16 



same niauner, and an extra row was planted on each side, so that all the 

 rows under test might be equally surronnded by corn. * * * There 

 were thirty-six hills in a row, and hills and rows were 3 feet 8 inches 

 apart. Four kernels of Burr's White were planted in each hill." The 

 results are reported as in the previous year and compared with those 

 for 1888. 



In 1888 the largest yield was from the row planted 1 inch deep; in 1889, from the 

 row planted 6 inches deep. In 1888 the decidedly smallest yield was from the row 

 planted 6 inches deep, while in 1889 it was from the row planted 3 inches deep. In 

 1888 the latter depth gave the next to the largest yield. In 1888 the smaller yield 

 was dne to the smaller number of ears produced ; in 1889 it was due both to the 

 smaller number of ears and to their smaller size. 



In neither year was there any direct relation between the depth of planting and 

 the yield obtained. 



One fact referred to under " Experiment No. 54— Corn, Root Growth," is worthy of 

 mention here. It was found upon examination that at whatever depth planted, 1, 3, 

 or 5 inches, the crown roots start to grow usually at between 1 to 2 inches deep. No 

 roots start at a lower depth, except those growing directly at the seed, and these die 

 after the crown roots are established. With this soil and its last year's conditions, 

 it seemed that nature required that the roots which were to support the plant should 

 start to grow within '2 inches of the surface. The reason for deeper planting, except 

 to reach moisture sufficient to sprout the corn is, therefore, not apparent, and some 

 disadvantages are manifest. Of course the corn-raiser understands that practically 

 it is often necessary on uneven land to plant deep lest some of the corn may be left 

 uncovered. 



Experiment No. 5 — Corn, tMckness of planting (pp. 250-254. — "Tiiis 

 experiment was conducted to determiue not only the best thickness at 

 which to plant corn, but also the best manner of distributing the corn 

 at a given thickness ; whether, for instance, to plant three kernels every 

 42 inches or one kernel every 14 inches. The plats were planted at six 

 different degrees of thickness, as follows : at the rate of 45,520, 23,7G0, 

 15,840, 11,880, 9,504, and 5,940 kernels per acre." Eesults are reported 

 as in 1888, and compared with those of that year. 



Number of stalks. — In 1888, with the same rate of thickness, there were somewhat 

 more stalks harvested for every one hundred kernels planted, where one kernel was 

 planted, than where two, three, or four kernels were i)lanted to a hill; but in 1889 

 there was substantially no difterencc in the ratio of stalks harvested to kernels planted, 

 whether one, two, three, or four kernels were planted in a hill. 



fVeujlil of stalks and car.f.— In both seasons there was a nearly constant iucrcaso 

 from the thickest to the thinnest i)lantings in the weight of one hundred stalks of 

 stover and of one hundred ears, the ears increasing in weight faster than the stallis. 

 The ears were much heavier in the intermediate plantings than in the thickest 

 plantings, but they were not much heavier in the thinnest i)lanting8 than in the 

 intermediate plantings, while the increase in weight of stalks was fairly uniform 

 from the thickest to the thinnest. -» 



The development of the plant seems to have depended mostly upon the thickness 

 of planting and but little upon the method of distribution. 



The df'fierences in the size of the ears due to the different numbers of 

 kernels in a hill were so slight in both seasons f^s to be in all probability 

 " within the limits of experimental variation." 



