Winifred E. Brenciiley 155 



broken than those of the crowded set. About this time or a little earlier 

 difiEerences began to manifest themselves between the plants in the 

 various parts of the crowded square. Those in the outside rank were 

 well tillered, with plenty of good strong healthy leaves, but as the 

 middle of the square was approached the number of tillers began to 

 grow less and the plants became lanky, thin, and much less healthy. 

 At this stage the assistant who constantly handled the plants in changing 

 the solution expressed the opinion that the spaced plants would probably 

 prove better in the long run than the crowded plants, in spite of the 

 broad hefty leaves of the latter, an opinion that later events proved to 

 be justified. 



All the plants began to show ears at about the same time, in spite of 

 the various differences in maturity of the two sets. The spaced plants 

 were looking very unhappy, as the lower leaves changed colour and died 

 down badly, while the tillers were not nearly as tall as in the crowded 

 set. The crowded plants, on the other hand, retained their dark green 

 colour, and although maturity was much less advanced as regards 

 vegetative growth the ears were fully as advanced as in the spaced 

 set. The ocular difference between the two sets reached its zenith at 

 this time, the contrast between the narrow yellowish withering leaves 

 of the spaced plants and the broad dark-green succulent leaves of the 

 crowded ones being most striking. A few days of excessive heat super- 

 vened at the end of the experiment and all the plants showed the effect. 

 Almost all the leaves of the spaced set ripened off, and were yellow 

 and withered, but the plants were well tillered, with stout dry stems and 

 well-developed ears. Little mildew was present though a good deal of 

 aphis was about. The leaves of the crowded plants had also begun to 

 die off, but became flaccid and reddish instead of being rather stiff and 

 yellow. The ear and grain formation of the outer plants of the square 

 were ahead of the spaced set, but the middle plants showed little fructi- 

 j&cation and were becoming slimy at the base of the stems, which were 

 sappy and easily bent. Mildew was much more prevalent but less aphis 

 occurred than on the spaced plants. 



At this stage each plant was taken off, the roots were carefully 

 washed in two changes of clear water to remove adherent food salts, 

 and the dr}'- weights were ascertained after several days drying in the 

 drying room at a temperature of 80°-90° F. The number of ears and the 

 number of stalks per plant were counted before cutting up. 



The comparison of the spaced and crowded plants at various 

 stages of growth and after drying yields several interesting and rather 



11—2 



