Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
In a Completely Randomized Design (CRD), we evaluate treatment effects by partitioning the total degrees of freedom into treatment and experimental error components.
Key Formula or Approach:
For a CRD with $v$ treatments and total observations $N$:
\[ df_{\text{Treatment}} = v - 1 \]
\[ df_{\text{Error}} = N - v \]
The test statistic follows an $F$-distribution with degrees of freedom:
\[ F \sim F(df_{\text{Treatment}}, df_{\text{Error}}) \]
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
We are given:
Number of treatments, $v = 6$
Number of replications per treatment, $r = 3$
Calculate the total number of experimental units ($N$):
\[ N = v \cdot r = 6 \cdot 3 = 18 \]
Calculate the numerator degrees of freedom (treatment):
\[ df_1 = v - 1 = 6 - 1 = 5 \]
Calculate the denominator degrees of freedom (error):
\[ df_2 = N - v = 18 - 6 = 12 \]
Thus, the $F$-ratio has degrees of freedom equal to $F(5, 12)$.
Step 3: Final Answer
The correct option is (A).