EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



241 



CLIMATE. 



The climate of the Upper Peninsula is distinguished from that of the Lower 

 Peninsula by the greater depth of snow in winter and by the fact that the cover- 

 ing of snow is both certain and continuous. The ground seldom freezes at this 

 sub-station. Potatoes may safely be planted in the fall with the certainty that 

 they will not be frozen during the winter. The summer rainfall as compared 

 with that at the Michigan Agricultural College in the following table: 



CEREALS. 



Wheat. The plots devoted to variety tests of the various cereals are too small 

 to make the results more than suggestive. 



Fall wheat has been grown with good success on clay soils in practically all 

 parts of the Upper Peninsula, in the earlier work at the sub-station, Dawson's 

 Golden Chaff rather leading the other varieties in hardiness and abundance of 

 yield. The late frost blackens but does not kill the wheat. In 1903 plant lice 

 seriously injured the crop and shortened the yield. In 1904 the close covering 

 of snow seemed to smother the plants in winter, killing some varieties entirely. 

 The Dawson lived through but the stand was poor. The indications from the 

 small plots are that fall wheat is a crop to be recommended to Upper Peninsula 

 farmers although wet harvests and plant lice are certain and hostile factors. 



Spring wheat. Owing to the short seasons and cold weather during the sum- 

 mer, spring wheat does but fairly, the yield being frdm 12 to 20 bushels per acre. 

 The velvet chaff seems to be the type of spring wheat of most value. 



Oats. Early ripening varieties such as the Early Champion and University 

 No. G should be selected as rust is bad on later sorts. The abundant rainfall 

 causes a splendid growth of both straw and grain but it favors the growth of 

 rust as well. No variety is rust proof no matter what its name may be and the 

 only safeguard against the ravages of the disease is earliness of ripening. 



Barley. Beardless sorts do well in the Upper Peninsula generally, and gave 

 a good account of themselves at the station, the Champion being the best variety. 

 Manchuri is another sort with a good record. Barley will be grown chiefly for 

 feed in the Upper Peninsula to take the place of corn. The color of the grain 

 is not, therefore, as important a matter as it would be farther south where barley 

 is grown for malting. Barley thrives as far north as northern Norway in 

 Europe and seems to be pre-eminently the cereal for northern latitudes. 



Speltz or Evimer appears in every w'ay like wheat except that the grain retains 

 about it, at threshing, the glume which surrounded it. While growing it re- 

 sembles wheat so closely as not to be distinguished from it. It is used for 

 stock food, either threshed or in the straw and demands farther trial on a larger 

 scale. 



Corn. Extended experiments have been made with corn for several years. In 

 no case has it ripened. The whole effort of the station is directed toward the 

 selection of early varieties and strains of varieties which will ripen under the 

 adverse conditions existing in a section of country where frost comes very late 

 in the spring and very early in the fall. It is possible that the clearing of larger 

 areas and the cultivation of more fields may so modify the climate as to permit 

 corn to ripen with some degree of certainty. At present barley must be depended 



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