In the introduction to this chapter, we mentioned that the first use of the analysis of variance was in the 1920s. It was employed to determine whether different amounts of fertilizer yielded different amounts of crop. Suppose that a scientist at an agricultural college wanted to redo the original experiment using three different types of fertilizer.

Accordingly, she applied fertilizer A to 20 1-acre plots of land, fertilizer B to another 20 plots, and fertilizer C to yet another 20 plots of land. At the end of the growing season, the crop yields were recorded. Can the scientist infer that differences exist between the crop yields?