16 



BULLETIN 976, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The crop of 1915 has the highest percentage of suckers. That year 

 thin stands were obtained and the season was favorable for luxuriant 

 growth. 



The data on erect heads include only the results for five years, from 

 1914 to 1918, inclusive. During this period the proportion of erect 

 heads ranged from 89.6 to 100 per cent in 10 of the 15 plats for which 

 such data are recorded. In the remaining five plats it is much lower, 

 ranging from 70.6 to 80.2 per cent. No one date of seeding produced 

 the highest percentage of erect heads in all these years, this depend- 

 ing to some extent upon conditions at heading time. It has been 

 observed that more pendent heads occur when the crop is making 

 very rapid growth at heading time than where normal growth only 

 60 



/9/<?- /9/S /9/G /9/7 /9/S /9/S 



Fig. 7. — Annual and average yields per acre, In bushels, of feterita 

 (C I. No. 182) in the date-of-seeding experiments at the Amarillo 

 Cereal Field Station in the 6-year period from 1914 to 1919, inclusive. 

 Horizontal lines show averages for the period. 



is being made. This may be explained in part by the fact that under 

 conditions which promote rapid growth the sheath unfolds from 

 around the peduncle before it is strong enough to support the head 

 without bending. The degree of curvature of the head depends 

 largely on the strength of the peduncle at the time it is released by 

 the sheath. 



The height of the plants ranges from 2 to A\ feet. The time of 

 seeding apparently has little to do with the height of the plants. 



The yield is recorded in three ways: First, the total crop; second, 

 the grain yield in pounds; and, third, the grain yield in bushels of 58 

 pounds each. The yields are influenced by seasonal conditions to 

 such an extent that no one date of seeding is best for all years and 

 under all conditions. This can be studied best from Table IX, which 



