Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T23:49:55.625Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Working rules for determining the plot size and numbers of plots per block in field experiments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

C. S. Lin  and
M. R. Binns
C. S. Lin
Affiliation:
Engineering and Statistical Research Institute, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Canada, KIA OC6
M. R. Binns
Affiliation:
Engineering and Statistical Research Institute, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Canada, KIA OC6
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Working rules for determining plot size and number of plots within a block in field experiments are proposed based on the value of the intrablock correlation (ρ), which can be obtained from the analysis of variance of a randomized-block experiment. The method uses Binns' (1982) equation to relate this correlation to Smith's (1938) empirical law. The rules are: (1) if ρ is greater than 0·5, use an incomplete block design or reduce the plot size in order to increase the number of replications; (2) if ρ is less than 0·1, an increase in plot size is effective; (3) if ρ is between 0·1 and 0·5, an increase in plot size and a decrease in the number of plots per block may be helpful in combination.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 103 , Issue 1 , August 1984 , pp. 11 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Binns, M. R. (1982). The choice of plot size in randomized block experiments. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 107, 17–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binns, M. R., Ogilvie, I., Arnold, N. & Lukosevecius, P. (1983). Size of plots and blocks in agricultural experiments: an empirical study with cigarfiller tobacco. Indian Journal of Agricultural Science 53, 706–712.Google Scholar
Cochran, W. G. & Cox, G. M. (1957). Experimental Designs, 2nd edn.611 pp. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Kempthorne, O. (1957). An Introduction to Genetic Statistics, 545 pp. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Koch, E. J. & Rigney, J. A. (1951). A method of estimating optimum plot size from experimental data. Journal of American Society of Agronomy 43, 17–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, S. C. (1976). An examination of Fairfield Smith's law of environmental variation. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 87, 21–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, H. F. (1938). An empirical law describing heterogeneity in the yields of agricultural crops. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 28, 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar