CEKEAL EXPERIMENTS AT THE AKRON FIELD STATION. 



13 



RATES AND DATES OP SEEDING. 



The rate of seeding for wheat, oat, and barley varieties was 4 pecks 

 per acre in the first year, 1908. Since 1908 the rate of seeding for 

 wheat has been 3 pecks per acre. Barley was sown at the rate of 

 3 pecks per acre in 1909 and 1910, and for the remaining time at the 

 rate of 4 pecks per acre. The rate of seeding for oats was 3 pecks 

 per acre from 1909 to 1912. In 1913 the rate for oats was increased 

 to 4 pecks, which was continued in 1914 and 1915. The date of 

 seeding has varied with seasonal conditions. Table VIII gives the 

 dates of sowing for each of the more important cereals in the 8-year 

 period, 1908 to 1915, inclusive. Spring grains have been sown as 

 early as the seed bed could be put in condition to receive the seed. 



Table VIII . — Dates on which varieties of winter wheat, spring wheat, spring oats, and 

 spring barley have been soiun in each of the eight years, 1908 to 1915, inclusive, at the 

 Akron Field Station, Akron, Colo. 





Cereal group. 



Crop year. 



Cereal group. 



Crop year. 



Winter 

 wheat. 



Spring 

 wheat. 



Spring 

 oats. 



Spring 

 bajley. 



Winter 

 wheat. 



Spring 

 wheat. 



Spring 

 oats. 



Spring 

 barley. 



1908 



1909 



1910 



1911 



Nov. 5 

 Sept. 23 

 Sept. 27 

 Sept. 6 



Apr. 12 

 Apr. 26 

 Mar. 18 

 Mar. 16 



Apr. 12 

 Apr. 26 

 Mar. 19 

 Mar. 17 



Apr. 12 

 Apr. 25 

 Mar. 31 

 Apr. 7 



1912 



1913 



1914 



1915 



Sept. 11 

 Sept. 30 

 Sept. 26 

 Sept. 16 



Apr. II 

 Apr. 5 

 Mar. 24 

 Apr. 14 



Apr. 16 

 Apr. 17 

 Mar. 30 , 

 Apr. 17 



Apr. 15 

 Apr. 18 

 Mar. 31 

 Apr. 19 



NURSERY EXPERIMENTS. 



The nursery tests at Akron have included newly introduced varie- 

 ties and those of which there was not sufficient seed for sowing in 

 field plats and also pure-line selections from the better varieties. 

 The tests of selections have been the largest feature of the nursery 

 work. The varieties and selections have been grown in short rows, 

 usually from 5 to 25 feet in length. It is possible in the nursery to 

 test economically a very much larger number of varieties and strains 

 than could have been included in field-plat tests. 



Over 250 separate named or numbered varieties of cereals have 

 been grown in nursery rows. Wherever the performance was such 

 as to indicate a possible superior or promising variety it was increased 

 for further tests in field plats. The greater portion of the varieties 

 tested proved inferior and have been discarded. A few are now 

 being grown in field plats. 



Much more work has been done in an attempt to isolate superior 

 races from varieties. A large number of heads wore selected from 

 plants in the field plats. Th(5 following season the grains from each 

 head were sown in a short nursery row called a head row. Notes 

 were taken during the growing season, and the more promising races 



