22 



experiment. In the average of five years' experiments, it was found 

 that untreated wheat had 368 smut balls per pound of wheat ; while that 

 treated with potassium sulphide, bluestone, and hot water had only 

 nine, two, and one smut balls, respectively. The copper sulphate (blue- 

 stone) treatment consisted in immersing the seed twelve hours in a 

 solution made by dissolving one pound of copper sulphate in twenty- 

 four gallons of water, and then immersing the seed for five minutes in 

 lime water made by slacking one pound of lime in ten gallons of water. 

 The hot water treatment consisted in immersing the wheat for fifteen 

 minutes in water at 132 degrees F. After each treatment, the grain 

 was spread out and stirred occasionally until dry enough to sow. 



Rye. 



Rye can sometimes be grown advantageously in those districts 

 in which the soil is unsuited for other cereal crops. It is the charac- 

 teristic food-grain of middle and northern Europe, and is used exten- 

 sively by fully one-third of the population of Europe. 



Winter Rye. Several varieties of winter rye have been grown in 

 our experimental plots for a number of years with good success. In 

 the autumn of 1903, five varieties were sown in the same section of the 

 field as the winter wheat. They all came through the winter well, sur- 

 passing many of the varieties of winter wheat in this respect. In five 

 years' experiments with two varieties of winter rye, we find that the 

 Mammoth gave an average yield of 60.5, and the Common variety of 

 57.8 bushels per acre. These are very large yields, showing that win- 

 ter rye is a very hardy crop,withstanding the severity of even some of 

 the severe winters which we have had within the past five years. In 

 the experiments for 1904, the Mammoth gave 56.4; and the Common, 

 55.5; the Thousand-fold, 54.8; and the Washington variety, 51.8 bus- 

 hels of grain per acre. It will therefore be seen that the Mammoth 

 variety produced a greater yield per acre in 1904, and in the average 

 of the past five years. 



Spring Rye. Four varieties of spring rye were grown in our ex- 

 perimental plots in the past season, the following being the results in 

 yield of grain per acre : Dakota Mammoth, 34.9 bus. ; Prolific Sprmg, 

 26.7 bus.; Common, 24.7 bus.; and Saatroggen, 24.3 bushels. Two 

 of these varieties have been grown for seven years in succession, and 

 the average results have been as follows : Dakota Mammoth, 38.8 

 bushels, and Prolific Spring, 35.1 bushels per acre. It will therefore 

 be seen that among the spring varieties, the Dakota Mammoth has 

 given very satisfactory results in yield of grain per acre. This variety 

 has also produced slightly the heaviest weighing grain per measured 

 bushel, the average for seven years being 57.4 pounds. 



Buckwheat. 



Buckwheat is a native of Northern Asia, and has been grown as 

 a cultivated crop for fully one thousand years. It grows and produces 



