38 Seed Wheat. 



cases all the weighings of straw were made and checked during the middle part of one 

 and the same day so as to eliminate any chance of error due to the hygroscopic qualities 

 of the straw. 



In the weighings and in the previous care of these trials I had the highly valued aid 

 of my assistant, Mr. E. M. Grosse, as well as that of Mr. R. Hirst who, under the train- 

 ing of the farm management, had become a very useful workman. 



The plots were under the general charge of Mr. George Valder, whose devoted interest 

 was of great value, not only in securing accurate supervision, but also in spreading an 

 interest in the work by calling the particular attention of many hundreds of visitors to 

 the facts ocularly demonstrated by the trials. 



SUMMARY of Comparisons. (Third Trial.) 



If we take as the yield of each trial the sum of the weights of the grain and of the 

 straw, we find that in general the various grades have exceeded in their productive- 

 ness the smaller grades with which they have been compared, so that if we class the trials 

 according to the larger of the grades used in the comparison, we may make the following 

 general statement : 



The very large or 325 grade excelled in 66 '7 per cent, of the trials. 

 ,, large or 300 ,, in 89'7 



,, medium or 250 ,, in 93'1 ,, ,, 



This statement, however, fails as in the previous trials to tell the whole story, for the 

 reason that the excess of yield in the majority cases is much greater than in the 

 minority cases. Thus, 



The very large or 325 grade when excelling did so by 14 '7 per cent. ; if excelled it 



was by only 8 '5 per cent. 

 The large or 300 grade when excelling did so by 30 '4 per cent. ; if excelled it was 



by only 12 '3 per cent. 

 The medium or 250 grade when excelling did so by 44*5 per cent. ; if excelled it 



was only by 3 '5 per cent. 



In these statements the basis of the percentage calculation is the weight of the yield 

 of the lower of the two contestants. 



If instead of taking the sum of the weights of the grain and straw as the criterion of 

 yield, we take the weight of the grain alone, we arrive at the following : 



The very large or 325 grade excelled in 58 '3 per cent, of the trials. 

 ,, large or 300 in 93'1 ,, ,, 



,, medium or 250 ,, in 86'2 ,, ,, 



As before, we find, however, that the victories of the large seed are more decisive than 

 those of the small seed, and this must be taken into account in estimating the superiority 

 of the larger grades. We find that : 



The 325 grade when excelling did so by 12 '9 per cent.; when excelled it was only 



by 6 '6 per cent. 

 The 300 grade when excelling did so by 26 '5 per cent. ; when excelled it was only 



by 7' per cent. 

 The 250 grade when excelling did so by 40 '5 per cent.; when excelled it was only 



by 3*3 per cent. 



If instead of taking the sum of the weights of the grain and straw as the criterion of 

 yield, we take the weight of the straw alone, we arrive at the following : 

 The very large or 325 grade excelled in 66 '7 per cent, of the trials. 

 ,, large or 300 ,, in 89'7 



,, medium or 250 ,, in 93'1 ,, ,, 



But here, again, we find that the victories of the large grades are much more decisive 

 than those of the small grades, and this must not be forgotten in estimating the superiority 

 of the large grades. Examination of the tables proves that : 



325 grade when excelling did so by 19'2 per cent.; when excelled it was only by 



10*8 per cent. 

 300 grade when excelling did so by 29'6 per cent.; when excelled it was only by 



19*4 per cent. 

 250 grade when excelling did so by 40 '7 per cent.; when excelled it was only by 



4'5 per cent. 



The land on which the trials were carried out was newly cleared land that had never 

 before been cropped. It had been ploughed up some little time before sowing, but it 

 was not in first-class condition for wheat-growing. It was too green and it was too 

 patchy. 



