GEAIlSr-SOEGHUM EXPERIMENTS IK THE PANHANDLE OF TEXAs! 23 



rainfall in March was slightly above normal, but in April and May 

 there was a deficit of 3.5 inches, which left the soil in a very dry 

 condition. June and the first week in July were abnormally wet, 

 inducing strong vegetative growth. From July 8 to the end of 

 August the weather was intensely hot and dry. None of the crops 

 were headed at the time the drought began. The effect of the 

 sudden and severe drought occurring just at this critical stage was 

 to prevent the development of heads on many of the plants, which 

 resulted in low yields of grain. The average yield from the milos 

 was only 6 bushels and from the Dwarf milo 11 bushels. The 

 kafirs, being later, were not so near the critical heading stage when 

 overtaken by drought and were better able to await the fall rains. 

 Their average yield was 12 bushels per acre. 



The year 1910 was the driest of the 18 years in which weather data 

 had been recorded at Amarillo. The precipitation during the entire 

 year amoimted to only 11.1 inches, or about half of the normal for 

 the 18-year period. Each month in the year was abnormally dry, 

 although the scanty rainfall was fairly well distributed. All but 

 2 inches fell in the four summer months from May to August, inclu- 

 sive. However, there was no effective rainfall from May 21 until 

 July 9. The latter half of July also was a period of intense drought, 

 which was continued to the end of the season except for a 10-day 

 period in early August. The droughts of July and August caught 

 both early and late varieties in the critical heading stage and reduced 

 the yields materially, those of the late varieties being most affected. 

 The average acre yield from milo was 17.8 bushels, from Dwarf milo 

 19 bushels, and from Dawn (dwarf) kafir, a later crop, only 8.9 

 bushels. The still later standard kafirs were almost completely 

 barren. 



The year 1911 was fairly favorable to grain sorghums. The winter 

 of 1910-11 was very dry. There was neither rain nor snow of value 

 until after the middle of February. In the next six weeks, however, 

 the precipitation amounted to about 6 inches, which penetrated the 

 soil to a depth of several feet. Almost 6 inches more had fallen by 

 the end of May. On account of the soaked soil, planting was delayed 

 until June 6. Although June was abnormally dry, the reserve stock 

 of moisture was more than sufficient for crop needs. July was well 

 watered, but a real drought occurred in the first three weeks of 

 August. The average acre yields of all varieties and selections in 

 the best adapted groups were as follows: Milo, 32.3 bushels; Dwarf 

 milo, 37.6 bushels; feterita, 31.9 bushels; and Dawn kafir, 34.9 

 bushels. 



The year 1912 was very dry, the total precipitation being only 14.3 

 inches. The only rains of consequence were on February 25, June 

 11, July 30, August 3 and 4, and September 11. This was a fair 



