CROP PRODUCTION STATISTICS 



19 



BARLEY 



Barley production iu 1925 exceeded that of 1924 by about 700,000 bushels, 

 due to a large increase in acreage, the yield per acre falling about 4 bushels 

 below the average of that of 1924. The alternative value of barley as a farm 

 feed crop with corn and the larger demand for such feed that haa come about 

 in recent years, accounts largely for the increase in barley acreage since 1920. 

 The 1925 acreage, however, for the state as a whole was not large, being 156,000. 

 Production was 3,276,000 bushels and farm value $2,358,000, the latter also showing 

 an increase compared with 1924. 



RYE 



Rye production in 1925 was slightly larger than in 1924 with an increase in 

 acreage more than offsetting a lower yield than in 1924. The general trend of 

 rye acreage has been downward since 1923, dropping from 240,000 acres in that 

 year to 80,000 acres in 1924. The relatively high market prices for rye in 1924 

 encouraged larger seedings that fall of winter rye for 1925 crop, which harvested 

 acreage was 112,000. The rye estimates do not include that sown and cut for hay, 

 a general practice in some of the drier sections of the state where grass growth 

 is short. 



Great Falls Laboratory of State Department of Agriculture. 



The State Grain Laboratory at Great Falls through its tests of wheat for 

 gluten content renders a valuable service to Montana farmers in helping them 

 take advantage of the premiums for high gluten wheat. The Grain division of 

 the State Department of Agriculture under which the Laboratory is operated, 

 also has charge of the bonding of all public warehouses, grain dealers, track- 

 buyers and brokers handling grain within the state, assuring through its regu- 

 latory powers a careful supervision of these agencies. 



