The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1888-04-11

the nelQ, Wnere Iue coAultlOuS aIo al
most infinitely varied-and but little
subject to control.
It cannot be denied, however, that the
golden mean here, as elsewhere, is most
difficult OF attainment, that the tendency
is to one extreme or the other, with con-
sequent action and reaction. In some
quarters there is a growing opposition to
to field work, or rather to the system OF
plat experimentation. Finding that the
returns of similar or duplicate plats are
often discordant, it is held that it is I'M
possible to secure uniformity of soil
and that the differences observed must
be ascribed to differences in the fertility
of the soil of the plats used. At some
stations abroad this method of expert
menting has been, in consequence,
abandoned. d.. Sturtevant. while di-
rector of the New York station, strongly
opposed it. But, in my opinion, such
hasty action is unwise and opposed to all
scientific precedent. Chemical analyses,
when duplicated, differed at first just as
widely-so did astronomical observa-
tions. But the chemist and the astron-
omer went to work to discover and cor
rect errors, to perfect their methods, to
improve their apparatus and instru-
ments. More care was observed in their
work, more pains taken. And as the re-
suit, high value now attaches to their
methods. But they do not, even yet,
trust to single tests or observations
duplication is considered all important,
and averages are chiefly dealt with.
The sources of error in plat expert
mentstion are many and varied. Slight
differences in the mechanical or chemical
conditions OF the plats used-in their ex-
posure and situation, in the seed Or fer
tilizers, in the preparation and cultiya-
ton given, slight errors IN weighing or
measuring, slight injuries from insects,
storm, or accident, may affect the re-
suits. If small plats are used, the error,
whstever may be its source, is largely
mss1ifed when the calculations are
made Der acre. An error Of one pound
in one-twentieth acre plat then be-
come one of twenty pounds. 1t may be
asked: "Why not use large plats? In
acre plats an error of one pound would
not be multiplied at all" This is very
true, and much of the value attaching to
the experiments of Lawes is due to the
fact that many of them have been made
on acre plats. The chief objection to
such plats is their cost. Large areas are
required. And the larger the surface
the more difficult does it become to Sc
cure uniformity Of soil and exposure and
to make the other conditions of the test
agree. Ten tests would require ten
acres, or, if duplicated, twenty. And to
subject them to the same conditions,
plough, plant, till and gather all at the
same time and in the same way, would
require means and resources far beyond
the command of the experiment station.
Lawes is an English land-holder Of large
wealth and larger hberality, and yet he
does not duplicate his tests. This have
always considered the weak point in his
work.
We must, therefore, fall back on
small plats and endeavor to make the
most OF them. Greater care and accura
cy must be used, every possible source
of error discovered and removed, and
the amount of error incident to the sys-
tenn, and, therefore, irremediable, deter
mined and allowed for. Every test must
be duplicated, and, above all, must be
continued for years. With such pre-
cautions, Imake bold to assert that plat
experiments can be made to give valu-
able results. IL 1888 I noted the differ
ence between the two similar plats of
seven different tests. In every year
since, with greater care and accuracy,
and prcfting by experience gained, the
difference has been steadily reduced.
And by repeating the same tests year
after year I have been able approximate
II to determine the probable error in
volyed and to make due allowance for it.
And I cannot but hold that our tests,
thus made, showing the continued su-
periority Of one variety of cotton for
four successive years, have value as well
as interest. Pot experiments have been
recommended by some as substitutes for
field tests. One method should rather
supplement the other. Plants grown in
liquid solutions, or in specially prepared
soils in the laboratory or greenhouse,
are subjected to unnatural conditions,
and the results of snch tests, when not
checked or verified by others in the field,
can be of little immediate value to the
farmer. And yet in time they will bear
fruit. AL these methods should be used
together; all are valuable as means to
common ead-the advancement Of sgri-
culture.
And now, perhaps, you can better un-
derstand the considerations which have
controlled us in the organization of our
station. In some States the stations re-
Gently established under the provisions
of the Hatch Act devote the larger part
of their resources to purely scientific
work. We have held that, in our Sec
ton at least, many important questions
affecting agricultural practice the best
modes of tillage, systems of rotation and
the varieties Of seeds, the Improvement
of breeds of cattle, &c.-questions which
can only be settled in the stall or field
demand and should receive our atten-
ton, We have, therefore, divided the