101 



VAUlI■:l^ Tiisis ioh Si:i:i) 



I'l) U) Hk' prc'st'iil lime the Ivxpciiiiuiil SlaUoii has 

 U'slcd .'Ul (lilVcrc'iil varieties or strains lor seed produc- 

 tion. Much hiri^iT uinnbcrs have hccn i>ro\\ n lor ol)ser- 

 ^■ation j)urposes. Most ol" the vai'ielies have l^een fur- 

 nished by the U. S. Department ol" A^i-iculture. Many 

 of them (Ud not otrei' any great j)romise foi- this locality 

 and were dropped after being tested one oi- two years. 



In the table below is given the results of the variety 

 lest for 11 years. Some vari(>ties only one year; others 

 like Mannnoth Yellow and Kbony, whicli were more 

 promising, were included almost every year. No 

 colunni of average yield is made, because many varie- 

 ties were not planted every year, and obviously it 

 would be unfair to average and compare varieties 

 grown in difi'ercnt years. However, a variety may be 

 compared with any other variety grown in the same 

 year. 



In the variety tests the beans were usually planted 

 on one-thirty second acre plots, in rows three feet wide, 

 sow^ed by hand and thinned to a uniform stand of three 

 or four ])lants per foot. Each plot received frequent 

 shallow cultivation until the pods began to appear. 



A study of the table shows that no one variety has 

 stood at the head of the list for all j'^ears. Variations 

 in soils and seasons from year to year produce fluctua- 

 tions in yield of a variety. During the 11 year period 

 Blackbeauty stood at the head three years in produc- 

 tion of seed; Haberlandt, two years; Mammoth Yellow, 

 Sherwood, Tokyo, Hollybrook and Biloxi one year 

 each. During the 11 year period the four most pro- 

 ductive varieties for seed of each year included Mam- 

 moth YVllow seven times; Bla«ckbeauty five times; Hol- 

 lybrook five times; Edwaid, Haberlandt, Ebony and 

 Wilson each three times; Baird, Acme. Shanghai, and 

 Swan each two times; Flat King* Peking, Sherwood, 

 Virginia. Biloxi and Otootan each one time. 



