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Willcox's Agrobiology: II. Application of the Nitrogen Constant 318 1
Author(s) -
Black C. A.,
Kempthorne O.
Publication year - 1954
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1954.00021962004600070004x
Subject(s) - citation , library science , constant (computer programming) , computer science , mathematics , programming language
IN WILLCOX'S agrobiology, the nitrogen constant 318 is said to represent the amount of nitrogen absorbed per acre by all kinds of plants in a single growth cycle if all conditions are at the optimum (14). Examination of the purported derivations of this constant (2) led to the conclusion that Willcox has advanced no reasonable theoretical basis for attributing biological significance to the number 318 he obtained. The purpose of the present paper is to supplement the theoretical examination by testing the validity of the constant. Several different tests are described in which predictions based on Willcox's procedures are compared with experimental data recorded in the literature.