1236 



EABLE V. HARDENBURG 



Yorker No. 2 in favor of this method. These differences were due, 

 not to a difference in rate of planting, but to the system of spacing 

 the seed pieces. Shepperd and Churchill (1911), using the variety Early 

 Ohio and varying the rate of planting according to the space between 

 seed pieces, compared the yields from planting at distances of from 10 to 

 36 inches in the row. Here the yield decreased directly as the interspace 

 increased, the 10-inch spacing giving the best yield. Zavitz (1916), in a 

 six-years test, using equal-sized large whole seed and equal-sized medium 

 whole seed, compared the results of spacing the seed 1, 2, and 3 feet. 

 While his total yields increased directly as the spacing decreased, he 

 obtained the largest net yield from the 2-foot spacing of large whole seed 

 and from the 1-foot spacing of medium whole seed. In another test, 

 running for nine years and with the same rate of planting in both systems 

 of spacing, he compared the yields from planting in checks 33 inches 

 apart and from planting in the drill row with the seed pieces 1 foot apart. 

 The results showed a nine-years average difference of 39.8 bushels per 

 acre in favor of the drill-planted seed. From a review of the tests here 

 reported, it appears that, irrespective of ral^e of planting, the yield from 

 planting in drills is generally better than that from planting in checkrows. 

 None of the 330 Long Island growers who were questioned regarding 

 their 1912 crop had planted in checkrows. The almost universal use *of 

 planters in this region precludes the possibility of planting by the check- 

 row method. Furthermore, the greater land values encourage economy 

 of space, and the better yields from closer planting have convinced the 

 growers of this region that drill planting is the better method. The method 

 of planting most common in each of the four surveyed regions is indicated 

 in table 67 : 



TABLE 67. SYSTEM OF PLANTING IN THE FOUR REGIONS SURVEYED 



In contrast to the conditions on Long Island, approximately three-fourths 

 of the crop in Steuben and in Franklin and Clinton Counties was planted in 

 checkrows. This may be accepted as evidence that relatively cheap land 

 and scarcity of labor make this the better method for these regions. About 

 three-fourths of the Monroe County crop was planted in drills in 1913. 



