35^ STATE BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



been materially reduced by cutworms. The size of the plot was 1-20 acre, 

 and the yield was ()2 pounds, or at the rate of 2o 5-G bushels per acre. 



Flax was planted May i), blossomed July 11 and was harvested Sep- 

 tember 25. One sixty-fourth acre gave pounds of seed, or at the rate of 

 10 2-7 bushels per acre. 



Hemp. — One row was x)lanted with seed which had ripened here in 

 1905. The planting was done 'May 9, or much earlier than during former 

 tests, and in order to enable the plants to branch out freely for seed- 

 bearing purposes, the row was allowed eight feet in Avidth and the 

 plants were thinned out to about two feet. Former tests have demon- 

 strated the hardiness of this crop during late fall, while the present test 

 amply demonstrated the extreme hardiness of the plants during their 

 early growth. When struck by the frost of May 20, which damaged the 

 cereals and even hardy grasses, the plants averaged 4 inches high, yet 

 not a leaf could be found which showed any subsequent damage from 

 the frost, though the thermometer during the j)receding night had 

 registered a minimium of 18 degrees, or 8 degrees colder than what 

 is commonly taken as killing frost. The plants became very stout, 

 com])letely covered the row by August 8, when they started to blossom, 

 and nevertheless averaged about as high as before, or 12 feet by the 

 middle of September. By the time the ])lants were cut early in October, 

 blackbirds and goldfinches had gathered the seed, and the test showed 

 that the seed must be gathered early, for not all of it will ripen, no 

 matter how long the fall season nmy last here. 



Einkoni was ])lanted May 12, headed out July 23 and was harvested 

 September 19. This is a cereal recently imported from Europe and 

 introduced by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. It somewhat re- 

 sembles Speltz or Emmer, and if planted earlier will probably ri])en 

 about the same time. The straw was shorter, or 32 inches, and was 

 of equally strong texture. Whatever value it may have will have to 

 be demonstrated by further trials. Allowing the same weight per 

 bushel, or 24 T)Ounds, the plot yielded at the rate of 29.04 bushels of 

 grain and 2,090 pounds of straw per acre. 



FORAGE CROPS IN 1905. 



The grass tests were confined to the Aarieties ])lanted in 1901-02 and 

 '03, the plots having been cut once or twice during each season, as 

 their condition and the wet or dry weather warranted it, and none of 

 Ihe plots having been fertilized as yet. While some of the varieties did 

 not give the large yield which they did during the preceding season, 

 others yielded more, the largest increase being that of Rromus Inermis, 

 which Avas planted in 1901 u])()n the poorest soil which could be found 

 at that time. T'pon the dry ])ortion of the ])lot, the grass ngain aver- 

 aged nearly r)t{, feet high, and though it grew u]) again to a height of 

 20 inches after cutting, only one crop was removed. Those which gave 

 a diminished yi<>ld did so owing to the dryer weather which more 

 quickly atTects such varieti<^s as Timothy or Orchard Orass when ])lanted 

 as they are here u]ion soil whose natural drainage is better than the 

 average. 



Although the yield of the common clover was much larger than dur- 

 ing the preceding season and seven crops have been removed since 



