THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



651 



12, having an equal area, was also planted to field peas and re- 

 planted to millet, with a yield of 1,920 pounds ot good hay. 

 The average for the two plats was 1,950 pounds, or 2,031 

 pounds per acre. 



Comparing this with the yield given above gives the 

 following : Yield from irrigated land, 2,944 pounds per acre ; 

 yield from summer- fallowed land, 2,031 pounds per acre; and 

 yield from land continuously cropped and not irrigated, 737 

 pounds. 



Barley. Plat 13 was seeded to Beardless Hullless barley 

 in rows 8 inches apart and produced a yield of 8 bushels from 

 the thresher from an area of 0.8 acre. Plat 14, having the 

 same area, was seeded to the same kind of barley, but in rows 

 16 inches apart, anil was cultivated and gave a yield of 15 

 bushels, or 10 and 18.8 bushels per acre, respectively. The 

 irrigated plat yielded 42.5 bushels per acre, while the con- 

 tisuously cropped and not irrigated plat yielded 16.5 bushels 

 per acre. 



Potatoes. Plat 15, 0.79 acre, was planted to potatoes in 

 rows 36 inches apr.rt and the seed dropped 17 inches apart in 

 rows. The yield was 40 bushels of all sizes and very scabby, 

 and hard to sell even at greatly reduced prices on that ac- 

 count. Plat 16 was planted to potatoes in rows 46 inches apart 

 and seed dropped 17 inches apart in the rows. The yield was 

 59 bushels from the same area as plat 15, but like the product 

 on the first plat the potatoes were very scabby. The seed on 

 part of each plat was treated with corrosive sublimate and 

 formaldehyde, but ro difference between potatoes from treated 

 and untreated seed could be noticed. Plat 5, which was irri- 

 gated, yielded 140 bushels per acre. 



Wheat. Plat 17, having an area of 0.79 acre, was planted 

 to winter wheat m 16- inch rows and cultivated. It was win- 

 terkilled to a serious extent and yielded from the thresher 

 but 5'/> bushels of very poor quality of wheat, weighing but 

 55 pounds to the bushel. Plat 18, of the same area, was 

 seeded the same r,s 17, but in rows 8 inches apart, with no 

 better results, as it was badly winterkilled and yielded but 5 

 bushels. About one-third of these two plats is so steep and 

 badly situated and have such rocky, gravelly soil as to make 

 them unfit for cultivation, and this accounts, in a great meas- 

 ure, for the small returns from the above plats. 



Fall or Spring Irrigation. 



Plats 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 are 5-acre plats and are 

 situated on what is called the south farm and receive fall or 

 spring watering only. 



In the fall of 1908 water was applied to a depth of about 

 3 feet over the entire six plats. In the spring of 1909 the south 

 half of the plats ;,gain received water to the depth of 2 feet. 

 The soil of this portion is very gravelly in character and the 

 moisture was not lelained to the same extent as in the north- 

 ern half. 



Alfalfa. Plat 19 was planted to alfalfa in 1906, two crops 

 being harvested in 1909. The first cutting yielded ~i l /2 tons 

 and the second 2^4 tons, making a total of 10^4 tons for the 

 season, slightly over two tons per acre. The quality of the 

 hay was very good. The crop, in its early stages, was some- 

 what damaged bv hail or a greater yield would have been 

 produced. It will be noted that there is a great difference in 

 yeld between the first and second crops. This is due to the 

 fact that after the first crop is harvested tne remainder of 

 the season was unusually dry. But even so, note the de- 

 cided advantage that fall watering has over dry farming. In 

 comparing the above yield of 4,120 pounds to the acre with 

 plat 8. where the yield was but 2.100 pounds to the 

 acre, a difference of 2,020 pounds is shown in favor of the plat 

 which was irrigated in the fall and spring. 



Barley. Plat 20 was seeded to Beardless Hullless barley, 

 from which was harvested 131 bushels of first-class grain 

 which weighed 63 pounds to the bushel from the thresher. 

 According to the standard weight of barley the yield was 34i/$ 

 bushels to the acre. Plat 10, which was exclusively dry 

 farmed, yielded 16V 2 bushels to the acre, showing an increase 

 of 18 bushels to the acre in favor of the crop receiving fall 

 watering. These comparisons show the great advantage of 

 fall or spring watering over drv farming, notwithstanding 

 the fact that the precipitation during the year was 3.5 inches 

 above the normal. Large quantities of water which might be 

 used in this way run to waste in the fall and spring months, 

 and this might be used to advantage, as it has been at Chey- 

 enne, and thus supplement dry farming. 



Wheat. Plat 21 was needed to Defiance wheat and yielded 

 rather poorly, only 8 bushels to the acre, and grain of inferior 

 quality. Two reasons might be assigned for such a small 



production. As has been stated before, for the past two sea- 

 sons severe hailstorms seriously damaged the crops, and espe- 

 cially was this true in 1908, when the wheat was at its ripen- 

 ing stage. No doubt the strongest of the grain was lost, mak- 

 ing the seed used in 1909 of an inferior grade and not pos- 

 sessed with the vigor of reproduction. Then, again, the De- 



e wheat does not withstand drought as well as durum 

 wheat or barley, while hail injures it more. This may in 

 some measure, account tor the light yield. The crops on either 

 side ot this plat were very satisfactory. 



Oats. Plat 22 was seeded to oats. Two and one-half 



a 7 K 3S u S f ded whh Swedish se 'ect oats, which gave a yield 

 ot 86 bushels^ or S3 bushels to the acre, and the quality was 

 very good The other 254 acres was seeded to Kherson oats 

 which yielded 98 bushels, or 39 bushels to the acre. The aver- 

 age yield for the 5 acres was, therefore, 37 bushels to the acre. 

 It has been found that Kherson oats are especially well 

 adapted to this section. Where irrigation can be applied 

 they ripen very early and the most of the growth is com- 

 pleted before the dry season sets in. 



Potatoes. Plat 23 was planted to potatoes and yielded 

 rather poorly from some cause which was not determined. 

 Ihe plat was planted, cultivated, and kept free from weeds, 

 and the condition or appearance of the plants gave every evi 

 dence of producing well. However, the period from June 2t> 

 to the early part of September was very dry, and the moisture 

 atter that time, although abundant, was not beneficial to the 

 crop. There was a yield of but 42 bushels to the acre, of all 

 sizes, and there wt-i-e many scabby potatoes among the treated 

 rows as well as the untreated. 



Durum wheat. Plat 24 was planted to durum wheat from 

 which was threshed 84 bushels of first-class grain. This is 

 almost 17 bushels to the acre. From the experience at Chey- 

 enne it seems that the durum wheat will withstand drought 

 much better than any other wheat tried, and it also appears to 

 suffer less from hail than the beardless variety. 



Dry Farming. 



Alfalfa. Plats 25 to 29, inclusive, were planted to alfalfa 

 and exclusively dry farmed. There was but one light cutting, 

 and as the crop over the several plats appeared to be much 

 the same, a portion was measured and weighed and showed 

 a yield of about 1,000 pounds to the acre. On plats 28 and 29 

 the stand was very poor and the plants had the appearance, 

 to some extent, of being winterkilled. The growth was so 

 small during the latter part of the season that no second cut- 

 ting was made. Compare this with plat 3, which was irrigated 

 and yielded 5,000 pounds to the acre, a difference of 4,000 

 pounds to the acre, and with plat 19, which was fall irrigated 

 and where the yield was 4,125 pounds to the acre, a difference 

 in favor of fall irrigation of 3.125 pounds. From the fore- 

 going it would seem that alfalfa can not be recommended as a 

 dry-farm crop for this section. This is further emphasized 

 by the efforts of others in this section to secure a remuner- 

 ative crop of alfalfa by the dry-farm system. 



Potatoes. Plats 30 and 31 were planted to potatoes. These 

 plats had been fallowed in 1908 and the land was in fine con- 

 dition as a seed bed in the spring of 1909. From these two 

 plats was harvested 72 bushels of potatoes, or about 61 

 .bushels to the acre, of all sizes and of very good quality. 

 This was the first time potatoes were grown on this land and 

 little scab was found. 



Plat 32 was needed to slender wheat grass in 1907 and has 

 produced two crop;. This season's yield was 2,440 pounds to 

 the acre. From the experience of the past two seasons this 

 grass can be reco'nmended highly as a dry-farm crop, pro- 

 vided the same soil tillage be given as on the portion where 

 this experiment wis made. Plat 33 was seeded to brome grass 

 at the same time the slender wheat grass was sown and two 

 crops have been harvested with an average yield of 2.400 

 pounds to the acre, the hay being of very fine quality. The 

 land on which the slender wheat grass and brome grass were 

 grown was fallowed the previous year, 1906, and was kept 

 free from weeds, so that the soil was in excellent tilth. The 

 hay has been fed to work horses and, so far as can be judged, 

 is sunerior to alfalfa for horse feed. 



Plat 34 was planted to durum wheat in the spring of 1909. 

 This plat was fallowed during 1908. and in the spring of 1909 

 the soil was in fine tilth. Eleven and one-half bushels were 

 harvested from this plat, which measured one acre. Particu- 

 lar attention is called to this plat in comparison with pint 24, 

 which was fall watered ,;nd shows a gain of 5 bushels to the 

 acre. When it is considered that plat 24 was cropped in 1908, 

 while plat 34 was fallowed during the same period, it can 



