BEEEDING DROUGHT-RESISTANT MILLETS. 



25 



Table V.^ Yield per aar of five varieties of foxtail millet at Bellefourche, S. Dak., in 



1908 and 1909. 



Variety. 



Yield of 



hay from 



plat. 



Plats of one-twentieth acre, 1908: 



S. P. I. No. 22420, Kursk 



S.P.I. No. 22423, Common 



S. P. I. No. 22340, German 



S. P. I. No. 22424, Siberian 



S. P. I. No. 22426, Hungarian 



Plats of one-tenth acre, 1909: 



S. P. I. No. 25220, Kursk 



S. P. I. No. 24841 , Common 



S. P. I. No. 24842, German 



S. P. I. No. 24843, Siberian \ 



Average yield for the two years of the three best millet varieties: 



Common 



Siberian 



Kursk 



Pounds. 

 144 

 150 

 116 

 150 

 130 



154 

 206 



68 

 194 



Estimated 



yield of hay 



per acre. 



Pounds. 

 2,880 

 3,000 

 2, 320 

 3,000 

 2,260 



1,540 



2,060 



680 



1,940 



2,530 

 2,470 

 2,210 



About thirty other species and varieties were tested in single rows 

 in 1908, but none of these proved to be of any special value for this 

 region except S. P. I. No. 20694. Seed of this number was obtained 

 by Professor Hansen, at Khokand, Russian Turkestan, in 1906, when 

 acting as agricultural explorer for the Department of Agriculture. 

 A quantity of the seed was planted in a selection row at Bellefourche 

 in 1908. Two plants in this row matured seed and were saved. 

 Since the plants were identical, so far as could be seen, the seed from 

 the two was mixed and planted in a progeny row in 1909. The 

 selection is of good forage type, but the panicle is open and the seed 

 shatters readily. 



MILLET BREEDING AT THE BELLEFOURCHE EXPERIMENT FARM. 



BREEDING METHODS. 



The methods used in the millet-breeding nursery were much the 

 same as in the alfalfa nursery. In 1908 the seed of each of the 

 varieties, Kursk, Common, German, Hungarian, and Siberian, was 

 planted in hills 8 inches apart, in rows 42 inches apart (PI. Ill, fig. 1). 

 The seedlings were thinned to single plants in a hill. Selections of 

 the superior individual plants were made and the seed planted in 

 single rows 8 rods long, in 1909 (PI. Ill, fig. 2). 



RESULTS OF THE WORK. 



The table following gives the record of yields and other data 

 concernmg the individual plant selections made in 1908 the jirogeny 

 of which gave the largest yield in 1909 : 



190 



