84 MAINE AGRICUIvTURAl, EXPERIMENT STATION. I914. 



It is obvious that in oblong plots having fewer and longer 

 drills than a square plot of the same area the ratio of the mar- 

 ginal drill length to the total drill length is greater. 



Kiessling * refers to the fact that in small narrow plots the 

 ratio of the plants in border rows to the total plants is greater 

 than lin large plots. 



SUMMARY. 



The purpose of this paper is to show : 



1. That since in plots surrounded by cultivated pathways 

 the plants along the margins are more productive than those, 

 within the plot, it is evident that shape as well as size of plot 

 must be considered in tests O'f varieties. 



2. Of rectangular plots of a unit area a square has the 

 shortest periphery and accordingly presents the smallest num- 

 ber of plants along the borders. Therefore a square plot is a 

 more accurate basis for the determination of the value of varie- 

 ties than any other rectangular shaped plot of equal area. It is 

 clear that in a long narrow plot more plants will be subjected 

 to the conditions afTorded by the pathways than in a square of 

 the same area. Also, in small plots proportionately more plants 

 wlill stand along the border than in large plots. 



3. Mercer and Hall {loc. cit.)do not consider the effect of 

 pathways surrounding plots. Hence their conclusion that the 

 shaipe of plots ^does not afifect the results of tests of varieties is 

 not tenable in the case of plots surrounded by pathways. 



* Kiessling, L. 'Einiges aus der Praxis des Zuch.tgart(enbetrie'bes. Zeit. 

 f. Pflanzenziichtung, Bd. i, Heft, i, Decemiber 1912. 



