FIELD CROPS. 1 IIT 



Inture providiiifr for this work and npiiro])ri;\tinf; money for it. togetlior with 

 tlio provisions of a cooperativo agroonuMit witli tliis Department entei'ed into 

 I)y the station, deseribes tlie exi>eriments wliicli liave been inan.^urated, and 

 reports the results thus far secured. 



The field trials are conducted on 2 lio-acre sites, 1 :it Modesto, Stanislaus 

 County, as r(^i)r<>sentative of llie general cereal condilions of the Sau Joaquin 

 Valley, and the otlicr at Vnb;i City. Sutter County, rei'reseuting those of the 

 Sacr.'imento \'alley. 



In l!»()4-.l there were planted at Yni>a Clt.v station U7."> stand.-ird varieties of 

 winter wheat, (if) standard varieties of durum wheats, (Xi hybrid wheats, (ia 

 stand.-ird varieties of barle.v, 12 standard varieties of oats. 2 varieties of ein- 

 korii, 2 of ennner, ;uid 21 of corn. With the exception of corn th(> plantinj^s at 

 Mod(>st() were almost ;in exact duplication of those at Yuba City. At Yuba City 

 tlie spring; jirains made a more rapid fjrowth than the winter si'siins, and were 

 lor this reason better enabled to keep the weeds somewhat in check. The char- 

 acter of m'owtli of the dnrnm whe.'its enabled them to co])e quite successfull.v 

 with the weeds, \arieties sown in March did quite well, but the heads were not 

 so large nor so well filled as those sown the first week in January. From obser- 

 vations made on harvested wheat at different stages of maturity, it is considered 

 that the grain will be of much better quality if cut as soon after ripening as pos- 

 sil>le. In rust resistance the common wheats showed a range of from 1(^ to 8r> 

 per cent. In all cases the commonly grown California varieties proved nuich 

 more subject to rust than No. 1181. Japanese; Nos. 14.3.3 and 143G, Crimean; No. 

 1.">S, Turkey; No. 1.504. Pesterboden ; No. KiOS, Allora ; and No. ICDO, Canning 

 Downs. 



Among the (J-rowed ])arleys under test lU'Idi and Mariout, and of the 2- 

 rowed. Black Smyrna ;ind \Vhite Smyrna were the earliest. Sixty-day oats 

 were the e.-irliest oat variety, while white oats from England gave the best 

 yield. Of the <-orn varieties planted at Yuba City, Early Tuscarora, Gehu, and 

 Ued Dent had neai'ly matured by the latter part of July. The extremely hot 

 winds during the first week of July injured all varieties of corn which were 

 just tasseling at that time, and none of the varieties ])roduced good ears. It is 

 concluded that except under the most favorable climatic conditions success in 

 corn culture on the uplands without irrigation is very doubtful. 



The operations at the 2 stations in llH)."i-r) are described in detail, and the plan 

 for nurser.v breeding followed is cmtlined. The following plantings were made 

 at tlie Yuba City station: ;>2."') st.nndard varieties of common and durum wheats, 

 72 r, S, Department of .VgricnUure hybrids. (iC) Kansas hybrids, 60 of barley, 21 

 of oats. 1 of spelt. ."! of rye, 2 of ennner, 1 of einkorn, and 15 of corn, making a 

 tot.al of .")('.(■) varieties under plat tests. In addition to this work field plantings 

 wei-e made and special experiments relative to cereal culture, such as the use 

 of feitilizers for wheat, rotation experiments, chiinge of seed, aud the composi- 

 tion of wheat as affected by time of cutting and other factors were also 

 inaugurated. The work at the Modesto cereal station for this season was simi- 

 lar to that undertaken at Yuba City. 



.\1 Yuba City the dnrums in fi(>ld plantings in most cases surpassed the com- 

 mon whe.-its, the average yield being l."!.!!) bu. per acre, as against 9.30 bu. for 

 the niii-ight-growing varieties, and sur|»assing the Salt Lake Club by 4* bu. per 

 acre. It was also observed dnriiig this se.ison's work that the time of cutting 

 afte]- tlie grain has X'eached the hard-dough stage had but little, if any, influence 

 n|i(iii the gluten content, for in oidy 4 out of 8 cases did the earlier cutting show 

 even a slightly higher percentage of albuminoids. A study made at both sta- 

 tions of the change toward a starchy condition seems to indicate that other fae- 



