676 IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



Spring- wheat, in particular, is affected by black stem rust, red rust and 

 blight, and the yield and quality will be fair to poor in those portions of 

 the State and not very good elsewhere. Winter wheat harvest is far ad- 

 vanced and threshing begun northward to Warren county. Good yields 

 and excellent quality are indicated. 



Early oats are headed on short straw and the heads are small, but the 

 quality is generally good. Early oats harvest is practically completed in 

 the south and well advanced in the north portions of the State. Late oats 

 have improved generally with the moist and relatively cool weather, though 

 attacked by red rust in the western counties. The straw is longer and the 

 heads larger and better filled than the early oats. They are now ready for 

 harvest in the southern counties. 



Barley harvest is in progress and the yield will be good. 



Corn shows steady improvement and now averages slightly above nor- 

 mal. The late corn in the southern counties is catching up rapidly and 

 can scarcely be distinguished from the earlier corn. Tasseling will be 

 general in all portions of the State during the coming week. Silks have 

 already appeared in the earlier fields. The color of the plants is a luxuriant 

 dark green. Prospects for a corn crop are now good. 



Haying and harvest have been somewhat hindered by the rains. Tim- 

 othy and clover are light crops except in the northern counties where rain- 

 fall was abundant and temperatures lower during the critical June period. 

 Second crop alfalfa harvest is beginning in the southwest counties and 

 good yields are again reported. 



Truck crops have improved. New potatoes of unusual size and abund- 

 ance are on the market in the northern counties, though somewhat disap- 

 pointing in the south. At Des Moines the retail price is $1.35 per peck. 

 Commercial tomatoes give promise of an early and abundant crop. 



Bulletin No. 16, July 27, 1920 — 



Showers were mostly light and scattered, except that moderate to heavy 

 rains were general in the Raccoon valley Tuesday night the 20th-21st, Soil 

 moisture is generally sufRcient though rain is needed in a few localities in 

 Lyon, Dubuque and Scott counties. Hot weather prevailed the first of the 

 week but turned cool toward the close. Maximum temperatures of 100 

 degrees or higher occurred at a few stations in the western portion of the 

 State. 



Crop prospects in general are very good. Corn over two-thirds of the 

 State is above the normal condition. Tasseling- is general, ears are shoot- 

 ing and silks appearing. It is entering the critical, pollination stage with 

 moderate temperatures and ample soil moisture in most sections. A good, 

 g-eneral rain in the next few days would be beneficial. 



Early oats and winter wheat are all harvested and late oats and barley 

 harvest well advanced. Considerable winter wheat has been thrashed in 

 the southern half of the State which is the largest producing section. The 

 yields so far run from 20 to 45 bushels per acre, testing 61 to 62 pounds 

 per bushel, grading No. 2 or higher and selling for $2.50 to $2.53 per bushel. 

 No thrashing returns have been received from spring wheat, but the yield 

 will undoubtedly be light and the quality poor, especially in the western 

 and northern portions of the State where scab, smut, rust, blight and other 

 diseases have been nearly as prevalent as last year. The yield and quality 

 of oats are better than expected, being- about the average of the last 10 

 years. 



Haying made excellent progress and much of the crop was cured without 

 rain. Considerable timothy was cut for seed, but the yield of seed is prob- 

 ably below the average in the principal producing areas. First crop clover 

 cut for seed in Henry county is yielding up to three bushels per acre. 

 Second crop alfalfa harvest is in progress and good yields are again re- 

 ported. 



