562 
AUG. i 
Prof. Plumb on Small Plots. 
Prof. S. C. Plumb, Indiana Station.— 
I do not desire to be misunderstood. Be¬ 
cause I say that “ the plot system is con¬ 
sidered an enigma that yields more dissat¬ 
isfaction than profit,” I do not mean that 
I would be in favor of abolishing plot tests. 
Nothing of the kiad. I consider them an 
important and necessary feature of experi¬ 
ment work. At the same time the results 
secured from a large share of this work are 
puzzling. It is a simple matter for some 
persons to at once draw conclusions from a 
mass of figures or from what they see be¬ 
fore them in plot experimenting. Never¬ 
theless, I believe a large share of the station 
workers will agree with me that to draw 
from plot work conclusions that will stand, 
will require the averages of many seasons’ 
work. Prof. Sanborn’s statement in The 
Rubal “ that those who have aroused the 
discussion, perhaps unwittingly, have so 
ordered their language that the public have 
drawn the conclusions that their criticism 
was against the scheme of plot trials,” 
seems to fit my case exactly, for I feel mis¬ 
understood in the matter. 
To express my attitude on this question, 
I might express myself as follows : 
1. P.ot tests are a necessary feature of 
experiment station work. 
2. Such experiments should be conducted 
upon soils of even character where plants 
of the same kind are to be grown and com¬ 
pared. 
3. The form and size of a plot in a meas¬ 
ure depend upon the character of the plant 
to be grown upon it. For farm crops, I 
favor having plots long and narrow with 
check plots between, the plots to cover 
about one twentieth of an acre, and the 
entire plots and checks to be surrounded by 
a crop like that on the plot, to be removed 
before the yields of the plots are computed. 
4. Tests of only two or three years’ dura¬ 
tion are largely open to criticism if con¬ 
clusions are drawn, and the experiments 
discontinued. 
5. The more permanent the character of 
the experiment the greater the value of the 
test. 
6. To conduct these tests in the most ac¬ 
curate manner, as complete a chemical 
analysis of the soil of each plot should be 
made as possible. 
7. The more permanent the soil test on 
the same piece of ground, the greater the 
value, unless the matter of rotation of 
crops is being considered. 
8. The conditions can not be controlled, 
unless the land is practically level. I know 
of stations having plots on hill sides for the 
reason that they have no other contour of 
land, yet I would not have strong faith in 
the results from such land, owing to the in¬ 
fluence of the soil moisture on fertility. 
9. Whether comparing varieties or 
ascertaining the effect of plant food upon 
the crop, the seed should be very even and 
represent, as nearly as possible, a pure 
type of variety. 
10. The harvesting of the crops on the 
plots demands great painstaking, in order 
that the accuracy of the work shall ap¬ 
proach as nearly as possible the accuracy 
of laboratory methods. 
Without in the least reflecting upon the 
character of the plots in any other station 
in the country, I thoroughly believe that, 
for even conditions of soil and drainage, 
and also exposure, it would be difficult to 
find a plot system of greater interest than 
that at the Purdue Experiment Station, in¬ 
volving, as it does, experiments running 
back for the past nine years. Our plot sys¬ 
tem here Is receiving the most careful at¬ 
tention and study, and while the results are 
of interest, it is not an easy thing to prove 
them yet. The present spring, the contrast 
in wheat plots receiving different fertil¬ 
izers was very striking, and one might at 
once assume that one plot would do far bet¬ 
ter than another. Nevertheless, we are not 
such wiseacres that we can predict on ap¬ 
pearances, for these are deceptive, inasmuch 
as one cannot tell how the crop will turn out 
until the harvest is weighed. 
Perhaps I have rather positive opinions 
upon the question of plot tests, for the rea¬ 
son that I have gone to the trouble of com¬ 
paring a great desl of the work, done in 
the country, and have found so much in 
the results that are puzzling. It is easy 
enough for one to say that plot tests are a 
grand thiDg, and it is easy enough for some 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
people to draw their conclusions and lay 
down the law; nevertheless, at the present 
early day, there has been very little plot 
experimental work done in this country of 
such a permanent character that the re¬ 
sults can be classed as permanent in value. 
R N.-Y.—Commenting on Prof. Plumb’s 
second proposition we would say: of course 
the soil of experiment plots should be of 
even character. It should be the first work 
of the stations to make the soil uniform at 
any cost. If this is impracticable, then the 
station grounds have been unwisely se 
lected, and had better be relinquished in 
that they are wholly unfit for the very pur¬ 
pose for which they were selected. It is 
because The R N. Y. plots were selected 
upon uniform soil, uniformly impoverished, 
that the results of its experiments as to 
several problems have been conclusive, 
though continued through only from two to 
five years. Hence it is that Prof. Plumb’s 
fourth proposition would seem to be merely 
the expression of an opinion not well 
founded in all cases. 
In Favor of Small Plots. 
Prof. J. S. Newman, Alabama Station. 
—All who know little of experiment work 
advocate large plots. Those who have had 
loDg practical experience favor small plots. 
Nearly all that we know about the use of 
fertilizers has been derived from small plot 
experiments. Owing to the utter imprac¬ 
ticability of securing a number of large 
areas of uniform fertility, large plots are 
totally unreliable. Nor can we secure the 
same degree of accuracy on large as on 
small plots. As the Editor of The Rural 
remarks, the most satisfactory results are 
obtained by multiplying small plots. I have 
had a practical experience of many years 
In experiment work and have found the in¬ 
dications of small plot experiments, con¬ 
ducted sufficiently long to overcome the 
uncertainty arising from various meteor¬ 
ological conditions, may be safely relied 
upon when applied on the farm or planta¬ 
tion. The advocates of the large plots, to 
be consistent, should insist upon taking the 
surface from a quarter of an acre for soil 
analysis, or a whole sack of fertilizer for 
analysis. 
Does Cultivation Save Moisture? 
F. Hodgman, Kalamazoo County, Mich. 
—I have read Mr. Terry’s article and others 
with relation to the philosophy of cultivat¬ 
ing the ground in dry weather to furnish 
moisture to the plants, and between what 
they tell me and what I know of myself, 
things are badly mixed in my mind, and I 
want Mr. Terry or somebody else to 
straighten them out for me. As I under¬ 
stand Mr. Terry, when we cultivate the 
ground we break up certain capillary tubes 
which have been .ormed in it and thus pre¬ 
vent the moisture from being raised by 
capillary attraction to the surface and evap¬ 
orated. But is it true that the evaporation 
is less from a soil that has been broken up 
and exposed as much as possible to the air, 
than from the same soil when compact f 
Has that proposition been proved f If so, 
how, when and by whom t And is it a 
general principle which applies to other 
things J If so, I will U3e a roller next year 
to compact my grass and hasten evapora¬ 
tion instead of a tedder to stir it out. I 
have been trying to fit the philosophy to 
facts of my own observation, and, not hav¬ 
ing succeeded to my satisfaction, want 
some help in the task. 
Fact No. 1. Last spring, when I came to 
plow, I found an old rubber blanket where 
it had been thrown over something. Under¬ 
neath it the ground was much wetter than 
elsewhere around it. Not far away was a 
small pile of straw. The ground below it 
was in about the same condition as under 
the blanket. It was left there for several 
weeks, while the ground next to it was well 
stirred up and cultivated. At length the 
straw was moved, and the ground beneath 
it was a good deal wetter than that which 
had been stirred up. The straw certainly 
did not prevent or break up the capillary ac¬ 
tion. Then why was not the ground drier 
under it than where the capillary action 
was broken up ? 
Fact No. 2. I have in the past five years 
dug more than 2,000 holes from three to 
four feet deep in all sorts of places—in hard 
roads, fence corners and the middle of cul¬ 
tivated fields. Much of this work has been 
done in very dry weather. I was planting 
new monuments for section corners. I did 
this at every government corner in 12 to ivn- 
shlps. Where soils were of the same char¬ 
acter I found this to be true—that the soil 
with the least moisture in it was the one 
that had been cultivated most, such as cum 
fields and gardens. The soil which con¬ 
tained the most moisture was beneath the 
crust of the traveled road. It would have 
been a great many dollars in my pocket if 
in dry weather I had to set all the corner 
monuments in the middle of the road, it was 
so much easier to dig after the top was 
taken off. Now, as I understand the phil¬ 
osophy laid down, the facts ought to have 
been the other way. There ought to have 
been most moisture in the earth beneath the 
cultivated soil, and least under the hard, 
compact roads. 
The facts I am sure of, for I have seen 
them more than a thousand times. The 
philosophy I have my doubts about. 
R. N.-Y.—The ‘‘rubber blanket” and 
“pile of straw” mentioned by Mr. Hodg 
man, give excellent proof of the water-sav¬ 
ing effects of stirring the surf ice soil. The 
extremes of soil as to compactness may be 
on the one hand considered stone; on the 
other pare sind. Neither one has any 
cipillary power to speak of. A stone pre¬ 
vents evaporation from the surface bi¬ 
cause it “breaks the capillary tubes.” 
That is, it arrests moisture. The “pile 
of straw” acts in the same way. The 
spaces between the straws are so great that 
capillarity cannot act. Allow that same 
straw pile to rot and it would become less 
and less a conserver of moisture as it ap¬ 
proached the character and density of soil. 
So, too, sand breaks the capillary tubes, 
through to a lest extent than a stone, be¬ 
cause it admits the air and light. Stirring 
the surface soil has somewhat the same 
effect in retarding evaporation as a light 
covering of sand would have. The moist¬ 
ure from below reaches the sand by capil¬ 
lary attraction, and is there arrested be¬ 
cause the sand has no capillary power. 
Again, a friable, mellow surface soil ad¬ 
mits the moisture-laden air of the day and 
the moisture is condensed and given to the 
soil during the cooler nights. Finally, a 
mellow soil drinks in the dew and every 
drop of rain that falls upon it, while the 
dense soil holds the dew and rain on or 
near the surface to be dissipated by the air 
and sun. 
Instinct of the Blind. 
Charles Barnard, Connecticut.— The 
items on this subject in The R. N.-Y. for 
June 11 may be perfectly correct, but an¬ 
other and probably better explanation may 
be found in sound. A blind person listens 
to the sound of his footsteps and this sound 
changes in character on the approach to a 
wall, a fence, a tree or other obstruction. 
The sound of the footsteps is affected by 
the resonance of any inclosed air and the 
shape, size and position of the objects that 
inclose the air affect all sounds whether it 
t e a voice, a musical tone or speech. Every 
room has its note to whicn it resounds and 
nearly all noise may contain one or more 
notes of the right pitch to be affected by 
the note of the room. A few moments’ ex¬ 
periment by walking under a tree and lis¬ 
tening to the sound of the footsteps will 
(Continued on next page.) 
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