12 BULLETIN 30, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



a hoe was used to kill scattered weeds and other plant growth. 

 Just previous to the time the plats were planted they were usually 

 harrowed again. 



Seeding was done with a 6-foot single-disk press drill with seed 

 spouts 7 inches apart. The seed was planted uniformly at what 

 was considered the best rate and was placed at a depth of 1.5 to 3 

 inches. It had previously been treated for bunt (smut) with a 

 solution containing 1 pound of formalin to 50 gallons of water, in 

 which it had been soaked for 10 minutes and then dried. The 

 sowing was done usually between October 1 and 15 and was com- 

 pleted in two to three days. After seeding, the plats were not culti- 

 vated until the following spring. 



When the plants were about 4 to 6 inches high the plats were 

 harrowed with a spike-tooth harrow. The teeth of the harrow were 

 slanted backward in order to lessen the injury to the plants, and the 

 harrowing was crosswise of the drill rows. No further cultivation 

 was given the plats. The plats were rogued each year in order to 

 keep the varieties as pure as possible. 



The harvesting was done with a binder. The bundles were shocked 

 and the plats later were raked. This raking insured against loss and 

 error due to fallen and scattered heads. Those gathered by the 

 rake were added to the shock. The shocks stood in the field for 

 two to four weeks before they were thrashed. 



Check Plats. 



Check plats were used in determining the comparative or com- 

 puted yields of the varieties. Several plats located at various 

 points on the farm were planted to one variety of winter wheat. 

 These plats received identical treatment and were called check 

 plats. It was believed that the average yield of these check plats 

 would equal the average yield of the variety used on them had it 

 been grown exclusively on all parts of the farm. Then, by knowing 

 the plat yield of any one variety, its average yield per acre in terms 

 of the check variety could be computed with reasonable accuracy. 

 The difference between the yield of any one check plat and the 

 average yield of all check plats was used to express the relative 

 difference which would exist in case any other variety were occu- 

 pying the place of the check variety. Thus, if the difference were 

 ±5 bushels per acre, that difference would be added to or sub- 

 tracted from the actual yields secured from any given one of the 

 varieties in the vicinity of the single check plat. This would give 

 the average yield of the given variety if it were grown on the entire 

 farm. In order to facilitate computations the following equation 

 was constructed: 



