BULLETIN OF THE 



No. 214 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, Wm. A. Taylor, Chief 

 May I, 1915. 



SPRING WHEAT IN THE GREAT PLAINS AREA: 



RELATION OF CULTURAL METHODS TO PRODUCTION. 



By E. C. CHiLCOTr, Agriculturist in Charge, and J. S. Cole and W. W. Burr, Assist- 

 ants, Office of Dry-Land Agriculture. 1 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



■ Introduction 1 



Climatic conditions 4 



General plan of the investigations 5 



Comparison of cultural methods on the basis 

 of cost 8 



Results at the several stations 11 



General discussion of results 37 



Conclusions 42 



INTRODUCTION. 



This bulletin contains a study of the yields of spring wheat 

 obtained under various methods of seed-bed preparation at 14 sta- 

 tions in the Great Plains region. The area considered in these 



1 All of the members of the scientific staff of the Office of Dry -land Agriculture have contributed 

 more or less to this paper by having charge of field investigations and by assisting in the preparation of 

 data fur records or for publication. The scientific staff as at present constituted consists of the following 

 members, named in the order of length of service: W. W. Burr, Denver, Colo.; E. F. Chilcott, Wood- 

 ward, Okla.; O. J. Grace, Akron, Colo.; J. S. Cole, Denver, Colo.; J. M. Stephens, Moccasin, Mont.; 

 A. L. Hallsted, Hays, Kans.; O. R. Mathews, Belle Fourche, S. Dak.; J. C. Thysell, Dickinson, N. Dak.; 

 M. Pfaender, Mandan,N.Dak.; H. C. MeKinstry, Hettinger, N. Dak.; W.M. Osborn, North Platte, Nebr.; 

 W. D. Griggs, Dalhart, Tex.; C. A. Burmeister, Amarillo, Tex.; J. E. Mundell, Big Spring, Tex.; F. L. 

 Kelso, Ardmore, S. Dak.; W. A. Peterson, Mandan, N. Dak.; J. T. Sarvis, Ardmore, S. Dak.; G. W. Mor- 

 gan, Huntley, Mont.; J. H. Jaeobson, Mitchell, Nebr.; H. G. Smith, Tucumcari, N. Mex.; L. N. Jensen, 

 Woodward, Okla.; J. G. Lill, Garden City, Kans.; R. S. Towle, Edgeley, N. Dak.; A. J. Ogaard, Willis- 

 ton, N. Dak.; C. B. Brown, Dalhart, Tex.; L. D. Willey, Archer, Wyo.; J. B. Kuska, Colby, Kans.; and 

 A. E. Seamans, Akron, Colo. 



The following-named men have held positions on the scientific staff of the Office of Dry-land Agriculture 

 during the past nine years, but have resigned or have been transferred to other offices of the Department 

 of Agriculture: Sylvester Balz, F. L. Kennard, J. E. Payne, L. E. Hazen, C. A. Jensen, H. R. Reed, W. O. 

 Whitcomb, C. H. Plath, F. Knorr, and R. W. Edwards. 



The data here reported from the stations in Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Montana have been 

 obtained in cooperation with the agricultural experiment stations of the respective States. In South 

 Dakota, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico the stations are operated by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 



Field, office, and laboratory facilities, teams, and implements have been provided by the Office of West- 

 ern Irrigation Agriculture, at Huntley, Mont., Belle Fourche, S. Dak., and Mitchell, Nebr., and by the 

 Office of Cereal Investigations at Amarillo, Tex., and Archer, Wyo. The Biophysical Laboratory has 

 cooperated in obtaining the meteorological data reported. 



Note. — This bulletin is intended for all who are interested in the agricultural possibilities of the Great 

 Plains area. 



85751°— Bull. 214—15 1 



