CEREAL INVESTIGATIONS AT. THE NEPHI SUBSTATION. 11 
EXPERIMENTAL WORK. 
In all the varietal tests of cereals at Nephi the primary object has 
been to determine the relative yielding power of the varieties. In 
addition, efforts have been made to find reasons for the existing wide 
variations in yield. In order to make these studies complete, it was 
necessary to divide the work into plat and nursery experiments. The 
plat experiments were designed to conform as nearly as possible to 
the farm practices in the Great Basin area. On these plats the crops 
were studied on an extensive scale. In the nursery tests, which were 
confined to short rows, the crops were studied intensively. The rows 
were uniformly spaced and a known number of seeds were planted at 
definite distances in the row. This method afforded a means of 
making a thorough study of several individual plants of each variety. 
In this bulletin the results of the plat experiments are presented in 
detail. The report of the nursery work is general, and only those 
results which can be correlated with the results obtained in the plats 
are given special attention. 
PLAT EXPERIMENTS. 
Dimensions of Plats. 
Most of the field tests were conducted on tenth-acre plats 36 feet 
- wide by 121 feet long. A few plats were one-fifth acre in area, or 
72 by 121 feet, while others were one-twentieth of an acre each, 
either 18 by 121 feet or 36 by 60.5 feet. The plats lay side 
by side in series, which extended north and south, and they 
were separated by 5-foot alleys. The series of plats were in pairs, 
separated by a 5-foot alley, while the pairs of series were separated 
by a 13-foot road. Each plat was thus bounded on both sides and 
on one end by 5-foot alleys and on the other end by a 13-foot road. 
All plats used for the varietal tests were alternately fallowed and 
cropped. 
_ Treatment of Plats. 
In October of the year when the plats were cropped all the series 
of cropped plats were plowed to a depth of about 8 inches, the stub- 
ble being turned under. They were “then allowed to he untouched 
until the following spring. In most years a heavy growth of volun- 
teer cereals and weeds necessitated a replowing in the spring. Some- 
times a double disking would take the place of the second plowing. 
In all cases sufficient spring cultivation was given the fallow plats 
to destroy all plant growth. After the plowing or disking had been 
completed a ‘‘float,’’ or leveler, was dragged over the plats at right 
angles to the plowing to level the surface of the ground. 
During the remainder of the fallow season a spike-tooth harrow 
was used to break any crust which formed after a rain. Occasionally 
