Studies on lucerne and lucerne-grass leys V. Plant population studies with lucerne

Abstract

1. An experiment designed to investigate the growth and yield of lucerne over a wide range of plant populations is described and the results discussed.2. The mean yields of lucerne per plant were fitted to three different equations relating yield per plant to plant population, and the ‘goodness-of-fit’ of these equations was compared.3. As plant population increased, the yield of lucerne per acre increased very rapidly up to a certain level, but further increases in plant population led to much smaller increments in yield. It is argued from theoretical considerations that the yield per acre would reach a maximum only when the plant population is infinite.