The Bulletin 7 



lu any section there will be foimd numerous local varieties. A few 

 of the most widely used local varieties in each section Avere planted 

 along with the best varieties from other sections. 



THE BUNCOMBE BRANCH STATION 



The Buncombe Branch Station is located in the Swannanoa Valley, 

 11 miles east of Asheville. The farm has an elevation of 2,400 feet 

 above sea level. According to the preliminary United States Weather 

 Bureau Eeport* for 1916, the last killing frost in the spring occurred on 

 April 10, and the first killing frost in the following fall was on October 

 22. (These dates are for Asheville.) The rainfall for the year at 

 Asheville was 37.70 inches, 12.01 inches below normal. About 50 per 

 cent of the total rainfall was fairly well distributed during the growing 

 season, with the exception of July, when the precipitation was 5.14 

 inches above normal. The soil type upon which the experiment was 

 conducted is classified as Porter's Loam. 



In this test three local varieties were included among the twenty-one 

 tested. The varieties and results obtained are shown in Table I; the 

 varieties being listed according to their yield in bushels of shelled grain 

 per acre. 



The yields range from 34.8 bushels to 54.0 bushels per acre, a differ- 

 ence of 19.2 bushels. The highest yielding of the local varieties, R. L. 

 Patton, ranked ninth with a yield of 10.4 bushels lower than that of the 

 leading variety. 



It is much safer, in determining the best variety for a given locality, 

 to consider the results extending over a number of years, rather than 

 those of a single season. For this reason the compiled results of variety 

 tests at the Buncombe Farm for the past three years are given in Table 

 II. The variety. First Generation Cross ISTo. 182, is a variety that has 

 been obtained by careful selection from the hybrid produced by cross- 

 ing Hickory King and Boone County White. This work was done by 

 the United States Department of Agriculture. Among the twelve varie- 

 ties compared, this variety has led with an average yield of 42.7 bushels 

 per acre. This is an increase of 11.2 bushels over the lowest ranking 

 variety, Marlboro Prolific. 



THE IREDELL BRANCH STATION 



The Iredell Branch Station is located in the western portion of the 

 Piedmont section, 2 miles northwest of Statesville. The rainfall for the 

 year was 48.00 inches, an increase of 3.01 above normal. About 57 per 

 cent of this fell during the growing season. During the month of July 

 17.16 inches of rain fell. This unusual amount of rain at this time 

 undoubtedly reduced the yields of all varieties. The soil type for this 

 farm is classified as Cecil Clay Loam. 



*U. S. Weather Bureau. Climatolosical Data. 



