320 



Annual Rei'Ort Agricultural Experiment Station 



TABLE IX.— YIELDS OF ALFALEAS SALT RIVER VALLEY FARM, 1918 



No. 41, a French variety, was the highest yielder of all the alfal- 

 fas tested in field plots. As will be seen from the table its yield, 

 both in April and in July, surpassed the Hairy Peruvian (39) by 

 more than a thousand pounds per acre for each of these cuttings. 

 Another significant fact in connection with No. 41 is that the cut- 

 ting of July 1 is 76 percent of the cutting of April 16, while the 

 percentage of the cutting of July 1 of the Hairy Peruvian (39) was 

 only 65 percent of the cutting of April 16. The French variety will 

 probably not grow as well through the cool winters of southern 

 Arizona as Hairy Peruvian, but it seems to be a much more vigor- 

 ous summer grower. It has been planned to take seed crops from 

 these alfalfas next year and if these high yielders prove to be good 

 seed producers, seed crops will be taken as rapidly as possible for 

 general distribution. 



GRAIN SORGHUMS 



The work during the past year with sorghums was confined to 

 breeding for type of plant in milo. In the fall of 1916 about 60 

 •dwarf milo plants were selected from the Yuma plots. Nothing 

 was done on the grain sorghum project in 1917 owing to insufficient 

 help in the department. Each of these plants had a single upright 

 head producing neither suckers nor branches. The purpose in mak- 

 ing these selections was to make a study of the eft'ect of selection on 

 tillering and branching. It is believed that a plant prcMlucing a 

 single upright head, provided size of head and size of grain can be 

 maintained, would have many points of advantage over the ordinary 

 branching plants with pendant heads. Thirty-four of the best heads 

 from the 60 selections of 1916 mentioned above were planted in 

 head rows on the Mesa Farm in July, 1918. When the plants were 

 in full head a study was made of the branching habits of the plants, 

 type of head, size of grain, and height of plant. Of the 5,270 plants 

 grown on the 34 rows, about 80 plants were found which came true 



