34-0 Journal of Agricultural Research vol. xx, No. 5 



In the spring of 191 1 this field was laid out into 46 plots, each measur- 

 ing 23K by 317 feet and containing 0.17 acre, arranged in two parallel 

 series of 23 plots each. The two series of plots were separated merely 

 by a temporary irrigation ditch. In 191 1 it was planted to sugar beets, 

 and in the spring of 191 2 it was seeded to alfalfa, and one cutting was 

 harvested that year. This stand remained on the ground during 191 3 

 and 1914, when the entire field was fall-plowed. In 1913 three cuttings 

 were made, but the third cutting was lost in a heavy wind which scat- 

 tered and mixed the crop before weighings from the various plots could 

 be made. The first cutting, designated as alfalfa I, was made on plots 

 one-half the original size. The second cutting was harvested from 

 plots one-quarter the original size. The first and second cuttings in 

 1914 were weighed for plots one-quarter the original size — that is, 0.0425- 

 acre plots — while the third cutting was recorded for plots one-third the 

 original size. These furnish the data for alfalfa I, II, and III for 1914. 

 Total yields for the first and second cuttings in 1913 and 1914 and for 

 the first, second, and third cuttings in 1914 are also considered. 



In 191 5 and 191 6 ear corn was grown. In 191 7 1 the fields were 

 planted to oats, and records were made of grain, straw, and total yield. 

 In 1 91 8 silage corn was grown. In 1919 the land produced a crop of 

 barley. 



It has been the practice each season to treat the whole field as a unit 

 until harvest time, when the plot boundaries are established in order to 

 measure the crop yields. In other words, all cultural operations, includ- 

 ing irrigation, are carried out on a field scale and uniformly throughout 

 the field. No manuring has so far been attempted. An effort has been 

 made to avoid any artificial causes of heterogeneity. 



The crop yields each year have been satisfactory — that is, they have 

 not been abnormal — as is shown in Table II, where the mean yields per 

 plot and per acre are set down. Fortunately, this experiment has also 

 escaped injury from insect pests, plant diseases, and storms, which so 

 often interfere with the success of long-term field experimentation. 



1 Because of other activities the plots could not be harvested in halves and quarters in 1917-1919. 



