FIELD CROPS. 149 



This bulletin describes the climate and soil conditions of Nebraska, reproduces the 

 crop statistics of the State for 1899, presents a classification of forage plants, and 

 reports the results of experiments with grasses and other forage plants by the 

 Nebraska Experiment Station in cooperation with this Department. 



Several tests with Bromus inermis made since 1897 are noted. Disking brome grass 

 sod on April 8 produced no difference in the growth of the grass. The plats, lf>.! ft. 

 by 76 ft. in size, receiving 300 lbs. of well-rotted horse manure in the fall and 10 lbs. 

 of nitrate of soda the next spring, yielded at the rate of 5,666 lbs. of hay per acre, as 

 compared with 2,166 lbs. for the check plat. Manured plats produced a good after- 

 math and withstood drought well. Sowing at the rate of 14 lbs. per acre produced 

 much more seed than the use of larger quantities of seed. No difference was observed 

 between fall and spring sown plats. Other results indicated that, if the soil is in 

 proper condition, brome grass may probably be sown from April to October 1 . When 

 sown with blue grass it was gradually crowded out, but in grass mixtures for pasture 

 it usually showed some advantage over the other species. The results of cooperative 

 experiments with farmers were in general satisfactory. 



The tests with different varieties of alfalfa showed that Turkestan alfalfa is well 

 adapted to Nebraska conditions and that in dry seasons it yields better than the ordi- 

 nary alfalfa. Peruvian alfalfa, after producing a good stand and vigorous growth, 

 was winterkilled. Samarkand alfalfa grew well, produced a thick stand, and proved 

 to be drought resisting, but it was not so tall as the common or Turkestan varieties. 

 A test of seed from different States showed that alfalfa seed should not be brought 

 from a southern to a more northern region or from an irrigated toanonirrigatedsoil. 



There was no advantage in planting alfalfa in rows and cultivating it. 



The use of gypsum, lime cake, and hog manure produced no marked beneficial 

 effect. Light and heavy seed yielded at the rate of 2,500 lbs. and 3,000 lbs. of hay 

 per acre, respectively. The second year there was a much thinner stand from the 

 light seed. Experiments in sowing alfalfa at different times showed that on soil in 

 good tilth and with sufficient moisture the seed may be sown at any time from spring 

 to early fall. The best stand was obtained by sowing without a nurse en >p. 



On a series of plats alfalfa was sown together with various grasses. In all cases 

 the grass grew well with the except. of timothy, which seemed to be unable to 

 compete with the alfalfa. In a mixture comprising a number of grasses and alfalfa, 

 orchard grass has in 3 years increased to about J of the number of plants on the 

 plat. Brome grass grew more vigorously Where the alfalfa was thickest, which 

 seemed to indicate that it derived some advantage from the fertilizing effect of the 

 alfalfa. Good stands were obtained on disked and broken and disked sandy prairie. 



A 30-acre field was sown in April, 1889, with a mixture of 2 lbs. each of orchard 

 grass, timothy, blue grass, tall oat grass, perennial rye grass, and white clover, 4 lbs. 

 of red clover, and 1 lb. of alsike clover. On 5 acres of the tract, 3 lbs. of alfalfa 

 were added. Good yields of hay and excellent pasturage were obtained in 1900 and 

 1901. In the spring of 1900, the field was disked and sown with brome grass and 

 meadow fescue, which 2 grasses at present practically occupy all the ground, the 

 alfalfa having disappeared. A tract of 30 acres of native pasture sown with blue 

 grass and white clover in 1887 is at present mostly blue grass. As in the foregoing 

 experiment, alfalfa sown on part of this tract was crowded out by brome grass and 

 meadow fescue. On another field sown with brome grass, timothy, orchard grass, 

 blue grass, and meadow fescue, brome grass gained the ascendency. 



Yields of hay from meadow fescue at the rate of 2,400 lbs. per acre on one plat 

 and of 2,836 lbs. on another are recorded. This grass did not start so early in the 

 spring as brome grass. Trials of meadow fescue mixed with either timothy, clover, 

 or alfalfa were all successful. Mammoth red clover proved of more vigorous growth 

 and longer lived than ordinary red clover, but in the winter of 1902-3 it was about 

 half winterkilled. It withstood drought better than any other clover. Alsike 



