224 



l»r IoiukI ill lliillctiiis Xos. 7 aii'l II ol tlic st;iti(iii fsoi' ExiH-riiin-nl St;i- 

 lidii K'ccoid. vol. I, i». L'14. :iikI vol. JI, p. 1M1>)- 



1)1 tlir (irst-nanu.'d live Jinos of thf-M- c^xperiujents ihc plats avcit niir i wt nliitli 

 acre ill extent, iiieasiiriiijj oS Ity 66 feet ; with but few exeeptioiis not less tliitii live 

 ])lats were subjected to the same treatment, and the eonelusions are based on the 

 average yield of the five. Phits thus similarly treated are not j)laoed by the side of 

 «^ach other, but. as fax as the formation of the land will ]iermit, they are placed along- 

 side of and in alternation with the plats with whose treatment or non-treatment they 

 are to he compared. A .space of 2 feet in width separates them along the .sides, and 

 at the ends a turning row of 12 feet in widtli separates adioining .series. 



Tlie laiHl wjis l)plie^e(l to be (|uite <'v«mi in fertility. 



Methods of needing (pit. •>-<!). — Tin* iiirtlinds of scj'diiig tc.^^tcil wn*' 



(1) broadcasting, (2) by .*<1 <irill with press wheels, (3) by shoe drill 



without jness wheels, (4) 1>\ hoe drill. (."») I»y roller drill. (0) listiuj;-, and 

 (7) cross-drilling', each of the methods being tried on ti\e «litierent ]>lats. 

 The land was a clay loam and iiad been used for oat's in 1S!M). Fiv»' 

 ])ecks of Zimmerman se<'d per a<'re were sown on all except the listed 

 plats, where from .i t<> 4 ])ecks per acre were used. The results arc 

 tabulated for each method, and a summary is given of all the trials. 

 '' l>roa<lcasting gave the best yield of all, followed clo.sely by the jdats 

 s«'eded with the roller drill. The broadcasted i)lats had a good staml, 

 though not so even as the stand on the drilled jdats. It is worthy of 

 note that these .same two methods of seeding, viz, the roller drill and 

 luoadeast lug, gave also the best results in la.st year's oats experinuMits." 

 The results where the shoe drill and the hoc drill were used were 

 '*l)ractically identical." There was no jiereeiitible advantage from ero.ss- 

 drilling. The lowest yield occurred where the wheat was listed. This 

 is believed to be largely attributable to the large amount of rain. 



Effects of eharoetcr of snd (pp. 7-{>). — The eticcts were studit-d ^^\\ IS 

 ]»lats of using ''common," "light," "heavy," and selected seed, and seed 

 from wheat cut while in the milk. 



The common seed was the wheat as it came from the thresher — simply cleaned 

 from chatf and straw. It weighed 63 pounds per struck bushel. The light seed 

 Avas taken from the screenings obtained by running the eommon seed through the 

 fanning mill, aiul consisted chietly of small with some shriveled and cracked seed. 

 It weighed .")8^ ]iounds to the struck bushel. The h«'avy seed consisted of the 

 best grade that could be gotten by running the common s^l•(l tbrongh the fanning 

 mill. It weighed 64^ pounds to the struck bushel. 



[The yield per acre and the weight of the wheat per bushel are tabulated for each 

 kind of seed.] Taking the common seetl as the standard, which may fairly rep- 

 resent the character of the seed usually sown by our farmers, this experiment shows 

 a gain in the yield by the use of better seed, whether obtained by grading it w ith a 

 fanning mill or by selecting choice heads and taking the seed from them, (^n the 

 contr.iry, a loss is entailed by the use of seed cut too early, or light and inferior seed. 



Effects of top-dressing wheat irifh phister and of spring harrowing (pj*. \K 

 10). — Brief tabulated notes on the results of a])i>lying 40b ])oiinds of 

 plaster jter acre to wheat, and <»1 harrowing wheat in the spring (A])ril 

 JL') when the plants were 8 to 10 inches high. The plaster showed "no 



