BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 311 



at different points, particularly in California, Kansas, and Utah. 

 All results in the cases where legumes were employed in these rota- 

 tions have completely confirmed the results of other experiments here- 

 tofore conducted in showing the importance of such crops preceding 

 w^heat. In California the value of green rye turned under in prepara- 

 tion for wheat seeding was also shown. Both rye alone and a mix- 

 ture of rye and vetch plowed under green were followed by a yield of 

 60 bushels of wheat per acre, being 22 bushels more than that ob- 

 tained on summer fallov\-, and 35 bushels more than where wheat 

 followed wheat. At several of the dry-land experimental farms two 

 years' experiments have been conducted with potatoes as a crop to 

 precede wheat. The idea is to determine whether a cultivated crop, 

 such as potatoes, could be substituted for summer tillage, even where 

 the rainfall is very deficient. It seemed first necessar}' to determine 

 whether the potato crop itself would be sufficiently profitable to 

 justify its cultivation. 



Time and rate of seeding grains. — For a number of years experi- 

 ments have been conducted at a number of the experimental farms 

 operated by this office to determine the best time of seeding for the 

 different small grains and the proper amount of seed to sow to the 

 acre. As one important result of general application, after several 

 years' work, it is shown that a considerably smaller amount may be 

 employed in the drier districts than in the humid areas. The proper 

 amount of wheat, for example, is an average of somewhere near 3 

 pecks, while in the humid portions of the eastern United States it is 

 common to sow from 5 pecks to 2 bushels. From the experiments on 

 time of seeding no general conclusion can yet be drawn which will be 

 applicable to all of the experimental farms. 



Dry-land grain investigations. — During the past year dry-land 

 investigations were conducted, as heretofore, under the immediate 

 charge of Mr. W. M. Jardine, Agronomist. The field assistants at 

 each of the experimental farms, ten in number, are acquiring increas- 

 ing familiarity with the needs of the work and the investigations are 

 rapidly becoming more effective. During the year one new farm has 

 been added, at Moro, Oreg., which is conducted in cooperation with 

 the state experiment station. This farm comprises about 250 acres of 

 tillable land fairly representative of the whole of eastern Oregon and 

 eastern "Washington, and it has been supplied with the necessary equip- 

 ment for experimental work. In all of the work facts are being ob- 

 tained each year concerning the best time for seeding the different 

 crops, the proper amount to sow to the acre, proper methods of culti- 

 vation for the conservation of moisture, the crops best adapted for 

 cultivation in alternation with grains in order that the latter may 

 give the best yields, the best varieties of each crop to grow, and other 

 cultural conditions. The very unusual dryness this season through- 

 out almost the entire dry-land farming region gave an excellent op- 

 portunity to demonstrate the value of the methods being employed 

 on the different experimental farms for the conservation of moisture 

 and in determining the varieties best adapted for dry seasons. In 

 Utah the drought was particularly severe and the possibilities for 

 grain production in that district, through proper methods of farming, 

 have been thoroughlv tested. 



