NOTES AND LITERATURE 



SOME RECENT STUDIES ON VARIATION AND 

 CORRELATION IN AGRICULTURAL PLANTS 



From the nature of his material the student of agricultural 

 problems has an unexcelled opportunity to collect large masses 

 of statistical data. Domestic animals and plants, particularly 

 the latter, can be easily propagated in vast numbers under con- 

 ditions controlled in all sorts of ways. Not only the opportunity, 

 but also the desirability, of collecting data on a statistical scale, 

 has been recognized by agricultural investigators from the begin- 

 ning of experiment-station work in Germany, and still earlier by 

 individual students in this field. Much of the early statistical 

 material relating to agricultural objects or problems still remains 

 unanalyzed and undigested, because of a lack of adequate statis- 

 tical methods, on the one hand, and a lack of acquaintance on the 

 part of the collector of the data with what mathematical methods 

 did exist for the analysis of such material, on the other hand. 



It was obviously to be expected that a system of adequate bio- 

 metric methods, such as that which has been developed by Pro- 

 fessor Karl Pearson, would in due time come to play a conspicu- 

 ous part in agricultural investigations. This time is coming. 

 One who follows the current literature of agricultural science, 

 in a broad sense of the term, can not fail to be struck with the 

 rapidly increasing use of these mathematico-statistical methods 

 during the last few years. In so far as the methods are correctly 

 and appropriately used this is a most commendable movement. 

 But it must always be kept in mind not to let admiration for the 

 method per se blind one as to the real significance and impor- 

 tance of the biological problem attacked. The futility of dealing 

 biometrically with data or problems which lack a sound bio- 

 logical basis is obvious. The indiscriminate application of bio- 

 metric methods to all kinds of data is easily seen upon critical 

 examination, to bave only so much value or validity as resides 

 in the original data themselves. It is particularly important that 

 this point be kept in mind in agricultural work along biometric 



collected in this field, and the consequent temptation to collect 

 them without critical consideration of their meaning and worth. 

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