948 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



grown at wide distances apart produced shorter straw and a greater 

 proportion of straw to grain than when thickly planted. 



" Where given too much room many more stems are produced than will mature 

 heads. On account of the continuous growth from the crown of the stool during 

 the summer the grain is late in maturing, does not fill well, and as a whole produces 

 light, inferior grain. 



"Larger heads are produced upon grain planted more than 1 in. apart, although 

 all the heads may not be as uniform in size. The number of seeds in the largest 

 heads produced increased rapidly with the distance between plants. 



"While more grain will be produced by each seed when planted at greater dis- 

 tances than 1 in. apart, the actual amount of grain will be less for the area of land 

 used ... A study of our experimeuts seems to indicate that in farm practice sow- 

 ing seed so plants will be secured about 1 in. apart in the drill will produce the 

 largest yields per acre of wheat or barley, but that oats should probably be planted 

 a little thicker than this." 



The author concludes from his investigations that if 80 per ceut of 

 the seed germinates and it is sown in drills 8 in. apart, it requires 78 

 lbs. of wheat weighing 61 lbs. per bushel, 86 lbs. of barley weighing 53 

 lbs. per bushel, and 61 lbs. of oats weighing 40 lbs. per bushel to plant 

 an acre with plants 1 in. apart in the row. 



At Laramie in 1897 50 and 70 lbs. of wheat per acre gave as large 

 yields as greater amounts of seed, but where 100 lbs. per acre were 

 sown the grain weighed more per bushel and ripened earlier. There 

 was little difference in the yield of barley plats sown at different rates 

 per acre, but the plats with the heavier seeding ripened earlier and pro- 

 duced better grain. Oats seeded at the rate of 60 lbs. per acre gave 

 the best yield. The thinly seeded plats failed to ripen the grain fully. 

 At Sheridan in 1897 the best yields were obtained from sowing 50 to 70 

 lbs. of wheat, 70 to 80 lbs. of barley, and 80 to 100 lbs. of oats per acre. 

 The results obtained at the 5 different places indicate that barley has 

 the greatest tillering power, followed by wheat and oats in the order 

 mentioned. 



"In addition to the importance of thicker seeding at high altitudes to shorten 

 time of ripening, our experiments indicate that upon like soils and under similar 

 climatic conditions, wheat, oats, and barley actually produce less matured heads and 

 less grain with increase of altitude. 



"Grain under irrigation produced more matured heads per stool and more grain 

 than where raised without irrigation. . . . 



"The amount of grain produced on different amounts of seed per acre varies in 

 different seasons. On account of increased tillering light seeding (from 30 to 50 

 lbs. per acre) may produce as much grain as would a larger amount of seed; but 

 when more seed Ts sown the difference in weight of the grain per bushel, along 

 with shorter period of maturity and evenness in ripening, may more than pay for 

 the extra seed used. 



Trials with orchard grass, F. and K. Hansen (Landmansblade, 31 



{1897), No. 10, p. 134). — Experiments were conducted for 10 years at 

 3 Danish experiment stations for the purpose of ascertaining the amount 

 of hay obtained from orchard grass, the seed of which had been obtained 

 from different sources. The average results at the 3 stations are com- 



