36 BLTLLETIX 1039, U. S. DEPAETMEXT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH MINOR CEREALS. 



The cereals of minor importance which were grown in experiments 

 on dry land at Newell are proso, rye, emmer, spelt, buckwheat, and 

 the grain sorghums. 



The work with these, with the exception of proso, has not been 

 very extensive. 



SPRING EMMER. 



One variety of spring emmer. Vernal (White Spring), has been 

 grown on dry land each year since 1908. Xo crop was produced in 

 1911, 1912. and 1914. The highest yield. 3,513 pounds per acre, was 

 obtained in 1915. Emmer is severely injured by extreme drought 

 and under such conditions it yields considerably less than adapted 

 varieties of barley. Table XXIX (p. 41), showing a comparison of 

 yields of the various grain crops, presents the yields of Vernal 

 emmer in pounds per acre for five years from 1913 to 1917, inclusive. 

 Vernal emmer yielded an average of 1.179 pounds per acre, compared 

 with yields of 1,378, 1,415. and 1,405 pounds per acre, respectively, 

 for Kubanka wheat, Kherson oats, and Hannchen barley. Under 

 conditions at Xewell the better varieties of oats and barley may be 

 expected to yield considerably more grain per acre than emmer. 



WINTER EMMER AND SPELT. 



Winter emmer has been grown in both the plat and nursery experi- 

 ments on dry land. Black Winter emmer, C. I. Xo. 2337, was grown 

 in plats in 1909, but only 1 per cent of the plants survived the winter. 

 It has been grown in the nursery for several seasons since then, but 

 the yields and winter survival were always low. Bufi'um Improved 

 Black Winter emmer, C. I. Xo. 3331. was grown in plats from 1913 

 to 1917, inclusive. The crop was entirely winterkilled in 1917, and 

 the spring survival was low in the other seasons, not more than one- 

 third of the plants surviving even the mildest winters. 



The yields of Buffum Improved Black Winter emmer are shown 

 in Table XXIX (p. 41). The average yield for the 5-year period 

 from 1913 to 1917, inclusive, was 639 pounds per acre, compared with 

 1,800 pounds of Kharkof winter wheat. Considering the low market 

 and feeding value and the low winter survival and yield of the winter 

 emmer. it can not be recommended for efrowinjr in western South 

 Dakota. 



A single variety of winter spelt was grown in 1917. This was a 

 brown winter spelt, the seed of which had been imported from 

 Switzerland, about 1913, l)y a farmer in the vicinity. Although 

 this was slightly hardier than winter emmer, it was much inferior 

 to winter wheat in both yield and value. 



