IRRIGATION OF CEREALS 255 



duty of water for oats should not be any lower than 

 for wheat. 



159. Barley. Barley is also a valuable crop for irri- 

 gated lands. Excellent malting barley is produced under 

 irrigation, and, in fact, irrigated barley appears to be the 

 best for malting. The irrigation of barley conforms with 

 the irrigation of wheat or oats. Barley is even more sen- 

 sitive than oats to over-irrigation, and water should, 

 therefore, be applied to barley with great care. In the 

 Utah work it was found that the total yield of barley 

 did not increase, or decrease, after a depth of 7^ inches 

 of water had been applied. In the Wyoming work, little 

 increase was found after 16 to 20 inches had been applied 

 However, it has been demonstrated that the malting value 

 of barley decreases when too much water is applied in 

 irrigation. The duty of water for barley should not be 

 lower than for oats or wheat. 



160. Rye. Rye is seldom grown under irrigation, for 

 it does so well under dry-farming that there is no good 

 reason for using costly irrigation water in its production. 



Wheat, oats, barley and rye behave very much the same 

 in their relation to water. The chief difference is in the sen- 

 sitiveness to water. Wheat endures more water than oats, 

 and oats more than barley, and barley probably more than 

 rye; but, practically, the effect of irrigation on these crops 

 is the same. All of them have a larger proportion of straw 

 in the whole plant, if grown with much water. 



161. Corn. Corn, the great American crop, thrives 

 and yields heavily under irrigation. It produces more 

 dry matter for the water used than practically any other 

 crop, and, when drought comes, it survives and produces 

 fair yields. Dry-farm corn seldom fails. The importance 

 of the corn crop to the irrigated region will increase rapidly 



