224 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



land. Crops following corn were rather poor. This was particularly noticeable 

 in the case of oats. Perhaps the most striking- effect of a previous crop on yield 

 was in the case of oats following corn, beets, and potatoes, respectively. These 

 plats were not plowed, but were disked in the spring, seeded the same day, and 

 received the same treatment throughout the remainder of the season as the 

 other oat plats, but the yield of oats following com was 36.2 bu. per acre less 

 than that following potatoes and 34.5 bu. per acre less than that following 

 beets. As the stands and the treatment of these plats after planting were prac- 

 tically the same, the differences in yield appear to be due to the previous crops 

 and their cultural treatment. Oats following fall-plowed flax, oats, and wheat, 

 respectively, were fairly good. Wheat following oats was poor. The yields 

 from continuous cropping were, in most cases, low." 



In one rotation the alfalfa was pastured off with hogs. " During the whole 

 season the hogs produced from the one-fourth acre alfalfa pasture and 41.3 bu. 

 of corn a total of 988 lbs. of pork. Figuring this grain at 7.5 cts. a pound and 

 the cost of the corn fed at 60 cts. a bushel, the local market prices at the time 

 the experiment closed in 1913, the hogs returned an equivalent of $49.24 for the 

 one-fourth acre of alfalfa pasture. . . . Eleven similar plats of alfalfa were cut 

 for hay and yielded an average of 5.46 tons per acre. Assuming that the yield 

 from the pastured plat would have been the same as that fi'om the 11 similar 

 plats, the first lot of hogs paid an equivalent of $37.71 per ton for the first 

 cutting and the second lot paid $35.33 per ton for the second and third cuttings, 

 or an average for the season of $36.13 i>er ton for alfalfa hay. To this must 

 also be added the value of the manure left on the land." 



In another rotation the corn crop was pastured off with hogs. " The hogs 

 were on the corn plat 28 days. When they were taken off they weighed 800 

 lbs., having gained 253 lbs. from the one-fourth-acre corn plat, or 1,012 lbs. of 

 pork per acre. This, at 7.5 cts. a pound, is equivalent to $75.80 per acre. The 

 daily gain was 1.3 per cent. A similar com plat in the rotations yielded at the 

 rate of 82.6 bu. of com per acre. . . . Assuming that the yields from these 

 two corn plats were the same, the hogs paid an equivalent of 93 cts. a bushel 

 for the corn in the field. Figuring corn at 60 cts. a bushel and allowing $10 

 per acre for alfalfa pasture, each pound of pork put on the hogs in the different 

 lots cost as follows : The first lot on alfalfa, 3.1 cts. ; second lot on alfalfa, 2.5 

 cts. ; and the lot on corn, 4.9 cts." 



Data give yields in variety tests of cereals for 1911, 1912, and 1913, comprising 

 seven varieties of spring wheat, ranging from 31.9 to 37.6 bu. per acre, seven 

 varieties of winter wheat ranging from 30.5 to 34.8 bu., three varieties of rye 

 ranging from 25 to 27.3 bu., 16 varieties of barley ranging from 18.4 to 68.9 

 bu., and seven varieties of oats with yields ranging from 68.5 to 78.5 bu. per acre. 



In 1913 14 varieties and crosses of corn gave an average yield of 33.5 bu., 

 with a maximum yield of 43 bu. produced by the Blue Squaw variety. It is- 

 noted that the season in western Nebraska seems to be too short to mature 

 grain sorghums. A comparison of stock beets with sugar beets gave an average 

 yield of 35.5 tons per acre for thi-ee varieties, while sugar beets yielded 18 tons, 

 indicating the desirability of growing stock beets rather than sugar beets for 

 feeding purposes. The growth and yield of field peas in a test of six varieties 

 for three years " do not warrant the growing of this crop under irrigation in 

 western Nebraska." It seems that the cowpeas and spring varieties of vetch 

 are of doubtful value for western Nebraska, while hairy vetch made good 

 growth and survived the winter. 



Preliminary experiments with pasture grass in irrigation were begun in 1913, 

 involving tall oat grass, Italian rye grass, smooth brome grass, timothy, redtop, 

 blue grass, wheat grass, orchard grass, meadow fescue, tall fescue, perennial rye 



