CEREAL INVESTIGATIONS ON THE BELLE FOURCHE FARM. 



33 



used. Plats were sown at the rates of 4, 6, 8, and 10 pecks each year. 

 In addition, the 2-peck rate was used in 1909 and the 12-peck in 1910, 

 1912, and 1913. The test was conducted on fallow land in 1909, 

 1910, and 1912, while in 1913 it was on land which produced corn 

 the previous year. In 1909 and 1910 single tenth-acre plats were 

 sown at each rate. In 1912 and 1913 the test was replicated, three 

 fiftieth-acre plats being sown at each rate. 



Table XVIII shows the annual and average yields obtained in the 

 rate-of-seeding test with oats in 1909, 1910, 1912, and 1913. 



Table XVIII. — Annual and average yields of oats in a rate-of-seeding test on the Belle 

 Fourche Experiment Farm in 1909, 1910, 1912, and 1913. 



[In 1909 and 1910 the variety used was the Kherson, C. I. No. 459. In 1912 and 1913 the Sixty-Day variety, 



C. I. No. 165, was used.] 



Rate per acre. 



Yield per acre (bushels). 



1910 



Aver- 

 age. 



2 pecks.. 

 4 pecks.. 

 6 pecks . . 

 8 pecks . . 

 10 pecks. 

 12 pecks. 



25.9 

 30.2 

 32.8 

 35.3 

 35.9 



11.9 

 12.5 

 10.3 

 4.1 

 3.4 



10.3 

 9.2 

 9.7 

 9.1 



28.2 

 27.3 

 27.3 

 28.1 

 28.2 



19.8 

 20.7 

 20.5 

 19.5 



In 1909, which was a favorable year, the higher rates of seeding 

 gave the better yields, though the differences between the 6, 8, and 

 10 peck rates were small. In 1910, a very dry year, the best yields 

 were obtained from the 4-peck and 6-peck rates. The yields obtained 

 from the 10-peck and 12-peck rates of seeding little more than equaled 

 the quantity of seed which was sown. In 1912, another dry year, 

 there was little variation in the yields which were obtained, though 

 the 6-peck rate produced slightly more than any of the others. In 

 1913, a favorable year, the yields obtained from all the rates of seed- 

 ing were practically the same. 



The average yield for the four years from the 4, 6, 8, and 10 peck 

 rates shows little variation, though the figures favor slightly the 6- 

 peck rate. The thickly sown plats ripened earlier than those sown 

 at the lower rates, while the yield of straw was usually less. In 

 very dry years thin seeding is to be preferred. On the other hand, 

 in favorable seasons fully as good yields and slightly earlier maturity 

 will be obtained from thick seeding. It seems probable that 6 pecks 

 is about the best rate for early varieties, such as the Sixty-Day and 

 Kherson. 



NURSERY EXPERIMENTS WITH OATS. 



About 100 heads each of the Sixty-Day and Kherson oats were 

 selected in 1908 and grown in head rows in 1909. In addition a 

 number of selections of the Sixty-Day made at the Highmore sub- 



