36 BULLETIN" 218, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



AMARILLO FIELD STATION. 



The soil at Amarillo, Tex., is a heavy clay silt. It is of the type 

 locally known as " tight land" or " short-grass land." While the evi- 

 dence is not as complete as could be desired, it appears that the storage 

 of water and the development of the feeding roots of the crop are 

 interfered with by a comparatively impervious layer of soil in the 

 third foot. The soil above this, however, is competent to take care 

 of all the water that it has been possible to store, even under a system 

 of alternate cropping. 



The results of six years are available from Amarillo. The year 

 1910 was lost by reason of an enforced change in the location of the 

 station. In three of the six years yields have been fair and in three 

 they have been very poor. 



Only one method of preparation — summer tillage — has departed 

 very far in its results from the general average. The average yield 

 by this method has been 27.6 bushels per acre. The extreme range 

 in the average of all other methods is from 13.2 bushels on spring- 

 plowed wheat stubble to 18.4 bushels on peas as green manure and 

 on fall plowing after barley. There is little profit in discussing differ- 

 ences within so narrow a range of yields. 



It may be noted that fall plowing of either wheat or oat stubble 

 has been better than spring plowing of either. Subsoiling has not 

 been productive of yields as high as those by fall plowing similar 

 stubble. Furrowing with a lister and leaving the ground rough 

 through the winter has been practically as good as plowing. 



Disking corn ground has given about the same results as plowing 

 it. Disked milo and kafir ground have given markedly poorer results 

 than corn ground. 



The yields following green manure have corresponded closely to 

 those following a harvested crop rather than to those following sum- 

 mer tillage. 



When the cost of production is considered in connection with the 

 value of the average crops produced by different methods, it is seen 

 that the more expensive methods — summer tillage, subsoiling, and 

 green manuring — have been the cause of losses ranging from $2.39 

 to $9.17. Fall plowing, spring plowing, and listing also show small 

 losses. The low cost of preparation of disked land has resulted in its 

 showing a profit of $0.24 per acre. 



