CEREALS ON THE BELLE FOURCHE EXPERIMENT FARM. 



23 



3055, was grown each year, and Kharkof, C. I. No. 1442, was grown 

 from 1914 to 1917, inclusive, for comparison. Four of these selections 

 are awnless, very similar to Alton (Ghirka Winter) wheat. They, 

 however, are more vigorous and have larger kernels than Alton. 

 The grain is very" similar to that of Turkey and probably equal to 

 that variety in quality. 



Selection No. 159 produced the highest average yield, 26.1 bushels 

 per acre, which was 1.3 bushels more than the parent strain, C. I. No. 

 3055. This selection was one of the highest yielders in the nursery 

 experiments, and it also outyielded all varieties and selections in the 

 experiments under irrigation. Of the 600 original selections this 

 is the only one which has shown a marked increase over the parent 

 varieties. 



The awnless strains yielded less than Turkey or Kharkof and most 

 of the awned selections. The highest yielding awnless selection, 

 C I. No. 5299, has an average yield of 1.7 bushels per acre less than 

 Turkey, but it yielded slightly more than the Turkey variety in 1914. 

 The better awnless selections have been fully as hardy and nearly as 

 resistant to drought as the Turkey variety. Because of the lower 

 yields of the awnless strains none of them was distributed. 



RATE-OF-SEEDING EXPERIMENTS. 



Experiments to determine the best rate to sow Kharkof winter 

 wheat were attempted from 1910 to 1918, inclusive. The 1910 crop 

 failed to germinate, and the 1912 crop did not emerge until late in 

 the spring following the seeding and was plowed up. The 1911 crop 

 was killed by spring and summer drought and the 1917 and 1918 

 crops were destroyed by a combination of winterkilling and soil 

 blowing. Results from the rate-of-seeding experiment were thus 

 obtained only during the period from 1913 to 1916, inclusive. Good 

 crops were obtained except in 1916, when winterkilling and soil blow- 

 ing injured the crop, in addition to severe damage from stem rust. 

 The rates of seeding here recorded ranged from 2 to 7 pecks per 

 acre. The yields are shown in Table XV. 



Table XV. — Yields of Kharkof winter tvheat grown in rate-of-seeding experi- 

 ments on dry land on the Belle Fonrehe Experitnent Farm, 1913 to 1916, 

 inclusive. 



Rate of seeding, per acre. 



Yields per acre (bushels). 



1914 



1915 



1916 



Average. 



2 pecks 

 Specks 

 4 pecks 

 Specks 



6 pecks 



7 pecks 



26.4 

 28.0 

 27.3 

 26.8 

 27.4 

 28.2 



23.0 

 26.6 



24.9 

 27.4 

 24.6 



27.8 



36.7 

 42.6 

 48.3 

 43.6 

 45.8 

 44.0 



3.1 

 4.0 

 4.6 

 5.1 

 5.4 

 6.3 



22.3 

 25.3 



26.2 

 25.7 

 25.8 

 26.5 



