LAND AND OTHER AGENTS OF PRODUCTION 153 



besides distilling a portion of it and making an alcoholic liquor. Since 

 Manchuria lies in approximately the same latitude as South Dakota, 

 and is somewhat similar in climatic conditions, it was thought likely 

 that the kaoliang from there would do well here, and trial lots of seed 

 were furnished to the South Dakota Experiment Station in the spring 

 of 1909 and placed on trial. 



The crop grown in this trial was found to be extremely variable. 

 There were tall stalks, short stalks, compact heads, and loose heads. 

 Apparently the native Manchurians had not given much attention to 

 selecting seeds for a uniform type. Thus it became necessary to do 

 considerable selective breeding work before the seed was adapted to 

 general distribution and to machine handling. Selection of the 

 heaviest, most compact heads on stalks of a uniform height was 

 practiced, and selective breeding continued through 1912, 1913, and 

 1914, until in 1914 it is estimated that kaoliang from these two 

 original selections is growing on 1,000 farms in central and western 

 South Dakota. 



Kaoliang, though primarily valuable as a grain crop, may also be 

 properly called a dual-purpose crop. In a five-year trial at High- 

 more Substation and a three-year trial at Cottonwood Substation it 

 has never failed to mature its seed. The seed is usually ready to be 

 harvested by September 15. At Highmore, the average yield for the 

 five years from 1909 to 1913, inclusive, has been 16.5 bushels from 

 one strain and 13.8 bushels from another. The highest yield was 

 19. 2 bushels in 1910, and the lowest was 10.3 bushels in 1911. The 

 average yield of Minnesota No. 13 yellow dent corn for this same 

 period is 12.6 bushels, showing that the climatic conditions were 

 decidedly severe. At Cottonwood in 1912, kaoliang yielded aa aver- 

 age of 23 . 7 bushels per acre in farm system No. 4 as compared with 

 22.5 bushels per acre for Minnesota No. 13 corn. 



Every season since kaoliang was introduced there have been 

 drouth periods of considerable duration both at Highmore and Cotton- 

 wood. The drouth resistance of kaoliang is due partly to its ability 

 to recover rapidly after having remained dormant for a time, which 

 characteristic is common to all grain sorghums, and partly to its low 

 moisture requirements. A trial made at the Akron, Colorado, Sub- 

 station shows that kaoliang required about one-third as much water 

 to produce a gram of grain as was required by northwestern dent, a 

 very early variety of corn. For producing a gram of gram and forage 



