Effect of Raw Shale Oil Naphtha on the Yield of Pinto Beans 1

EFFECT OF RAW SHALE OIL NAPHTHA ON THE YIELD OF PINTO BEANS INCREASES in yields up to 125.2% have been reported by Bohmont after spraying Great Northern Field Bean plants with raw shale oil naphtha. These increases, statistically significant at the 5% level, were obtained using 2 to 10 gallons per acre applied at the cotyledonary stage of development. Increased yields were thought to result from the increased number of axillary and adventitious buds which developed after treatment. Experiments designed to test the yield response of Pinto beans, an edible dry bean, were conducted at the U. S.— Colorado Potato Field Station near Greeley, Colo., in 1953 and 1954. The 1953 experiment was a 5 by 5 Latin square; the 1954 experiment a randomized complete block replicated 5 times. Plots were 2 rows wide and 20 feet long, separated by 2 guard rows in 1953, and by 1 guard row in 1954 to protect against drift. Plantings were made with a belt nursery planter at the rate of 60 pounds per acre. The variety Pinto U. I. Ill was used in both experiments. The raw shale oil naphtha emulsified in water with G 1096 (polyoxyethylene 50 Sorbitol Hexaoleate) * was applied with a small hand sprayer at about 30 pounds pressure. The 1953 application was made just after the plants had unfolded their unifoliolate leaves. In 1954, the plants were sprayed when the central leaflet of the first trifoliolate leaf was about 1.5 inches long. At harvest