CROPS ON ALKALI LAND, HUNTLEY PROJECT, MONTANA. 



RESULTS OF EXPERI- 

 MENTS. 



FIRST METHOD. 



OATS 



BEET5 in 



WHEAT 



OATS 



ALFALFA.. 



WHEAT 



BEETS 



[ALFALFA 

 II 



W 



0AT5 



IB 



~T~ 



-EJ 



Re 



W 



H 



-a- 



Second method, — The second method included plowing under rye as green manure 

 in 1911, followed during the latter part of 1911 and all of the season of 1912 by frequent 

 irrigating and cultivating. In September, 1911, the ground was leveled and bordered 

 for irrigating in plats containing about one-sixth of an acre. Each irrigation was fol- 

 lowed as soon as possible by cultivation. This treatment was applied on plats 15 and 

 16 on field M-I. 



Third viethod. — The third method was the same as the second, except that barnyard 

 manure was applied at the rate of 20 loads per acre in 1911 before plowing under the 

 rye, and again in 1912. In 1912 the manure was plowed under in June and the land 

 was immediately leveled. Alternate irrigation and cultivation was practiced during 

 the remainder of the sea- 

 son. This method was 

 applied on plats 17, 18, 

 and 19 on field M-I. 



All of the plats in- 

 cluded in the three 

 methods were crop- 

 ped in 1913. The 

 treatments applied 

 in 1913 were simply 

 the ordinary opera- 

 tions in the prepara- 

 tion of the seed bed 

 and the subsequent 

 irrigation and culti- 

 vation necessary in 

 growing the different 

 crops. 



HUNTLEY EXPERIMENT FARM 

 WORDEN TRACT — FIELD fl 



Fig. 3. — Diagram of the Worden tract, showing fields M-I and M-II, 

 where the experiments discussed in this bulletin were carried on and 

 indicating the location of the different crops in 1913. 



Since the soil is 

 very deficient in 

 vegetable matter, it 

 was thought that the 

 addition of humus 

 by plowing under green-manure crops would be one of the best means 

 of opening up the surface soil. This appears to have been the case. 

 As mentioned previously, all of the land on this tract that was broken 

 up in 1910 was planted to winter rye and the crop plowed under in 

 June, 1911. This treatment was repeated in 1912 on part of the 

 land. The second rye crop made a much heavier and more uniform 

 growth than the crop plowed under in 1911 (fig. 4), and the soil tilth 

 appeared to be much improved. 



Effect on the salt content. — Total salt determinations were made in 

 May, June, July, September, and October, 1913, with samples taken from 

 plats 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 12 in field M-I and from adjacent virgin soil. 



