74 



DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



It will be noticed also that the difference in yields between the two 

 summer tilled plats, one of which yielded 26 bushels per acre and the 

 other 31.8 bushels per acre, was 5.8 bushels, which happens to be exactly 

 the same difference as the average yield between the summer tilled plats 

 and the spring plowed plats. It will also be noticed that there were two 

 of the disced corn land plats, each of which yielded more than one of the 

 summer tilled plats; that there was one of the fall plowed plats that yielded 

 more than the summer tilled plats, and another that yielded exactly the 

 same. If, therefore, instead of having had nineteen plats of wheat, we 

 had had but five, and those five were the summer tilled plats, yielding 26 

 bushels per acre; the two disced corn plats, yielding 28.7 and 26.7 bushels 

 per acre and the two fall plowed plats, yielding respectively 28.3 and 26 

 bushels per acre, we would have arrived at the conclusion that summer 

 tillage actually gives less yield than either fall plowing or seeding wheat 

 on unplowed disced corn land. If on the other hand we had had but 

 four plats and those four plats were the plats on summer tillage, yield- 

 ing 31.8 bushels per acre, the one on disced corn land, yielding 22.3 

 bushels per acre, the one on fall plowing yielding 20.7 bushels per acre 

 and the one on spring plowing yielding 20.8 bushels per acre, we 

 would have arrived at the conclusion that summer tilled land 

 gave 9.6 bushels per acre better yield than disced corn land, 11.1 

 bushels per acre more than fall plowing, and 11 bushels per acre more 

 chan spring pj^owing, and that summer tilled land gave 10.5 bushels more 

 than the average yield of the other three methods. If we were to take the 

 largest yield obtained from any of the spring plowed plats, 24.5 bushels 

 per acre, and compare it with the smallest yields obtained from the fall 

 plowed and disced corn plats, respectively 20.7 bushels and 22.3 bushels 

 per acre, we would come to the conclusion that spring plowing was 

 superior to either fall plowing or disced corn land. If we were to compare 

 the best three fall plowed plats with the poorest three disced corn plats we 

 would come to the conclusion that fall plowing was superior to disced corn 

 land. Many other hypothetical groupings of a relatively small number of 

 plats might be made, from which equally diverse and misleading conclusions 

 might be drawn. I think, however, that enough has already been shown 

 to indicate the utter futility of any attempt at making broad generaliza- 

 tions from the comparison of so small a number of plats. 



Referring now to the summary we find that spring plowed oat land 

 gave the lowest average yield, 20.8 bushels per acre; that summer tilled 

 land gave the highest average yield, 28.9 bushels per acre, a difference of 

 8.1 bushels in favor of summer tilled land. We find that fall plowed corn 

 land gave next to the lowest yield, 22.4 bushels per acre, but there were 

 three plats of fall plowed corn land, one of which gave 20.7 bushels per 

 acre, one 22.3 bushels and one 26 bushels per acre, the fall plowed corn 

 plat giving the highest yield of the three yielding within .3 of a bushel 

 per acre as much as the average yield obtained from the fall plowed oat 

 land, which yielded 26.3 bushels per acre. But there were two plats of 

 fall plowed oat land, one of which yielded 24.2 and the other 28.3 bushels 



