Feb. 4, 1918 



New-Place Effect in Maize 



237 



At both localties the Maryland-grown seed of this cross is inferior to 

 that produced in Texas, but the point to which attention is now directed 

 is that the inferiority is greater in Maryland than in Texas. 



Table II contrasts the average behavior of each of the three hybrids 

 and the pure-seed Boone at the two localities. For example, when com- 

 pared in Maryland, the yield per row of plants from the Maryland-grown 

 seed of Stockton X Boone averaged 92.99 per cent of the mean yield 

 of the cross. In Texas the same comparison showed the average yield 

 of plants from Maryland-grown seed to be 98.76 per cent of the mean. 

 Thus, the plants from Maryland-grown seed averaged 5.77 per cent 

 higher in yield in Texas than in Maryland. 



Table II. — Average behavior of Maryland-grown seed expressed as a percentage of the 

 mean of Maryland- and Texas-grown seed, igij 



In comparing the yields both the yield per row and the yield per plant 

 were considered. In Texas the yield per row was much more dependent 

 on the number of plants in the row than in Maryland. In Texas, as the 

 number of plants increased, there was a pronounced tendency for the yield 

 per row to increase and the yield per plant to decrease, while in Maryland 

 an increase in the number of plants in the row was accompanied by only 

 a small increase in the yield per row, and there was an almost correspond- 

 ing increase in the yield per plant. 



This difference in behavior at the two localties is not difficult to under- 

 stand. In Maryland the failure to secure a perfect stand was largely 

 the result of infertile spots in the field, and the same unfavorable condi- 

 tions which reduced the number of plants also reduced the yield of those 

 that survived. In Texas, the loss of plants was more the result of acci- 

 dental factors, which influenced the yield of the remaining plants only 

 by permitting them to take advantage of the increased space with a 

 consequent slight increase in the yield per plant. The method of planting 

 in Texas accentuated this difference, for with the plants close together 

 in the row the additional space resulting from a missing plant was 

 utilized more by the neighboring plants in the same row than by those 

 in adjoining rows. In Maryland, on the other hand, where the plants 

 were spaced equally in both directions, half the space made available 

 by a missing hill would be appropriated by the adjoining rows. 



