed under, the supplementary
use of small amounts of mineral fertilizers, nitrogen and phosphorus,
has been suggested in conjunction with manure, as an attractive nutrient
for the bacteria that transforms the carbon of the carbohydrates of`
the straw and cotton stalks into an organic mass, If this question
is decided in the affirmative, new prospects of increased cotton yields
will be in sight.
RES TRIO TED
- 177 w
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IES TR1CTF
The experiments with plowing under of cotton stubble and
s aw without a
primer of mineral fertilizers showed no negative effects.
Under the conditions of the arid belt of the south, the processes
of decomposition take place slowly, rend the biological fixation of the
mobile soil nitrogen during decomposition is not so great as to check
the development of crops
TA~J[AN t 'ZONAL STATION, 1933
Total Yield 1, in Increment
Fertilizer Tsentner per-hectare in percent
Control 6,0
Cotton stalks, 60 kilograms
per hectare 7.0 6
Kamka (an alga) 7.0
. Cotton stalks and kamka algae applied at the Taman' Zonal
Station in the autumn of 1932 gave slight increases in cotton yield
in the following season, 1933 - amounting to 6 percent, (Table 45),
In the autumn of 1933, when the cotton plants were taken up during
the plowing of the field, undecomposed remains of stalks;.were still
encountered, showing how slow were the processes of decomposition.
For table see page l77
In another experiment at Kherson cotton stalks and straw were
applied in the spring before . planting , Even in this case there was
no reduction in yield, and a slight increment of 3 - 5 percent was
obtained. (Table 460
EU
178 .,
k6 4-Idr
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Pre-frost
Total yield
ield in
y
Increment Increment
t
in {sentner i
s
oer
Fertilizer per hectare Absolute Percentage per hectare Absolute Percentage
P
UKRAINI:~N ZONAL STA TIOP1 1932
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Control 12.2
Cotton stalks 16
kilograms per :
-
hectare 12.8 ,0.6
Straw, 16 kilo-
grams per hectare 12.6
Manure 13.9 1.7 13 7.6 1.2 18
 s
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'FIESTRICTED
As a positive feature the acceleration of maturation
of cotton...
must be noted, The total increment is included in the pre-frost har-
vest, and amounted to 0,6 - 0,5 tsentner
per hectare, or 7 - 9 percent,
These two examples of ploy d.n under
~ cotton stalks cannot
guarantee against cases of unfavorable action by this procedure, In
some cases which are favorable for intensified
dec omposa.ta. on, for
instance., sharply increased preci itatio
p n..may result in a reduction
of yield comparable to that. shaven by the. 1933 ..flower-pot experiments at
Prikumsk.
YIELD OF LINT IN GRAMS FROM POT-GRQVI~N PLANTS
Fertilizer
Soil Moisture do
50
ercent of 0 timum V
clue
.~
70
Control
5.9
9.7
Cotton stalks, 30
grams per pot
6.7
8.7
In a dry environment (50 percent of optimum moisture content)
comparable to the field experiments, the ~ yz.eld increment was 19 per-
cent. The cotton stalks in the pot failed
to decompose completely
during the summer. In each environment (70
percent of full moisture
content) where decomposition was better, 10 percent diminution of
yield was obtained.
The numerical data on the experiments with organic fertilizers
appears very modest in extent, Conse`uentl
~ Y the quest'ion of organic
fertilizers at the present time is'still open and its study has just
commenced. ` Therefore all judgements on the subject presented here
must be carefully reinforced by suitable experdmental evidence,
lIESrRrcrEO
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1E#O -
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R ESTR%CT EU
FERTILIZERS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COTTON PLANT
Fertilizer introduced into the soil acts on the internal arm
ganization of the plant structure producing a number of external
modifications in it. Increase in the y.>r eld of plants subject to
fertilizer action is one of the consequences of these modifications,
namely;
First increase of .productivity is as a
rule accompanied by
accelerated vegetation,
In pot experiments this acceleration attained values of over
20 days,
SPEEDING THE DEVELOPII!NT OF COTTON GR0 DING WITH FERTILIZERS
Number of days by
iit
P
?s
which
-
Fertilizer
onset of maturation
was accelerated
Astrakhan (Hillocks
1~3 p
NPK
24
Astrakhan (Hillocks)
NP
20
Kherson, 1930 N
Kherson, 1931 NP
In field experiments, the acceleration
observed amounted to
10 days,
Acceleration of maturation is usual in
cases where there is a
substantial effect on productivity, In cases _where no increment of
ya.eld has been noted after use
of fertilizer, or, only a small in-
crement, there is usually also no acceleration of maturation
4QE5TR1
181
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Such action by mineral fertilizers to reduce
fungus diseases
of cotton plant s must unquala.fiedl
y be held to exert ,.an influence
on its productivity as well, the more
so as the density of stand of
the plants is modified in this case.
Mortali~y was reduced by S percent
by application of nitrogen
and phosphorus, and by l5 percent on application
of patash,-
xt may be noted as a general conclusion that it is most.
necessary to work up as rapidly as oss'
p ible the questions involving
chemical treatment of the soil in the new
cotton regions as a
new weapon. in the struggle for high yields in the socialist fields,
withspecial attention to working out the
question of the technique
of deep local application of fertil ,
izers and also the question of the
best periods for their application.
183 ~.
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'ESIAOCTEA
THE ]NFIIUENCE ~~, AI,FAFA AND CONTINDUS GRC~FII~G QF C2N aIi
IL STRUCTURE
SG
Tork done in 1931 at Dagestan Base (formerly Dagestan Zonal Station).
(f
Bykov
The problems involving increased emphasis on the cotton
component of crop rotations - increased intensity of cotton cul-
tivation - still await scientific solution. The field e*periments
on continuous cropping of cotton, under way now for six years at
Khasav-Yuri, have not yielded a clear and distinct answer as to
the possibility of this practice.
At the Dagestan Zonal Station a deeper investigation of
this problem was commenced by the parallel study of the influence'
alfafa and continuous cropping of cotton on soil structure, which
constitutes the decisive factor in the biological activity'of the
soil and of agricultural plants as well.
OBJECTS OF INVESTIGATION
Three basic forms of cultural soil condition were the objects
of the investigation: continuous cropping, six-field crop rotation,
and alfafa.
The field under continuous cropping of cotton, started in
1926, gives high yields every year, showing what the possibilities
are for continuous cropping of cotton during the course of a con-
siderable. number of years with no unfavorable results apparent on.
summary inspection:
The six-field crop rotation, recommended for former cotton.'-
fields in the foothill zone of unirrigated cotton growing, was
IIES T TED
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EST RICTEB
started in 1926 with the following rotation:
. 1. Green fallow in vetches..
2. Winter wheat.
3. Cotton.
4. Soy Bean ?
5. Cotton.
6. Guts.
. The third object of the study was a field sown with Turkestan
alfafa in 192 and not tilled at all, with the exception of a
i
light shallow plowing in autumn of 1930?
All three fields had rich, dark-chestnut carbonate loams,
the structure of which could be judged from a soil profile taken
near the continuous cotton cropping field.
The A horizon was of dark chestnut color with brown tinge,
of granular structure (or more precisely of stratified granular
structure) and of mellow texture ? Its mechanical composition was
loamy; the transition to horizon A 2 was so gradual as to be hardly
noticeable; its thickness was 22 centimeters. Harizon A 2 was
lighter in color, also with a tinge of brown, of crumble-granular
structure; packing was observed at lower levels of this horizon;
mechanical composition loamy; thickness 25 centimeters. Horizon
i 1: color light chestnut, with tinge of gray; texture crumbling;
marked: packing of entire horizon; structure somewhat fissile;
segregation of carbonates (pseudomycellar) observed; considerable
number of worm-holes; mechanical composition loamy; transition
to. next horizon. clear-cut; thickness 24 centimeters ? Horizon B 2:
chestnut to pale yellow in color;, texture crumbling, structure
somewhat fissile, segregation of carbonates in form of beloglazok; ''
large shrew passages; thickness 25 centimeters. Horizon C; color
. V4
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a siaicio
light chestnut with tinge of gray; structure dense and sornevthat
fissile; considerable segregation of Belog lazok; mechanical com:
position loamy.
Note Efflorescence of chlorides `strong on horizon Al and
continuous on the other horizons.
ELENTS OF 'T'HE TNV E TIGATION
There are two ways in which the study of soil stru'
cture
may be conducted. The first is to regard soil structure
as di-
visibile into separate units (aggregates), dif'f
Brent in size
and form (S.A. Zaknarov); i.e. the morphological approach.. to the
study of structure, by dividing the sample of soil into fractions
according to the size of the structural elements and classifica-
tion of soil structure according to' content of aggregates of var-
ious diameters and of single grains.
The second method of study follows from the conception of
soil structure as the relation of capillary and no
rY n _capillary
porosity, the decisive significance of which has been demonstrated
within exceptionally convincing manner by- the re
Y researches on the
TSKnA experimental field. This relation redete r
p rma,nes the expres_
sion and tendencies of all physical, chemical and biological pro-
cesses in the soil, thus identifying the concept of soil structure
with that of the texture of the soil as the relation of capillary
and non- capillary porosity.
Thence follows the physiological essence of structure and
the special methods of study worked out b Ts"
by knA, of which. the
basic princip.1e 'is the taking of samplesttof undisturbed structure",
and in which the general capillary and non--capillary porosity
are the elements of investigation. '
To obtain a more complete picture, the study of soil structure
'IES Thu TED
!db
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ti EST ~ICTEO
was carried on by these two parallel methods, embracing both mor
phologieal and physiological elements of soil structure, as well
as the stability of soil aggregates, defined as the capacity of
structural elements to resist the disintegrating action of water.
(Vileyams).
As is generally known, soils of unstable structure
are rapidly
pulverized, are easily washed away by rains, form ~ In crux ta-c xons
and lose all the advantages of structured soils.
The basic elements of the investigation thus
appear to b
morphology of structure (quantitative and qualitative
analysis
of structural elements), total porosity, capillary and non-capilk
rY
porosity, and stability of structure.
E'Rf~~IIlV TAL PROCEDLrRE
The Puchner method was used as the basis in the
mo rpho-
logical study of structure.
Batches of soil weighing 200-300 grams were first strewn
from a height of 1 meter and then separated into
fractions by
sifting through sieves of sizes corresponding to the structural
elements.
71
Each analysis was repeated twice, i. e. two batches were
taken from each sample.
The samples were taken from 10 points in a field, arranged
in checkerboard order. 5 samples were taken at
each point at
the depth of the plowed horizon (20'centimeters .
A total of 150 samples was thus taken from the three fields.
Quantitative (structural) analysis and
qualitative estimation of
the separate structural elements was Carrie d.out on these samples.
~~~YYY TfiI
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TED
rah
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. ESTRiTEO tae study of porosity was made by the established
-method
worked out at the TSKnA Experimental Field using soil samples
t'of undistrubed structure.n Instead of special drills for tak-
ing the samples, ordinary cylinders of galvanized Iron, 10 cen-
tizneters in diameter and 20 centimeters high
were used,. and
proved entirely adequate for the purpose. Five determinations
of porosity were made in each case.
Determination of structural stability was by t
y he method
developed by ~Cmlin (Perm'), by which the la
rbe aggregates are
determined after capillary saturation b "bat
y hinge in sieves.
A. few modifications were made in this method; thus the tak
ing of an intermediate sample from unscattered
soil was eliminated.
The batches of soil were saturated on filter
paper and not by
placing in a sieve over water (Sobolev).
The aggregates not washed down were transferred to a.glass
.
jar, and thence to the filter paper.
After filtration, the soil: was dried in a th
ermostate at
100 - 105 degrees and weighed.
The quantities of aggregates not washed down was calculated
in percent of an absolutely dry batch with correction for
the
number of mechanical particles larger than 0.
6 millimeter.
Only four fractions were selected for analysis. Their
size is shown in the corresponding tables.
Five determinations were made for each structural fraction
separately, on 30 gram soil batches. Each batch ~I
was ba,t3edtt
.30 times in a' 0.5 millimeter sieve,
RESULTS OF THE INVES TIGATION
/Morphology of structure. The results of
he investigation of
dEi)kfl,ICCt'O
B b'
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ESTRICTD
soil morphology and the numerical data for the separate elements
are shown in the diagram (Fig. 22) and the corresponding
table,
and indicate a definite relationship between soil structure and
the various cultural states of the soil. In the
given instance,
indu'bjtable improvement of structure by alf'afa cultivation is
emphasized, while, on the contrary, continuous Cropping results
in considerable deterioration in the composition of 'the struc-
tural elements, by way of pulverization; the dust
~ fraction is
almost doubled thereby (10.18 to 19.40 percent).
The composition of the structural elements of soil in the
six-field crop rotation shows that rotation has no
particular
influence on imporvement of soil structure since
the total dust
fractions is 19.4 percent after continuous cropping ~, and 19.3 per-
cent after crop rotation; and on the whole the data indicate
that while soil structure after alfafa may becharacterized as
crumble-granular, it may be characterized as granular-dusty after
crop rotation or continuous cropping.
'tr
,ta
I1
The structural elements of all the objects under study may
~ under study may
Pv~
be classified, according to external appearance
, into two groups;
the first is composed of flat crumbs with smooth surfaces and
clearly defined corrugations along one axis
, while structural ele-
ments of the second group has an apparently irregular outline with
uneven surface, as 'though corroded, often with minor granulations,
nodules and cylinders, which are composed of worn.
..excrement .
FIG. 22 INFLUENCE OF' ALFAFA, Cf P ROTATION AND
C
N CNUQUS CRC.1'PING ON SOIL STRUCTORE
Alfafa
- _ ?- M - Continuous Cropping
? Crop notation
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aESTRtI EU
Thus, while the first group of form of structured elements
may be considered the primary group, produced by dynamic forces,
the second form of structure, of later formation, is obviously
the result of worm activity.
(see figure #2)
The total porosity appears directly to reflect the results
of the structural analysis.
The greater the pulverization of the soil, the lower the
porosity, and conversely, lower pulverization of the soil results
in greater porosity.
Increased porosity is observed when alfafa is grown, while
a distinct reduction in its value occurs on continuous cropping.
The six-field crop rotation however given results close to
those for continuous cropping, since the small, insignificant
difference between the mean values for the two may fall with-
in the limits of experimental error.
CAPILLARY AND NON-CAPILLARY POROSITY
The total porosity is expressed by the sum of capillary and non-
capillary interstices. The parts played by these in the life
of the soil and in plant life are not the same.
Capillary porosity conditions the supply of soil moisture
(if the surface capillaries are broken dotivn) and the passage of
moisture and nutrients into the plant roots, while non-capillary
porosity assures a.favorable atmospheric regimen and the pene-
tration of moisture .into the soil, which in turn assures tea suc-
cessful approach to the resolution of the antagonism observed
between water-and air in the soil: each of them taking its own
share of the porosity, moisture taking the capillary porosity,
lIESraflcrEo
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TOTAL SOIL POROSITY IN PERCENT OF ITS VOLUME
Continuous Cropping Crop Rotation ~ Alfalfa Remarks
49. o7 tj9.3a
51.06 52.8?
5.23 Average 50.75 51.77 Average 51.91
52.27 52.19
50.81 58.5b
55.8t.
Analyses and
55.19 computation by
55.15 Average 55.65 V. V. Maloyan.
56.5t~
55.52
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w~+yc~~~w
t-' tS`ti
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RELATIONSHIP OF STRUCTUHE TO CULTURAL CONDITION OF SOIL
(Analysis and computation performed by V. V. Maloyan and V. G. Bakhmenin)
SZ~.Zr~ ntiESm R~H'~'.3'd;e3.i~aeCLF'p~+~, taAY.tF~i
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of Parcel
Crop Rotation 23.E t 5.1 8.1~ f 1.3
9.3?0.8 21.6?1.0 ~?7+1.6 11.612.0
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El ES 4FIC TED
and air the non-capillary porosityt~ (s.~. Zakharov).'
In the metaphorical language of Professor Kvasniko
v, the
network of capillary interstices forms a eculiar s
p ystem of 'blood
circula',tiontf, through which Uninterruptedly courses n
the blood~~
of the soil - the soil solution (1' uid phase). The network of
non-capillary interstices represents a ttrespirator t~ s
y ystem
through which moves the soilairp
These elements of soil structure play so exceptionally im--
portant a role as to predetermine all of the most important soil
processes.
Passing now to the consideration of, the figures presented
in the tables, a definite relationship again appears between
pulverization of the soil and the values for capillary
porosity
and also a distinct and regular variation of capillary porosity
with the various different cultural conditions o
f the soil.
CAPILLARY AND NON-CAPILLARY POROSITY OF THE SOIL, IN PERCENT
OF ITS VOLUTE
Continuous Cropping
i
~
Crop rotation
Alf of a
~OI
1
NON
CAPyjaLARY
CAPILLARY
CAPILLARY
NON
CAPILLARY CAP ILL. 1Y CAPILLARY
RE 'iARKs
4176
7,31
X167
7,71
39 37
to
Analyses
438
778
7
L~2~21
10,63
366l
18,58
and corn-
putztion
)4395
72
8 62
X2,04.
L
9,73
39O7
16 O8
by V, V,
Malo
a
?
.
1,
L.317
8,L$
39O1 ~
17,53
y
n
4330
7 Si ?
44?44
91O
37 96
17 56
. 779 . ~
L2,82
9,12
38L O
17,2L~.
The more the soil is pulverized, the treater the capillary
porosity, and, on theother hand, a lower dust content of the
soil
results in lower capillary porosity and increased total and non
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NON CAPILLARY POROSITY IN PERCENT OF TOTAL POROSITY
CONTIINOUS CROPPING
CROP ROTATION
ALFAFA
lLi., 90
15,61
29,L~.9
20,11
33,67
15,37 value 153)
18,79 value 175
29,16 value 30,99
16, L.0
1Lj.,78
16,19 31,00
17,00 31,62
The results of the investigation show the most favorable
ratio between capillary and non-capillary porosity to be assured
by growing alfafa,
Structural Stab:i. 1i y. At the present time, the term structural
stability means the capacity of soil aggregates to resist the
disintegrating action of water (Vil'yams).
Structural stability is due to "the release of calcium as
the cathion Ca'from organic compounds by the composition of the
remnants of dead roots, and its absorption by the ailorphous col-
loidal, humus. The colloids containing the bivalent cathions so ,
absorbed, including CA", lose the capacity of dispersing their
granules in water, and form colloidal solutions, Under alJ. cir-.
cumstances they become insoluble in water, and, therefore amor-
phous, colloidal humus., after absorption of CA" cathions cements
the soil aggregates with the elastic and absolutely insoluble ce-
ment, which also gives the soil crumbs stability; the property of
not disintegrating in water" (Vll'yams).
Structural stability is thus due above all to the presence
of organic remains in the soil, and consequently it will be a
Y at
maximum when the plowed horizon is rich in organic matter,
i`ESj
t1
D
ra~r~
!I,it~w
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,f ESTRICTED
Alfafa leaves the largest amount of organic matter in
the form of root residues,. while continous cropping of cotton
leaves only an insignificant amount of organic matter in the
plowed horizon. It is entirely clear that the greatest struc-
tural stability is observed with alfafa?
There is no definite relation between structural stability
uctuTal fractions; whence only the methodo-
and the separate str
loical conclusion can be drawn that for purposes of aggregate
analysis soil samples of mixed fractions can entirely define it.
A distinct picture of definite regularity is observed how-
e data for hor:Lzontal rows, showing that alfafa growing
ever in th
in a more stable structure than continuous cropping or
results
crop rotation.
of struc- PERCENTAGE OF AGGREGATES NOT V ASEDD OUT
Size
tural elements Continuous Cropping crop Rotation Alf fa
-_ ... 82 .00 1A6o 79 ~ + O%79 89 73 + 1 ,17
8l89 ~ l,66 8026.120 8961 + 0,88
81 2+204 82,28+iL8 88,,27+091.
8l72 1 L 81, 81+ 1,18 89,38 ' l O3
Average....... ~ ,
CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions may be drawn from the exper imen-
tal data.
a definite relation of dependence between soil
1. There is
structure and the different crop plants,
2, Conta. 'nuous cropping of cotton leads to deterioration.
structure in all elements of the investigation.
of soil
Alfafa growing aids in the regeneration of soil struc--
31
L i7
- /ff i_
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ture by improving the quantitative composition of structured
elements, increasing the total and non-capillary, porositY, re-
ducing capillary porosity, creating the most favorable ratio
between capillary and non-capillary porosity, and distinctly
increasing structural stability,
24. Six-field drop rotation without perennial grasses is
of no particular value in reestablishing soil structure.
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RESTRICTED
SOWING AND MANAGEYIENT OF COTTON IN THE NEW AREAS
P. A. Yakhtenfel' d
The yield of lint in the New Cotton Areas still remains
at an inadmissably low level,
Yields are obtained every year at the Zonal Stations and
bases distributed throughout the entire cotton belt of the New.
Areas which are 6 to 8 times the mean operating yields.
Dozens of the best kolkhozes obtain, year after year, high
yields, close to these of the experimental institutions.
This spread between mean yields and maximum yields will
undoubtedly be liquidated during the next few years,
The results of the experience accumulated by the institu-
tions for scientific research and by the best farms of the young
cotton production branch in the New Areas will help to liquidate
this spread very speedily.
ongI, with its network of Zonal Stations and Bases
thro~ighout the New Cotton Areas of the Ukraine, Crimea and North
Caucasus, has obtained basic results during these years of work
(1931-1933) that clarify the peculiar features of the technique
of the cultivation of cotton in the most northerly cotton region
of the world.
The technique of cotton growing in the New Areas is sub-
stantially different from that used in the irrigated cotton grow-
ing areas of Central Asia and from that used in the cotton belt
of North America,
It is an urgent task to equip all workers in the New Cotton
Areas with a knowledge of these peculiarities.
Since this work of orientation. is on the whole based on
the results of numerous field experiments, the basic elements in
RESTRICTED
-iy8 -
II
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RESTRICTED
,,i, ;
tat`'
the methodology of such experiments must here be indicated.
The overwhelming majority of the experiments are repeated
six to eight times.
In most experiments the plots are about 200 square meters.
Almost all experimental data are processed by the method of Styu-
dent, which allows us to rely mainly on the most reliable data
and to reject all data open to any doubt.
All the experimental institutes succeeded in attaining ex-
ceptionally high accuracy in 1931 and 1932 ( 4-1 to S percent in
most experiments),
1933 gave less reliable results, especially in the Ukraine,
where irregular mortality and rotting of the bolls under the ex-
ceptionally unfavorable conditions of that season gave a very?low
experimental accuracy ( .+- 8 to 12 percent)',
PREPARATION OF SEED FOR SOWING
Anixternal peculiarity of the seed of the commercial va-
rieties of cotton, as distinguished from the other crop plants
of the New Areas, is the presence of fuzz.
The presence of this fuzz, which cannot be removed by
current mechanical methods of ginning and daunting sharply dis-
tinguishes cottonseed from the seed of other field crops and
requires a number of special cultural practices.
Among the other peculiarities of cottonseed which strike the
eye, its relatively low specific gravity should be mentioned.
This makes it necessary to construct special drill seeders for
cotton, having devices (agitators) to overcome the resistance
caused by the cohesion of the downy seeds to the sowing apparatus.
j' w1
.../,
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IIEST IUCTED
The existing models of cotton seeders are not always suc-
cessful in handling the sowing of dry downy seeds, but if the
seed is moistened, causing mutual adhesion of the fibrils, of
the fuzz, sowing performance of such seeders is satisfactory.
When seeds are received from the plant, each kolkhoz should
organize the sorting to eliminate immature, shrunken
and diseased seed, and also the seed of different varieties mixed
with the lot (the downless Kara-Chigit seed, the large seeds
with white fuzz of Navrotskiy variety, etc).
This work is entirely
indispensable in growing the /r der No, 1300 variety, since
this is the variety prescribed for sowings during the next few
years on all fields in the New Areas, and loss of its purity must
be avoided.
THE J14PORTANCE OF SOAKING SEED
Practice in the basic cotton areas of Central Asia and
Transcaucasus regrads soaking of cottonseed in water before sow-
ing as an obligatory cultural method, aimed at increasing ger-
minating capacity under field conditions, together with gerrminat-
ing force, and therefore also intended to accelerate germination
and enhance productivity. Seed is not usually soaked in the un-
irrigated cotton growing of the United States.
With other field crops, soaking is practiced with seeds
that sweli only slowly and require large amounts of water, such
as sugarbeet.
With market gardening of beans and other legumes that
need relatively large amounts of water for seed swelling, pre-
sowing soaking is, similarly, often considered obligatory,
n
ri
I.JI~:t A~i
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~.ST81C'lED
Soaking gives the seeds the moisture they need for ger-
mination in a shorter time than is possible in the field, and
thus results in more rapid germination, Presowing soaking in-
creased field germinating and germinating force. in experimats
at the Turkestan Selection and Breeding Station (F. N. Mauer onie
Lrphological and physiological properties cottonseed of and their
;ricultura.l 'ignif icance!' Cot brai, vol,
7. Moscow, 1927),
with seeding depth of 5 centimeters and high ternperature: 29,9
degrees at the L centimeter depth,
Germinating Capacity Germinative Power in Days
in Percent by Arnold's Method
Dry Seeds 68.8 6.t..
Moistened Seeds 72.0 S.
In the New Cotton Areas, pre-sowing moistening of seed
s
sometimes proved superf2bus, and frequently even gave unfavorable 4
results.
The results obtained at the Taman' Zonal Station in 1931
indicate the possibility of cases of harmful effects from soaking,
The unfavorable effects of seedsoakin are expressed,
when plantings are early, in retardation of germination, increase
in mortality and in the last analysis am in reduction of yield.
The number of days between planting and germination (25-L.1) is
enough to justify the conclusion that when plantings are made
in early April, conditions in the New Areas are unfavorablew:for
germination. In the ensemble of factors necessary for rapid seed-
ling emergence, the one which is most frequently absent in the
New Areas is high temperature accompanied by ample spring water--
ing in fields tilled at the proper time.
RESrRrcrEo
- Zc / r
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weep
SO win
a
d
g
n
rarif?cation
`fa me of p
1a
ti
n
n
g I germ? nation ,
in percent
SOAKED SEEDS
Treen
3e o
S O Wing and Rari
facation
in tsentner
germination in r
percent per h
P etare
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TRICTED
If the seeds lie long in the earth, development ~ ent of fun-
gus and bacterial diseases is encoura ed '
g in both seeds and seed-
lings, and the depredations of. pests of every kind. are favored..
Swollen and soaked seeds cannot e ,
rminate before dry seeds if
planted early, on account of insufficient soil temperatures
At the same tale, even if the period between planting
and germination is prolonged, the d r ~ y eels have sufficient tune
to swell naturally in moist soil,
Soaked seeds have softened integum
,, ents and are more read-
ily attacked by pests and diseases than
dry seeds which swell
gradually from the soil moisture. The
frequerstly observed heavy
mortality among plants from early Plantings of moistened seeds
is apparently due to this, Moistened seeds
lose their germina-
tive power during a long stay in soil in
su.fflciently warmed
through, resulting in the retardation
of gerrnxnatlon observed
in such seeds, 14atters are different when
the weather at plant-
ing is already hot,.
Such weather usually comraences in the New ,Areas. at the.
beginning of May. a'lost of the evidence
from direct experiment
is in favor of preliminary soaking of seed
for relatively late..
planting in May,
In practice one must always be ready to solve a problem
in a different way, If weather or soil conditi
ors are different.
In any case,
pre planting soaking
cannot be indiscriminately condejned for the New Areas as it is
among American farmers, The Socialist 1 production of cotton must
take advantage of every opportunity to actively influence ture,
whether its intervention affect the soil the
adult plant, .or
only the seed. If it becomes clear that
under certain conditions
1tSTRICTEp
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ttSi tGTED
soaking of seed is really a method of accelerating germination,
then this method must be used. The following conclusions can
be drawn from dozens of experiments carried out in 1930 and 1931
by sovkhozes, kolkhozes and scientific institutions in the New
Areas,
In early April planting dry seeds must be used, since.
soil moisture is usually sufficient at this time for the natural
swelling of the seeds, while soil temperature is still not high
enough for rapid gerriiination.
In May1planting with moderate soil moisture and stability
of warm weather (over i -16 degrees) it is better to use soaked
seeds. This cannot be done in dried out soil, since such soil
quickly wrings the water out of moist seeds, There have been
cases when such seeds have germinated, only to perish shortly
after in the dry soil.
These are of course only general indications, based on
the usual "normal" 'spring weather, There may be cases in which
it may be advantageous to use soaked seed at the end of April
or, on the other hand, to dispense with soaking even at the be-
ginning of May.
The one to decide th question in each individual case
should be the agronomist working in the undertaking.
ing
TECHNIQUE OF SEED SOAKING
The experiment institutes of Central Asia recommend soak-
cottonseed for two days or longer in running water or water
changed daily. Experiments on the length of soaking, carried
out in the New Areas .(Prikumsk Station and elsewhere) have es-
tablished the possibility of limiting the period to a single day.
dES TRICTED
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A Si aid ED
Short soaking for 18-.2L,. -. hours makes
it unnecessary to change
the water. It is best to have the temperature'of the water no
lower than 15-20 degrees, since swelling is faster in warm water,
The question of the possibility of using sea water for
soaking is of interest to for areas located near the sea or to
bitter saline lirnan. This possibility has been established by
experiments at the Taman' station in 1931 as well as at numerous
sovkhozes and kolkhozes, The following results were obtained
with May 10 plantings at Taman'
DATE OF GERMINATION YIELD OF LINT IN
. TSENTNER PER HECTARE
Dry seed 26 May 18,2
Seed soaked in sea water 26 Nay 20.1
Seed soaked in fresh water 26 May 20,1
The weight of cottonseed is more than doubled after soak-
ink; owing to the absorption of water by the swollen seeds, Thus
the normal rate of planting, in terms of dry seed weight, is
doubled for soaked seed.
To avoid unnecessary transportation, the soaking of seed
must in practice be done near the place of planting. Specially
constructed tanks and pools and ponds are used for soaking.
Cement silage pits or any convenient receptacle may be used such
as vats, barrels, etc,
It is sometimes done in sacks only half full of seed.
The sacks must be immersed in water with the aid of a
swinging arm or bob. In general it must be done in such a way
that all of the seed is immersed. Even at high temperatures
and in spite of a certain amount of air retained by the mass of
downy seed, ,germination does not occur on imrnersion, But there
d ES TAlC TED
~;v A
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itt$T a1t ED
are enough seeds floating on the surface of the water in con-
tact with air to have sprouts appear soon. There is no ob-
jection at all to planting seeds that have just started to
sprout, but if the sprouts are more than 3-1i millimeters -long,
their survival is doubtful
In contrast to many other plants, the cotton plant reacts
very unfavorably if its young rootlets are exposed to the air,
not to mention breakage of the sprouts during planting by drill
seeder. The time between termination of soaking and planting
must be reduced to a minimum and should not in any event ex-
ceed 2-Li. hours, Cases are possible in which some of the soaked
seed may remain unplanted. In all such cases the seeds must
be spread out to dry in a thin layer, The dried seeds may then
be soaked again and planted.
THE tv1PORTANCE OF DELINTING SEED FOR PLATING
Some research workers in natural conditions in tropical
countries are of the opinion that fiber and fuzz serve the bi-
ological purpose of protecting the seeds from soiling, over-
heating, suffocation, etc. F. 4. Mauer (Turkestan Plant Breed-
ing Station) set up an experiment to confirm this opinion. It
r~
consisted of the protracted soaking for 7 days of seeds of cotton
of different varieties, with different amounts of fuzz. on the
seeds. To create the worst conditions, the water used for soak-
ing was not changed during the experiment. The results showed
total loss of gexiiinating capacity by the bald or fuzzless seeds,
while 2. percent of the almost fuzzless seeds germinated,
the seeds with full fuzz covering still retained 30.E per-
while
cent of their germinating capacity.
ii STRJCTEO
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?S1 tCT ED
Measures for slowing down the swelling of cotton seeds
in the soil are not wanted; on the contrary, the task of cul-
tural practice is to create all conditions for most rapid ger.-
minatio . The less.the amount of protective integument remain-
ing on the seeds, the higher will be the germinating capacity
and the germinative power. This is applicable of course only
to measured environments with conditions favorable to rapid ger-
mination. Experiments at Tashkent show that removal of the
seed cover results in the best and earliest germination.
Delinting -- or reginning
of seed for planting, which
produces an additional raw material for industry, is at the
same time a desirable cultural practice. It was feared that
the seed would be dammed by the delinting saw teeth, or over-
heated during the process; It was feared that.the placenta would
be broken off,. and it was assumed that this would lead to rot-
ting away of the seed in the ground. Parallel analyses of the
condition of delinted and non-delinted seed showed the baseless-
news assumption of delinting damage to be un.c~ounded. (. ion-
tribution to the q:zestion of Delinting ottonseed for lanting.
Periodical , No. land 2, Moscow, 1925.) Thus
there were in all 0.3 percent more of damaged seeds among de-
lintel material than among non-delinted seed.
The `Turkestan Experimental Plant Breeding Station (F.M.
Mauer) furnishes convincing evidence in favor of delinting.
dSTRICTED,
-'*"tr ..
99,
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itE$i RICI ED
EXPERLIENT WITH DELINTING AT TURKESTAN PLANT :BREEDING STATION
Dry Seeds
Soaked Seeds
Germination
Germinative
Germination Germinative
Capacity,
In percent
power,
In days
Capacity,
In percent
power
In days
Undelinted seeds
81.5
5.9
85,S
5,6
Normally delinted
seeds
89.5
5.3
83.5
L.8
Closely delinted
seeds
82.0
5.5
87.0
L1.7
Even close delinting increases the percentage of seeds
germinating and enhances the germinative power.
Delinting of seed material should thus be considered a
necessary procedure in preparation for planting in the New Cot-
ton Areas. The agrotechnical 'significance of delinting should
be especially great for the intermediate and late plantings at
the end of April and the beginning of lay.
Fuzz makes up about 12 percent of the weight of ginned
seed on the average. The sa( delinters at the spinning mill
remove about 2 percent of this, leaving about 10 percent un-
touched.
DELINTING COTTONSEED
A considerable number of the many different forms of
the cotton plant all over the world consist of varieties with-
out fuzz, or only a small amount of it. Most of the commercial
Egyptian varieties belong to this group.
Numerous experiments have shown that hairless seed,su-
perior to downy seed in field germination capacity and in ger-.
minative power,
dES Tfl TED
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210002-6
tIESI RICT Eli
Mechanical delinting of cottonseed
cannot completely
remove the fuzz and make the seed entirely bare.:
Special delinting machines mak
e it possible to remove
"up to 7-8 percent of seed weight iri
the form of addita.0
na7,
lint and linters,
Since lql~ in America tinter
s have been removed by use
of the Ragodel machine, Since 1917, an
demand of the far De-
partment, the removal of linters has been compulsory, The best
delinter -- the De Segundo defjrator -_
takes off 5-6 percent
of the fuzz,
If lint
ers amounti t
ngo only
percent of seed weight
had been taken off in 1931, the Union would have yielded 53,600
tons of pure cellulose
(about 8o percent of
la.nter' w~i~ht '~
The chemical methods of delint ? ~ ~.n,, being worked out on
a Pilot-plant scale at the present time are of great interest
to agronomic technolo
Thus the fuzz was complete/
't
y ~urnedaway by treatment '
with concentrated sulphuric acid c
This method was proposed
as early as lgll by Mr, ll ?
Y ~.ger (Alabama Agricultural Station >
United States) ?
of Cottonseed with concentrated Sul hur?
p lc Ada, E~hl ~ ov
D lv.' , No. 1., Moscow, 1929.) performed a large number of ex-
periments With all possible varieties
of cotton, and became con-
vinced "that the treatment of Cottonseed with concentrated su1...
phuric acid for 20-30 minutes
followed by ,.washing. for 20 minutes
in frequently changed water may be em
ployed for delinting pur-
poses without damage to the seed .
~xn consequence of which er-
tItsrRrcrEn
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210002-6
V. G. Dlekmen (Professor Dr, V
. Cr, Blekzrien, Treatment t
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210002-6
AES1AlC1E0
mination under field conditions. proceeds earlier and in a
uniform manner), and also for sterilizing the surface of the
seed.
In our experiments there were cases in which seed re-
in concentrated sulphuric acid (75.L percent) as long
manned
as 12 hours and sometimes up to 2 days, without perceptible
reduction of the gerriination capacity 'of cotton variety No. 182.
After delinting by Sulphuric acid careful and prolonged wash-
ing of the seed is absolutely necessary, preferably under run-
ning' water.
Delinting may be accomplished by 20-30 minutes treatment
with concentrated sulphuric acid of specific gravity 1,66 or
higher. g ,,hor. About 20 kilograms of acid is required to delint 100
kilograms f very downy seed. The linters removed are turned ;o
into glucose, which is then fermented to produce alcohol. r
liters of alcohol may be distilled from the product of 100
kilograms of treated seed.
An even more attractive suggestion (A. P. Zakoshchivov,
ivanova and others. How to (tilize the y-products of
~l. T.
the Lotton culture of.. Central Asia. Journal 2a khlokovuVu
nezavis i,.most' , No. 6-7, ~IIashkerlt, 1931,) is to remove the linters
from the seed by treating it with the. fumes of hydrochloric
acid. In this case the linters are obtained in powder form
as hydrocellulose, which in turn may be converted into cellu-
lose acetate and used in manufacturing artificial silk.
A ES TRIC TED
r
?j4
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11
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210002-6
EXPEP 1I?ZENT
Prikumsk
r* (1
Khasav-Yurt
1 a
ro+ Q) 'tj+
'D~ ~D
+ w 14
The passible practical significance of delntin may ~ y be
illustrated by the following results of field experiments at
Prikumsk and Ithasav-Yurt in 1932.
V. Stets' (Plantings of r,ottonseed hem'
?-ca11elinte
Publications of ,SR
, EDA7.NnchI, Tashkent, 1933.
presents the following results of a delinting experiment with
sulphuric acid, perfoi~ned in 1932,t the ~
AkItavak Station (Tashkent)
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210002-6
Ordinary
seed
9~8
56
5,7
29
lnting; at Prjkumslc by treat-
Delintered
ment with strong sulphuric
Deed
109
36
acid for 10 minutes; at Khasav-
93
50
yurt with hydrochloric acid
of specific gravity 1,56 for
1)4 hours,
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210002-6
aEST IUCT ED
DAY'S BETI~EEN
SOATING AND 50
percent GER-
MZNATION
DENSITY OF STAND IN
THOUSANDS OF PLANTS
PER RECTARE
Delinated seed, soaked in water
93
Ordinary seed, soaked in water
7
58
Delinted seed, dry
5
Ol
Ordinary seed, dry
g
,g
The earlier germination and greater field germination ca-
pacity speak in favor of delinting.
The experiments of the STAZRA of the SRE.DAZNIKhI on the
Murgab sovkhozes (1931) and on the SOVKUOZ -rVakhsht' (1932) note
sharp reduction in the incidence of gummosis in plants of Egyptian
varieties grown from delinted seed, According to the observations
of V. Stets, fuzzless seed after delinting possess the capacity
of germinating at relatively low levels of soil moisture without
preliminary soaking, which is explained by "the action of strong.
sulphuric acid on the tough seed coat, making it more permeable
and assuring closer contact between the surfaces of delinted seeds
and the capillary part of the soil,"
The ability to obtain Luzzless seed opens up a series of
vistas'before the agricultural technology of cotton growing.
Earlier and uniform germination, of all seeds sown may be
awaited, and consequently a certain increase in productivity as
well; it will be possible to use ;rain drills for sowing cotton-
seed, and these are technically .far more perfected than the sepc-
ialized cotton seeders,`
And finally, we may also await a reduction in the fungus
and bacterial diseases carried over with the seed,
YEg TRIg TED
-R'~^.f +~..
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210002-6
~~.5iHIC1ED
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