12 



BULLETIN 39, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The average yield of the bluestem wheats at Brookings is 1.8 

 bushels to the acre higher than the yield of this group at Highmore, 

 as shown in Table IV. The average yield of the beardless fifes is 

 2.7 bushels, that of bearded fife 3.G bushels, and that of the durums 

 1.1 bushels higher at Brookings than at Highmore. Plant diseases, 

 particularly rust, have lowered the yields at Brookings, while 

 drought has been the cause of low average yields at Highmore. 

 These results indicate that there is not as great a difference in the 

 producing power of the two sections of the State as has been gen- 

 erally supposed. The quality of the wheat at Highmore has invari- 

 ably been excellent, while that at Brookings has been affected at 

 times by rust or wet weather in harvest. 



CULTURAL METHODS. 



In Table V the results of an experiment to determine the possible 

 gain by the use of better seed and by alternating wheat with a 

 cultivated crop are reported. The work was done at Highmore in 

 1910. The best seed which was possible to separate with an ordinary 

 fanning mill was sown on land previously used for cultivated alfalfa 

 in rows. For comparison, ordinarily well-cleaned seed similar to 

 that used in all other field experiments was sown on fall-plowed land 

 previously in wheat. The experiment was conducted with a repre- 

 sentative variety of each group. 



Table V. — Results obtained at Highmore, 8. Dak., in 1910, from sowing well- 

 graded seed wheat on well-prepared land in comparison with ordinary seed 

 sown on land prepared in the ordinary manner. 





Good methods. 



Ordinary methods. 



Differences. 



Group. 



Days 

 to ma- 

 ture. 



Weight 



per 

 bushel. 



. Yield. 



Days 

 to ma- 

 ture. 



Weight 

 per 



bushel. 



Yield. 



Days 

 to ma- 

 ture. 



Weight 



-per 

 bushel. 



Yield. 





Grain. 



Straw. 



Grain. 



Straw. 



Grain. 



Straw. 



Bluestem . . . 

 Bearded fife. 

 Fife 



95 

 93 

 94 

 97 



Lbs. 

 58.0 

 59.5 

 57.0 

 60.5 



Bush. 

 11.7 

 11.6 

 15.0 



17.7 



Cwt. 

 18.7 

 22.5 

 17.2 

 26.6 



102 

 96 



100 

 95 



Lbs. 

 54.0 

 60.0 

 54.5 

 58.0 



Bush. 

 8.9 

 6.5 

 11.3 



5.6 



Cwt. 

 7.6 

 5.7 

 7.8 



11.6 



-7 



-3 



-6 



2 



Lbs. 



4.0 

 — .5 

 ' 2.5 



2.5 



Bush. 

 2.8 

 5.1 

 3.7 

 12.1 



Cwt. 

 11.1 

 16.3 

 9.4 



Durum 



15.0 



Average. . . 



95 



58.8 



14.0 



21.3 



98 



56.6 



8.1 



8.2 



-3 



2.2 



5.9 



13. l 



It will be seen from Table V that the yield of grain and of straw 

 was increased in each case by the use of the better methods, while 

 the weight per bushel was higher, with one exception. These re- 

 sults were so conclusive that the experiment was not repeated. It 

 is now becoming common practice to grow as much as possible of 

 the wheat crop on land previously used for an intertilled crop. 



