382 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



of the seed germinates and it is sown in drills 8 inches apart, it re- 

 quires 78 pounds of wheat weighing 61 pounds per bushel, 86 pounds 

 of barley weighing 53 pounds per bushel, and 61 pounds of oats 

 weighing 40 pounds per bushel to seed an acre with plants 1 inch 

 apart in the row. 



At Laramie in 1897, 50 and 70 pounds of wheat per acre gave 

 as large yields as greater amounts of seed, but where 100 pounds 

 per acre were sown the grain weighed more per bushel and ripened 

 earlier. There was little difference in the yield of barley plats sown 

 at different rates per acre, but the plats with the heavier seeding 

 ripened earlier and produced better grain. Oats seeded at the rate of 

 60 pounds per acre gave the best yield ; thinly seeded plats failed to 

 ripen the grain fully. At Sheridan in 1897 the best yields were ob- 

 tained from sowing 50 to 70 pounds of wheat, 70 to 80 pounds of 

 barley, and 80 to 100 pounds of oats per acre. The results obtained 

 at the five different places indicate that barley has the greatest tiller- 

 ing power, followed by wheat and oats in the order mentioned, and 

 that barley stands first in the yield of grain, oats second, and wheat 

 third. 



The results further showed that thick seeding of grain at high 

 altitudes is an important factor in shortening the time required to 

 mature the crop, and that upon like soils and under otherwise simi- 

 lar climatic conditions wheat, oats, and barley naturally produce less 

 mature heads and less grain the higher the altitude at which they are 

 grown. 



The effects of irrigation were marked and beneficial. Grain 

 under irrigation produced more mature heads per stool and gave a 

 better yield of grain than that grown without nutrition. 



The amount of grain produced from different amounts of seed 

 per acre varies in different seasons. On account of increased tillering 

 light seeding (from 30 to 50 pounds per acre) may produce as much 

 grain as would a larger amount of seed, but when more seed is sown 

 the difference in weight of grain per bushel along with a shorter 

 period of maturity and evenness in ripening may more than pay for 

 the extra seed used. (F. B. 109.) 



SHRINKAGE OF GRAINS. 



The principal cause of the deterioration of corn during transit 

 or in storage is an excessive amount of moisture. Corn as it is har- 

 vested in the autumn ordinarily contains from 20 per cent to 35 per 

 cent of water, depending on the season and the relative time of 

 harvesting. 



The shrinkage that will take place in a crib of corn from the time 

 it is cribbed in the fall until it is sold varies so greatly in accordance 

 with the amount of moisture the corn contains when placed in the 

 crib, and also the ventilation of the crib, that it is impossible to state 

 a percentage of shrinkage that will apply with certainty to any par- 

 ticular crib of stored corn. Some carefully conducted tests in Illinois 

 showed that during a period of twenty-one months the shrinkage was 

 but 9 per cent of the original weight of the corn cribbed. Other tests 

 show that during the first year the shrinkage in cribbed corn from 



