16 BULLETIN 836, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



VARIETAL EXPERIMENTS. 



The objects of the varietal experiments were to determine the 

 adaptation and value of the different groups of broom corn and the 

 best varieties in each group. 



The results obtained from -all the lots and selections of all va- 

 rieties included in these experiments in any or all of the rive years 

 from 1914 to 1918. inclusive, are presented in the tables that follow. 

 All the agronomic data that are available, so far as they serve to 

 show the comparative response of the different varieties to environ- 

 ing conditions each season, are presented. 



The data in the tables include not only the yields, therefore, but 

 the row space occupied by each plant and each stalk ; the length in 

 days of the vegetative and fruiting periods and of the total grow- 

 ing period : the percentage of suckers and of stalks headed ; and the 

 height of the plants. The yield (in pounds) of good and poor brush 

 and the total yield of brush per acre are shown. The average length 

 of the brush of each quality and the percentage of good brush in the 

 total yield are also given. 



The tabulated data show clearly that the Dwarf varieties of broom 

 corn outyield the Standard varieties under such conditions as exist 

 at "Woodward, Okla. The Dwarf varieties evidently require less 

 water and therefore are better adapted to the conditions obtaining 

 in the district described than the Standard varieties. 



STANDARD BROOM CORN. 



The groups of broom corn have been described previously. Many 

 varietal names are applied to each group; but these are not signifi- 

 cant in most, if not all, cases, as they do not represent distinct va- 

 rieties. Some of the names applied to Standard broom corn are: 

 Australian, California Golden. Chinese Evergreen, Early Long- 

 brush Evergreen, Evergreen, Imperial Evergreen, Improved Ever- 

 green, Missouri Evergreen, and Tennessee Evergreen. In many 

 cases these are local names. The grower should know that he has 

 seed of high germination, selected from brush of good quality. The 

 manufacturer is not particularly interested in the name applied to 

 the brush. What he wants to know is the quality of the brush he 

 is buying. This he can not determine by the name, but instead must 

 see the brush itself. 



The results obtained with the Standard variety in the varietal ex- 

 periment are shown in Tables V and VIII. From 1914 to 1916, in- 

 clusive, one plat only of this variety was grown each year. The 

 source of that variety (C. I. Xo. 556) is supposed to be Florence, 

 Italy. The stock seed used in the experimental work was obtained 

 by the senior writer in 1914 from Lindsay, Okla., the original seed 

 having been imported two years previously. The field at Lindsay 



