362 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XIV, No. 9 
Montgomery ( 1912 ) sowed wheat and oats at different thicknesses 
and found that, when large and small seeds were planted together and 
the plants from them grew under competitive conditions, the highest 
mortality was among the plants from the small seeds. This indicated 
that the larger seeds produced the stronger plants. It was also found 
that, under field methods of seeding, there was a reduction of 40 per 
cent in the stand from planting time to harvest, even when large seeds 
only were used. The conclusion regarding size of seed is that, since 
under usual methods of thick seeding a high mortality occurs, it does 
not seem that fanning-mill selection can increase the efficiency of seed. 
In comparing two varieties of winter wheat having three grades of seed, 
lightest light, heaviest heavy, and the seed as it came from the thresher, 
no difference was found in quantity or quality of grain produced. A 
similar trial with one variety of oats gave like results. 
Kiesselbach and Helm (1917) planted hand-selected, large and small 
seeds alone and in competition with each other. The yield of grain 
was 11 per cent lower when the small seeds were planted alone and 24 
per cent lower when planted in competition with the large seeds. In a 
2-year trial of hand-selected large and small seeds of two winter-wheat 
varieties compared with unselected seed the yield from the large seed 
was 2.3 per cent greater than that from the unselected seed and 5.4 
per cent greater than from the small seed. In a similar trial with two 
varieties of spring wheat the yield of grain from the large seed was 11.8 
per cent greater than that from the unselected seed and 19.5 per cent 
greater than the yield from the small seed. In these two trials the seed 
was sown in equal numbers at a normal rate for the large seeds. In a 
1-year trial plants from small seeds spaced 6 by 10 inches produced 72 
per cent as large a yield of grain as plants from large seeds similarly 
spaced. As an average for a 4-year trial of large, small, and unselected 
seeds of Turkey winter wheat and similar trials of Kherson oats cover¬ 
ing a 5-year period, and Scotch Fife spring wheat covering a 2-year 
period, the small seed yielded one-third of 1 per cent less than the large 
seed when equal weights of seed were sown and 8 per cent less when 
equal numbers of seeds were sown. In a 12-year trial of the heaviest 
one-fourth and lightest one-fourth of continuous fanning-mill selected 
seed sown at the rate of 5 pecks per acre as compared for yield of grain 
with unselected seed of two varieties of winter wheat considerable 
variation occurred, but the average results show practically no difference. 
A similar trial of the same duration with Kherson oats gave somewhat 
higher yield for the lightest one-fourth as compared with the heaviest 
one-fourth 6 years out of 12, but the average is slightly in favor of the 
heaviest one-fourth. In a similar trial with American Banner oats, 
covering a period of 8 years, the lightest one-fourth yielded higher than 
the heaviest one-fouVth in 6 out of 8 years and averaged 3.67 bushels 
more for the period of the trial. 
