32 AGRICULTURE IN THE SEMIARID GREAT PLAINS. 



regions have already been discovered in such places and introduced 

 to the decided advantage of the Plains farmers. Among these may 

 be mentioned durum wheat, brome-grass, alfalfa, milo, kafir, and 

 sorghum. It is to be expected that many other useful varieties 

 will yet be discovered and introduced. 



The development of new varieties requires in most cases a con- 

 siderable period of years, and yet since the semiarid region was first 

 settled marked improvements have already been made in many of 

 our crops. Some of the varieties of corn, for example, which have 

 been developed on the dry lands by selection are much more capable 

 of producing crops under the severe conditions existing than was 

 the original stock from which they have descended. Milo a few 

 years ago was a tall plant of irregular height and produced drooping 

 heads, but careful breeding has developed a quite uniform dwarf 

 strain with erect heads. Hardy varieties of winter emmer, barley, 

 and oats may be expected in the near future, each of which would 

 be of great value to the dry country as well as to many other sections. 

 As nearly all our common grains have been developed from plants 

 which in their early history were adapted only to much more humid 

 clmiates than those in which we now grow them, there is no reason . 

 for thinking that varieties and strains of these plants may not yet 

 be produced which will succeed with far less water than is required 

 by the present varieties. With the rapid advancement which has 

 been made in agricultural science and plant breeding within the 

 last few years it would seem only reasonable to expect results to be 

 obtained in much less time than has been required in the past. 

 There is work now going on at some of the agricultural experiment 

 stations which indicates that it may be possible within a few years 

 to breed a variety of corn which will produce an equal amount of 

 grain with perhaps only two-thirds as much water as is now required. 

 To what extent drought-resistant varieties may be developed and 

 how much may be accomplished in reducing .the water requirements 

 of plants is purely a matter of speculation, but the work has already 

 gone far enough to give assurance of considerable success in this 

 line. A word of caution to the individual may be necessary here. 

 Plant breeding, while it will surely play an important part in the 

 future develo]:)ment of the region, is too slow a process for the indi- 

 vidual to wait for or to depend upon. It is a regional rather than 

 an individual proposition. 



Over all the region in question the only winter wheats that have 

 proved themselves sufficiently hardy are of the Crimean type, such 

 as Turkey Red and Kharkof . Common spring wheat is largely grown 

 on the table-lands south of Wray, Colo., and also in eastern Wyo- 

 ming and the adjacent parts of Nebraska. It seems comparatively 

 certain, however, that with good tiUage, winter wheat will far out- 

 yield the common spring varieties, even in these sections. 



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