23 
RELATION OF RATE OF SEEDING TO BUNT PRODUCTION. 
The phase of the problem covering the relation of the rate of seed- 
ing to bunt production has received little attention by other investi- 
gators. Tubeuf {23) reports observations on the percentage of 
bunt found in the plants growing on the edge of plats in comparison 
with those nearer the center. In three varieties a slightly higher 
percentage of bunted plants and heads occurred on the outside of 
the plats, the greatest difference being 4.8 per cent of total heads. 
In Bestehorn's Ueberfluss, a variety of low-bunt liability, the out- 
side plants gave 1.1 per cent bunt and the inside 3 per cent. The 
observations and experiments of the writers on this phase are meager 
and not very conclusive. However, the results of the following 
experiment seem to harmonize in part with those of Tubeuf. At- 
tempts to repeat this experiment failed because of disastrous winter- 
killing. 
Hybrid 143 and Turkey (Washington 326), the varieties used in 
this experiment, were uniformly smutted by shaking 100 grams of 
seed with 4 grams of spores. The rates of seeding varied from 0.5 
inch apart in 6-inch rows to 12 inches apart in 12-inch rows. Three 
1-rod rows for each spacing were seeded on October 28, 1915. It will 
be seen from Table 18 that in Hybrid 143 the percentage of bunted 
heads is not as definitely related to the density of stand, as it is in the 
resistant Turkey where the rate of seeding seems to have a more pro- 
nounced effect. As it is not conceivable that plants growing 12 inches 
apart could be less subject to infection than plants from the same seed 
lot sown one-half to 2 inches apart on the same day in the same soil, 
it seems evident that the plants in this variety have, to some extent, 
the power of outgrowing the invading fungus and that this power is 
influenced by growth conditions. 
Table 18. — Results of an experiment to determine the relation of rate of seeding of 
wheat varieties to bunt production at Pullman, Wash., in October, 1915. 
Percentage of plants. 
Percentage of bunted 
heads. 
Average density per 
rod row. 
Variety and rate of seeding. 
Bunted. 
Partly 
bunted. 
In all 
plants. 
In partly 
bunted 
plants. 
Plants. 
Heads. 
Hybrid 143: 
6 by 0.5 inch 
54.66 
60.14 
38.32 
5.04 
5.59 
21.56 
60.35 
63.89 
54.50 
55.36 
58.08 
65.27 
74.52 
69. 67 
67.09 
61.00 
17. 88 
19.02 
5.64 
2.03 
30.40 
18.68 
5.20 
3.39 
3.19 
96.70 
68.00 
70.73 
198.5 
142 
56 
635.5 
6 by 1 inch 
744 
6 by 3 inches 
588 
42.67 1 20.00 
68.90 i 25 
59.13 i 231 
62.40 i 148 
80.61 I 73 
72. 76 50 
308 
12 by 0.5 inch . . . 
48.27 
60.70 
57.54 
46.31 
35. 71 
28.57 
12.29 
7.75 
o 

15.64 
4.57 



11.96 
12.34 
16.89 
28.85 
37.14 
42.86 
29.24 
37.47 
32.35 
24.73 
49.02 
51.08 
32.52 
30.34 
28.26 
1,127 
12 bv 1 inch 
1,044 
12 by 2 inches 
964 
12 by 3 inches 
769 
12 by 6 inches 
78.51 
72.53 
34.20 
34. 38 
15.58 
22.68 
39.90 
31.98 
17.03 
12.06 
10.37 
23 
12 
193 
129 
45 
30 
205 
124 
54 
30 
15 
622 
12 by 12 inches 
341 
Turkey: 
6 by 0.5 inch 
811 
6 bv 1 inch 
724 
538 
6 bv 6 inches 
361 
12 by 1 inch 
989 
12 by 2 inches 
867 
686 
12 bv 6 inches 
609 
12 by 12 inches 
470 
