14 BULLETIN 705, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



It will be seen that the average yield of wheat on the clay farms 

 was 526 pounds per acre greater than the yield of oats; also that the 

 wheat crop was worth $8.90 per acre more than the oat crop. Differ- 

 ently stated, the wheat crop was worth 1.68 times as much per acre 

 as the oat crop. On the silt loam farms, according to Table X, the 

 yield of oats per acre was 114 pounds and 551 pounds, respectively, 

 below the yield of wheat and barley. Likewise, the cash value of 

 the oat crop per acre was $3.18 and $6.01, respectively, below the 

 value of the wheat and barley crops. 



If Tables IX and X represent even approximately the comparative 

 values and yields per acre of oats, wheat, barley, and corn, the profit- 

 ableness of general farming in the Willamette Valley may be increased 

 greatly by a readjustment of the acreage devoted to these crops. 

 Since oats occupied 43 per cent and wheat but 19.8 per cent of the 

 rotation area on the clay farms, it would appear from a study of 

 Table X that oats should largely be replaced by wheat or some other 

 more profitable crop. It should be remembered, however, that most 

 of the wheat crop of the clay farms was grown upon land that had 

 been summer fallowed the previous year, while little or none of the 

 oat crop was grown on sununer-f allowed land. 



On the silt loam farms studied in 1912 oats occupied 38.8 per cent 

 of the rotation area. This was nearly twice the area occupied by any 

 other crop. A study of Tables IX and X seems to indicate also that 

 much of the oat crop on the silt loam farms can be replaced profitably 

 by other crops. While Table IX shows that corn is the most profit- 

 able of the cereal crops, the moist fall and winter climatic conditions 

 of the Willamette Valley practically limit its production to what can 

 be used on the farm. Owing to its superior yield corn should be 

 grown much more extensively, especially for silage and f aU and early 

 winter feeding. It will be claimed by some that much of the oat 

 crop is produced on land that wiU not raise good barley. While there 

 may be some merit to this claim, most Willamette VaUey soils pro- 

 duce good yields of barley. Since barley is the equal of oats, pound 

 for pound, as a general stock feed, and since our present knowledge 

 indicates that there is a marked difference in the yield of the two 

 crops, it appears that the acreage of oats should be cut down and that 

 barley should be grown more extensively. 



SOME FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE CROP YIELDS. 



Table V shows that the percentage farm income of capital was 

 highest in the group of farms having the highest average crop yields. 

 Any means whereby crop yields may be increased, therefore, should 

 be highly important. The following discussion deals with a few of 

 the more practical ways of increasing crop yields. 



