26 BULLETIlSr 398, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



In 1909, when there was considerable wmterkillmg of the wmter 

 wheats, the sprmg wheats produced the larger yields. In 1910 and 

 1911, which were both years of drought, the winter varieties out- 

 yielded the spring wheats. In 1913 and 1914 the yields were about 

 equal. In 1915, when the ramfaU was abnormally high, the winter 

 wheats yielded 6 to 7 bushels more than the spring varieties. For the 

 six years the average yield of the best winter wheat is 7.8 bushels 

 higher than that of the best spring wheat. It should be remembered 

 that the yields of winter wheat in 1913, 1914, and 1915 are from acre 

 plats, while those of spring wheat are from rephcated fiftieth-acre 

 plats. 



The growing of winter wheat is to be recommended in the Judith 

 Basin and generally in Montana wherever it is practicable, because the 



Fig. 9.— Heads of representative varieties of some of the important groups of wheat: 1, Turkey; 2, 

 Fife; 3, Preston (bearded spring); 4, bluestem; and 5, duram. 



average yield is higher than that of spring wheat. In a very dry year 

 it may yield from three to four times as much as the spring varieties. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH OATS. 



Next to wheat, oats are the most important cereal crop in Montana. 

 In 1915 the area sown to oats in the State was estimated at 600,000 

 acres, with an average yield of 52 bushels per acre. Oats are not 

 grown as a cash crop like wheat, but for feeding. The yields obtained 

 at Moccasm are quite satisfactory and show that oats usually can be 

 successfully grown on the dry lands of the State. 



In the varietal tests at Moccasin the small-kerneled early oats have 

 been sown at the rate of 4 pecks per acre. Seeding tests show but 

 little difference in the results obtained from the 4-peck and 5-peck 

 rates. In dry years, however, the lower rate of seeding gives the best 

 yields. The larger kerneled varieties are sown at the rate of 5 pecks 

 per acre. In a date-of-seedmg test the best results were obtained 



