496 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXI, No. 7 
SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 
From the data given in Tables II and III, it appears that, subject 
to the influence of environment and varying somewhat with the crop, 
the effect of 18-inch cultivated alleys on the outside rows of plots is 
quite uniform and marked. 
The effect on the second 6-inch drill rows within the border of the 
plots appears to be more variable. Thus, as shown in Table III, in the 
1917 variety test, the effect ranged from 123.2 per cent in oats to 149.3 
per cent in wheat and 150.3 per cent in barley, based on the average 
yields of the central rows. In the 1918 variety test, the second rows 
averaged 109.8 per cent for oats, 116.6 per cent for wheat, and 118.5 
per cent for barley, based on the yields of the central rows. Consider¬ 
ing the results for the rate of seeding tests at Morris, the second rows, 
inside border rows, yielded at the rate of from 152.7 per cent for the 
thinnest seeding to 123.0 per cent for the thickest, based on the yields 
of the central rows. The greatest border effect on the second rows 
appears to be in the thinnest-sown, and the least effect in the thickest- 
sown plots. In the rate of seeding test at University Farm there ap¬ 
pears to have been no effect on the second rows. 
The effect on the third rows, inside border rows of the 1918 test, 
was slightly less than the effect on the second rows for each crop. They 
yielded at the rate of 106.1 per cent for oats, 113.7 per cent for wheat, 
and 108.6 per cent for barley, based on the yields for the central rows 
as 100. 
Therefore, in this test with varieties of oats, wheat, and barley, the 
influence of 18-inch cultivated alleys extended to the third 6-inch drill 
rows within the plots on either side. When sown at this distance apart, 
the third drill rows occur at a distance 15 inches from the outside bound¬ 
aries of the plots. Possibly the differences in the crops grown and in 
the environment may account for the influence of the borders being 
exerted to a greater distance within the plots than was observed by 
Bedford and Pickering (j). In their tests it is not stated whether a 
crop was growing on the other side of an alley or whether the rows were 
bordered by a considerable fallow space. A considerable fallow area 
presumably would exert an influence farther within a plot than a narrow 
cultivated alley flanked on the other side by the same crop. 
Bedford and Pickering (j) found it necessary to make the outside rows, 
since the actual outside rows were often found to be so badly injured 
by the cultivating implements as to be unfit for use. In the absence of 
any statement on this matter, it is presumed that the rows of plants 
were removed from the plots very early before the root systems had be¬ 
come moderately well established. Otherwise the border effect may have 
been modified considerably by the growth of the plants before removal 
and later by the presence of the decaying roots in the soil. 
