1918] FIELD CROPS. 633 



per acre, respectively. At Maryville the leading varieties included Great 

 Dakota with 47.7, Kherson with 46.9, Red Rust Proof with 45.1, and Early 

 Champion with 40.2 bu. per aci"e. At Warreu.sburg the fall-plowed oat plats 

 yielded nearly 12 bu. per acre more than either early spring-plowed plats or 

 disked plats. In rate-of-seeding tests the minimum yield, 27.9 bu. per acre 

 was obtained, with a seeding rate of 4 pk. and the maximum yield, 34.6 bu., 

 with a seeding rate of 12 pk. All winter oat varieties winterkilled at Columbia. 



Yields of spring barley amounting to 22.7 and 21.5 bu. per acre were ob- 

 tained at Maryville and Warrensburg, respectively. All varieties of winter 

 barley winterkilled. 



The corn variety tests have been reported upon in detail elsewhere (E. S. R., 

 36, p. 185). F'urther studies of factors influencing the development of the 

 corn plant, including the effects of competition between corn and soy beans, 

 have been made without arriving at definite conclusions. 



It has been concluded from trials with wheat and oats that when seeded in 

 drill rows 3 or 4 in. apart there is no increase in yield over seedings in 6- or 8-in. 

 rows provided the same quantity of seed is used. 



In selection work with wheat for the past three years average yields of the 

 original and selected strains have been obtained as follows : Original Fulcaster 

 35.9 bu. per acre, selected 40.5 bu. ; original Early Ripe 31.4 bu., selected 27.3 

 bu. ; and original Poole 31.6 bu., selected 31.8 bu. Leading varieties of wheat 

 in tests conducted at Columbia included Harvest King, with a yield of 23 bu. 

 per acre, Fulcaster 8-y and Mediterranean 30 with 21.4 bu. each, and Fulcaster 

 with 19.3 bu. At Maryville, Mediterranean, Jones Red Wave, Harvest King, 

 and Fulcaster gave the highest yields, amounting to 42.1, 41.4, 37.2, and 

 36.4 bu. per acre, respectively. Dietz, Fultz, Harve.st King, and Fulcaster, 

 with respective acre yields of 26.2, 22.7, 20.8, and 20.5 bu., were highest at 

 "Warrensburg. 



In tests of forage crops at Columbia Canada field peas alone and mixed with 

 oats proved best for spring-sown forage ; mixtures of Amber sorghum and 

 cowpeas, and Kafir corn and sorghum for summer forage ; and a mixture of 

 rye and vetch and rye alone for fall sowing. Sudan grass is said to be giving 

 satisfactory results in numerous tests throughout the State. 



The seed testing laboi*atory, conducted in cooperation with the U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture, received 1,723 samples of seed during the year. 



[Report of field crops work in New Mexico, 1916-17] (New Mexico Sta, 

 Rpt. 1917, pp. 28-30, 55-71, flfjs. 5). — This reports the results of experiments 

 on the duty of water for alfalfa, irrigation, and cultural tests with potatoes, 

 and miscellaneous crop experiments, in continuation of work previously noted 

 (E. S. R., 37, p. 32). 



Six cuttings of alfalfa were harvested during the season, with an average 

 yield of 5.96 tons per acre and an average duty of water of 53.11 acre-inches for 

 irrigations of 2, 3, 4, and 5 in. The highest yield per acre was obtained from 

 the 5-in. irrigation, 6.67 tons, and the lowest from the 2-in. irrigation, 5.3 tons, 

 with duty of water amounting to 61.49 and 42.19 acre-inches, respectively. 

 Additional irrigation experiments with fallow plats and plats sown to alfalfa 

 drilled in and planted in rows to study the relation of soil, water, and crop to 

 irrigation have given results with respect to yield and duty of water com- 

 parable to those described above. The data are also said to indicate that 3 in. 

 of water applied at each irrigation to the cropped plats penetrated to a depth 

 of about 3 ft, while 5-in. applications penetrated to about 6 ft. On the fallow 

 plats the water appeared to penetrate to a depth of 10 ft. or over. Root 

 measurements were made, on plats receiving'2 and 5 in. of water, after 2 years' 

 growth, and roots obtained averaging 42 and 57 in. in length, respectively. 



