191«] FIELD CROPS. 527 



and Diamond Joe coin. These crops succeeded best when planted from April 

 1 to May 15. 



Notes are given on the production of beans, corn, wheat, emmer, and pota- 

 toes at the Prescott dry farm. The leading varieties of beans were Colorado 

 Pinto, Bates, Boetcher, and Tepary, mentioned in decreasing order of yield. 

 Sudan grass produced 3.5 tons of dry hay per acre from two cuttings, in addi- 

 tion to a pasture crop. On bottom land a yield of 3 tons was secured from the 

 first cutting and 2t tons from the second, but there was no pasture crop. 

 These phits were planted in rows 42 in. apart. Sudan grass sown with a grain 

 drill failed to reach a height sufficient for cutting. A yield of 3 tons per acre 

 of this grass is also recorded for the high plateau sections, where it was gi'own 

 at an elevation of about 7,000 ft. 



[Breeding work with field crops], G. F. Freeman and J. C. T. Uphof (Ari- 

 zona Sta. Rpt. 1915, pp. 533-538, fig. 1). — In variety tests with alfalfa at Yuma 

 the hairy type of Peruvian gave the best yields. From the cutting made 

 March 23, 1915, this type of alfalfa produced 5,500 lbs. of hay per acre as 

 compared with 4,738 lbs., the average of the other varieties in the test. The 

 corresponding figures for the cutting made December 8, 1915, were 2,217 and 

 1,701 lbs., respectively. 



An average yield per acre of 1,810 lbs. of green beans was secured from 17 

 pure races of Tepary beans grown at the Yuma date orchard, the highest yield 

 being 2,526 lbs. for race No. 48. Fifteen lbs. of wild Tepary seed was planted 

 in field plats at Yuma for comparison with the domesticated form as a hay 

 crop. On one plat this seed yielded at the rate of 5,080 lbs. of air-dry hay per 

 acre and on another at the rate of 6,180 lbs. In this test pure race No. 17 

 yielded 9,760, 6,795, and 5,882 lbs. and Whippoorwill cowpeas 5,960 lbs. per 

 acre of air-dry hay. 



A yield of cleaned wheat of 42.91 bu. per acre was secured at this point. 

 As compared with the yield in 1914 this was an increase of 5.24 bu. per acre, 

 which is thought probably due to turning under a few weeks before seeding 

 the wheat in the fall a green manure crop of Tepary beans yielding ap- 

 proximately 15,000 lbs. of green material per acre. In a test of varieties 

 Turkey Red yielded at the rate of 57 bu. per acre, but the averages f-er all the 

 field plats were as follows: Sonora 51.7, White Algerian Macaroni 44.6, Red 

 Algerian Macaroni 44.6, Early Baart 43.3. and Turkey Red 43.2 bu. per acre. 



Among 63 pedigree increase plats from the selection of the best head rows 

 of the preceding year the White Algerian Macaroni strains gave an average of 

 11.4 bu. per acre more than the average for the other strains. It was observed 

 in connection with this work that certain strains of Turkey wheat, all of 

 which were hard when grown in the Central Plains States, immediately be- 

 came soft when grown in Arizona under irrigation, while other strains from 

 the same original sources have remained hard. It was also found that on the 

 average those strains becoming soft immediately were greater yielders than 

 those which resisted the softening effect of the climate, but a few pure races 

 of hard Turkey wheat were found which were high yielders and at the same 

 time maintained their hard, glutenous texture. 



Report of the agronomy department, C. A. Sahr (Hawaii Sta. Rpt. 1915, 

 pp. 39-44, pis. 2). — Deep plowing of soil and allowing it to aerate from one to 

 several months before planting rice and taro gave increased yields in every 

 test, although in the case of taro the increase was small. Potatoes on soil with 

 16 per cent of water in the upper 6 in. failed to sprout properly, while soil 

 with 24 per cent of moisture produced plants. In a spraying test the check 

 plat yielded 15 bu., the plat sprayed with lime-sulphur 25.9 bu., and the one 

 sprayed with Bordeaux mixture 30.2 bu. of tubers per acre. 



