DEY-LAND GRAINS FOR NORTH AND SOUTH DAKOTA. 7 



winter wheat was sown at the rate of 2§ pecks per acre, while in 

 the time-of-seeding test the rate was 6 pecks per acre. All of the 

 winter wheat, with the exception of that in the rate-of-seeding test, 

 was sown at the rate of 4 pecks per acre in 1909. At Highmore the 

 grain has been sown at the rate of 5 pecks per acre for wheat, 6 pecks 

 for hurley, and 8 pecks for oats. A common practice at Dickinson 

 has been to sow the durum wheat at the rate of 6 pecks per acre and 

 the common wheat at the rate of 5 pecks per acre. Barley and oats 

 have been sown at the rate of 6 and 8 pecks, respectivel3^ 



VARIETY TESTS. 



Varieties behave very differently under different conditions of soil, 

 climate, and culture. One of the principal objects of variety tests 

 is to obtain information concerning the behavior of varieties in rela- 

 tion to these factors. The best variety is usuall}^ considered to be 

 the one which will produce the highest average yield for a period of 

 years, quality and market value being considered. The ability of a 

 variety to produce a fair yield in an unfavorable year is an important 

 consideration. It often happens that during such seasons consider- 

 able differences will be found between varieties which have produced 

 uniformly good yields in favorable ones. It is largely for this reason 

 that variety tests can not be considered conclusive until the varieties 

 have been subjected to all the conditions which occur in the area 

 where they are to be grown. 



It is believed that the results herein reported, which are the most 

 definite data obtainable for this area, indicate within reasonable 

 limits those varieties which will usually do best. Further tests are 

 expected to show more definite relations between varieties and cer- 

 tain climatic and soil conditions. In the mean time, the farmer is 

 justified in using those which our present knowledge indicates to be 

 the best. 



SPRING WHEAT. 



The tables which follow do not show a striking superiority of any 

 variety of the same class as far as yield is concerned. A probable 

 explanation is that the varieties reported represent the best of sev- 

 eral hundred which have been tested at different places. It is the 

 practice of the Office of Grain Investigations of the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry to grow only a few of the best varieties in field tests. All 

 others, often numbering as many as two or three hundred, are grown 

 in small plats or rows. Only the best of these are ever increased, the 

 remainder being discarded. As an illustration, over two hundred 

 varieties and strains of durum wheat introchiced by this office have 

 been grown at the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station 



[CIr. 59] 



