Chapter 2, Problem 36P

A study was conducted to demonstrate that soy beans inoculated with nitrogen-fixing bacteria yield more and grow adequately without expensive environmentally deleterious synthesized fertilizers. The trial was conducted under controlled conditions with uniform amounts of soil. The initial hypothesis was that inoculated plants would outperform their uninoculated counterparts. This assumption is based on the facts that plants need nitrogen to manufacture vital proteins and amino acids and that nitrogen-fixing bacteria would make more of this substance available to plants, increasing their size and yield. There were 8 inoculated plants (I) and 8 uninoculated plants (U). The plant yield as measured by pod weight for each plant is given in Table 2.20.

Table 2.20 Pod weight (g) from inoculated (I) and uninoculated (U) plants

Use graphic methods to compare the two groups.