UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 498 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 



<s\JV^V^ 



Washington, D. C. 



February 19, 1917 



EXPERIMENTS WITH SPRING CEREALS AT THE 

 EASTERN OREGON DRY-FARMING SUBSTATION, 

 MORO, OREG. 



By David E. Stephens, Station Superintendent, Office of Cereal Investigations. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 1 



Description of the station 2 



Soil '. 3 



Climatic conditions - 5 



Experimental methods 11 



Dimensions of plats 11 



Treatment of plats 12 



Cereal experiments 14 



Spring wheat 14 



Cereal experiments — Continued. 



Spring oats. 26 



Spring barley 31 



Comparative value of wheat, oats, and 



barley 35 



Spring emmer 35 



Grain sorghums 36 



Summary 36 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Eastern Oregon Dry-Farming Substation 1 was established at 

 Moro, Oreg., in 1909. The land was purchased and the buildings 

 (fig. 1) erected with funds contributed by Sherman County. The 

 expense of maintenance is borne jointly by the Oregon Agricultural 

 Experiment Station and the Bureau of Plant Industry. 



A cooperative agreement between the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 and the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station specifies that " The 

 objects of the cooperative investigations shall be (a) to improve the 

 cereals of the Pacific coast region by introducing or producing better 

 varieties than those now grown, especially with regard to drought 

 resistance, yield, quality, earliness, etc.; (6) to determine the best 

 methods of cultivation and crop rotation for grain production; and 

 (c) to conduct such other experiments as may seem advisable for the 

 accomplishment of the greatest possible good to the cereal interests 

 of the State of Oregon." Full credit is given to the Oregon Agri- 



1 From the establishment of the Moro substation until November, 1911, Mr. H. J. C Umberger was 

 superintendent. In February, 1912, the writer was appointed superintendent. 

 67313°— Bull. 498—17 1 



