FIELD CROPS. 22 d 



Variety tests are reported with whetit, barley, oats, stock beets, and corn. 

 Plats of alfalfa and corn in some of the rotations are noted as having been 

 successfully pastured off with hogs. Grain sorghums do not seem to be 

 successful under ii-rigation in western Nebraska. 



The irrigation and cultural experiments with potatoes gave inconsistent 

 results. " The largest yields were obtained where the soil was kept moist 

 throughout the season, the average yield on land so treated being 296.8 bu. 

 per acre. The poorest-shaped tubers were produced on the plats where the 

 plants were allowed to suffer between irrigations; the average yield in these 

 cases was 244.4 bu. per acre. The lowest yields were obtained by irrigating 

 every other row alternately, the average being 215 bu. per acre." 



Seed stock of potatoes from irrigated and dry land has been tested for three 

 years. In this time there has been no material difference in yield associated 

 with differences in the source of the seed, and there has been no apparent 

 running out of the stock. 



Three years' work in cultural methods with sugar beets, in which the soil 

 was plowed 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 in., has revealed no consistent effect on the 

 yield. Different depths and methods of cultivation also showed no material 

 differences in yields. 



Seeding alfalfa on unprepared stubble land in August gave as good stands 

 as when the soil was disked or harrowed previous to seeding, and diminished 

 blowing and drifting of the soil. 



" Nearly all the grasses seeded came through the winter of 1913-14 in good 

 condition except the Italian rye grass, of which about 50 per cent was winter- 

 killed. One of the pasture mixtures planted in 1913 contained alfalfa seed at 

 the rate of 2 lbs. per acre. This produced enough alfalfa among the grasses to 

 cause bloat in the cows that were on the pasture in 1914." 



[Agronomic] work of the Yuma reclamation project experiment farm in 

 1914, 11. E. Blair (f7. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus., Work Yuma Expt. Farm, 

 lfJl4, PP- 1-lS, figs. 4)' — This describes general agricultural, experimental, and 

 climatic conditions (including* meteorological data) on this project, covering 

 both sides of the Colorado River in Arizona and California, and gives results of 

 cultural experiments with cotton, alfalfa, grain sorghums, Sudan grass, hemp, 

 flax, and broom corn, continuing previous studies (E. S. R., 32, p. 225). A 

 specially designed sleeping house erected for workmen is briefly described. 



Experiments in spacing cotton showed less than 9 in. to be the optimum for 

 distance in the row. It was shown that the main cultural factor determining 

 large yields vvhere cotton is grown under irrigation is the application of water 

 at the proper time, which will be determined entirely by the development and 

 behavior of the plant and which will vary widely with different types of soil. 



Wheat, barley, or oats proved good nurse crops for fall planting of alfalfa, 

 although wheat allowed the development of the best stand of alfalfa. White 

 milo maize and dwarf milo maize proved the heaviest yielders of the grain 

 sorghums. 



In a thinning-space test with dwarf milo maize " notably higher yields were 

 obtained from 18-in. thinning, while the 3-in. thinning produced the highest per- 

 centage of well-filled heads. The 3-in. thinning was also most uniform in time of 

 ripening. This test will be repeated during 1915." 



Sudan gi'ass made a good showing, and, although an annual, it has continued 

 to produce for three years. Sudan grass sown for seed spaced in 40-in. rows 

 produced better than in 24-in. rows, while broadcasting at 20 lbs. per acre pro- 

 duced the best yields. 



