30 



TESTS OF VARIETIES OF CORN AT AUBURN. 



Introduction 



In 1906, Director J. F. Diiggar began a series of corn 

 variety tests to deterinine which are well adapted to 

 Alabama. His plan has been closely followed 

 for twenty-two years. The results up to 1905 were pub- 

 lished in iDulletins 76, 88, 111, and 134, now out of print. 

 This bulletin contains the results of the tests from 1906 

 to 1917 inclusive. 



All tests at Auburn were made on sandy or gravelly 

 upland loam. The corn crop was usually preceded by 

 some winter cover crop like crimson clover or rye, 

 which was plowed under for soil improvement in the 

 early spring. Usually a home mixed fertilizer consist- 

 ing of 200 pounds of acid phosphate, 160 pounds of cot- 

 tonseed meal, and 100 pounds of kainit per acre was 

 applied in the drill at planting time or as a side applica- 

 tion to the young corn. When the plants were from two 

 to four feet high, from 50 to 100 pounds of nitrate of so- 

 da per acre was applied as a side dressing. 



The corn was planted in checks 4 2-3 feet by 3 feet. 

 Cultivation was usually continued until the corn be- 

 gan to bunch for tasseling. Whenever the stand of 

 plants was badly defective on any plot, the yield was 

 calculated to a perfect stand of plants. No fodder was 

 pulled from the plants of any test. To correct for in- 

 equalities of soil, the rows of each variety were repeat- 

 ed at regular intervals in the field. 



Actual Yields of Varieties of Corn and Their Rank 



Tabel I gives the yields of grain of the different va- 

 rieties which were planted for three years or more and 

 their rank. It shows that no one variety leads each year, 

 but that some varieties lead or stand near the top ev- 

 ery year. Such varieties may be relied upon as the 

 best for similar conditions. 



The average yield and rank of the different varieties 

 in this table were not tabulated, because all the varie- 

 ties did not occur every year. Obviously it would be 

 unfair to compare the average yield of a variety grown 

 only in favorable years with one grown in unfavorable 

 years. 



