CROPS THAT MAY BE GROWN IN DRY AREAS 197 



While the winter rye crop may be grown success- 

 fully in areas too dry and cold for wheat, there are 

 conditions of drought and cold in which it will not suc- 

 ceed. Under some conditions it may not germinate in 

 the autumn from lack of moisture. Under other con- 

 ditions it may germinate so feebly that the plants cannot 

 withstand the injury which may come to them from 

 winds, cold and dry. Spring rye may be grown over 

 an area equally wide, but it will not yield so well, as 

 a rule, as the winter variety. 



Barley in some of its varieties will grow well in 

 dry areas. The variety that has shown highest and 

 most general adaptation is that known as the white 

 hulless, a variety without beards on the heads or hull 

 on the grain. The merit of this grain for dry areas is 

 enhanced by the early season at which it matures, which 

 brings it to the ripening stage before the weather of 

 summer reaches its hottest, and especially its driest, 

 stage. As this barley is not suitable for malting, it is 

 to be grown for feeding rather than for commercial 

 purposes. Some varieties may also be grown success- 

 fully for malting, but probably not over areas so wide 

 as the hulless varieties. The Mensury, which is a 

 six-rowed variety and bearded, has shown at least fair 

 adaptation for being grown over the more humid por- 

 tions of the dry region. This variety will grow to a 

 greater height than the white hulless, which in some 

 instances is so short that reaping is difficult, but the 

 latter will grow under conditions more dry than would 

 be suitable for the former. These barleys, as in the 

 case of other cereals, have highest adaptation for the 

 northern areas of the dry belt, and for the elevated 

 plateaus of the states farther south. Some winter vari- 

 eties may be grown where the winters are mild. Barley 

 will be a relatively important crop in all the future in 

 dry areas, more especially for food uses. 



