43 



Yield of two thousand Hills from Central Rows of each Plot 

 OF Experimental Field, Galesburg, 1908 



From this it will be seen that the check plots and kerosene plot 

 had the highest yields, and that the other experimental plots, men- 

 tioned in the order of their yields, from highest to lowest, come as 

 follows: carbolic acid, scalecide, oil of lemon, kerosene emulsion, and 

 formalin. Two thousand hills of the kerosene plot yielded, indeed, 

 ten pounds more than the checks, but this difference is too slight to be 

 taken into account. In respect to the number of stalks in each 2,000 

 hills, the checks stand first, and the other plots come in the following 

 order: kerosene, oil of lemon, kerosene emulsion, scalecide, carbolic 

 acid, and formalin. The difference of 105 stalks between the kerosene 

 plot and the checks is only 3 per cent, and may probably be disre- 

 garded ; but the difference of 498 stalks (13.5 per cent) between the 

 checks and the carbolic acid plot is too large to be ignored, while the 

 loss of 1,656 stalks in the formalin plot out of a possible 3,695 (45 per 

 cent) can only be explained as due to an original injury to the seed — 

 a conclusion confirmed by reference to an earlier examination of the 

 number of stalks and missng hills in 500 hills of each plot, made June 

 17. At this time, while the checks averaged 931 stalks to this number 

 of hills, the formalin plot contained but 647, and while there were 41 

 missing hills in the checks there were 150 in the plot planted with 

 formalin. The loss in the number of ears (36 per cent) due to the 

 formalin treatment and in the total weight of the corn (21 per cent) 

 puts this conclusion beyond a doubt. The fact that the loss in number 

 of ears consequent upon a treatment of the seed with formalin was 

 less than the loss in the number of stalks, and that the loss in weight 

 of the total yield was still less than that in the number of ears, implies 

 that the formalin took the greatest effect upon the poorest kernels 

 which would have produced the weakest plants and the largest number 

 of barren stalks. 



Something of the same tendency is shown in the results of the 



