252 



The record iucludes niuety-five trials of white wheats aud three hundred and thir- 

 teen of red wheats. The averaj^e yieUl per acre for the white wheats has been 30.8 

 bushels per acre, while the greater number of red wheats have averaged 31.5 bushels 

 per acre for this series of ten years. During the ten years one hundred and sixty- 

 two trials of bearded wheats have been made, giving an average of 31.7 bushels per 

 acre, while two hundred and thirty-four trials of smooth wheats have given an av- 

 erage of 31.1 bushels. 



The differences in the yields of these different classes of wheat in so 

 many trials covering so long a period, are so slight as to indicate that 

 under the conditions prevailing at this station one kind is about as re- 

 liable as another. 



Test of varieties on black soil. — This is a report by the director of the 

 station of the first of a series of tests to be conducted on a farm 39 miles 

 west of Columbus " in a section of country where there are large areas 

 of black laud, either covered originally with burr-oak and elm or bare 

 prairie." This is a matter of considerable interest to many Ohio farm- 

 ers, for such soil, unless it contains a considerable admixture of sand, 

 is generally found to be less suited to the production of wheat than soils 

 whose lighter color indicates a smaller proportion of organic matter in 

 their composition. 



The special field used for the experiment had been in rotative cultivation for many 

 years, the crop for 1889 being corn. Twelve varieties of wheat were selected from 

 those which had given the best results at the station. They were sown in plats of 

 one tenth acre each, about the middle of September, the remainder of the field (30 

 acres) being sown with Egyptian wheat. 



About the middle of June rust made its appearance in this field, and by June 20 

 the entire field was covered. An examination made on that date revealed no marked 

 difference in the amount of rust on the different varieties. 



The results on three plats sown with Velvet Chaff" (Penpuite's) indi- 

 cated that the soil was sufficiently uniform to make the test satisfactory. 

 This variety produced a larger yield than any of the others on all three 

 plats, thus justifying its recommendation for such soils, which has been 

 given in previous years by the university and station. 



Variety tests by farmers. — Under this head are given reports on tests 

 of 12 varieties of wheat, by farmers who bought seed of the station and 

 planted it on different kinds of soil. The reports are also summed up 

 in a table. 



Smut in wheat, J. F. Hickman, M. S. A. (pp. 1105-208). — ''Reports 

 from various sections of the State indicate more injury to the wheat 

 crop of 1890 from what is known as stinking smut than for any f)revious 

 year of which we have any definite information." A table gives the 

 per cent of smut as estimated in the field, and the number of smutted 

 grains in each one thousand after recleauing. Four varieties, New 

 Monarch, Farquhar, Hungarian, and Ontario Wonder, were very much 

 more affected than the others. The estimated percentage of wheat 

 which was winter-killed is also given for fifty varieties, ranging from 3 

 to 60 per cent. 



