102 Barn and Field Experiments in 1916 



It is to be remembered that in all of these experiments 

 nothing- has been grown upon the land except apple trees and 

 apples. An orchard cover crop of rye is sown in the fall, is 

 plowed under early in the spring, and the land is kept culti- 

 vated until well into August when the cover crop is again sown. 

 The plant food stored up in the wood growth and that which 

 has been removed in the apple crop has been taken from the 

 soil, but beyond that the soil has not been made to pay tribute 

 to any other crop. 



This experiment is to be continued for many years, or until 

 decisive results are obtained and the unfertilized rows show 

 evidence of need of plant food. 



COMMERCIAL VARIETIES OF OATS AT AROOSTOOK 



FARM. 



Experiments with oats were undertaken by the Maine Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station at Aroostook Farm in 1914. Two 

 principal objects are in view in this work — first, to ascertain 

 which of the more popular commercial varieties are best adap- 

 ted to Aroostook conditions ; and, second, to breed new varie- 

 ties which will be still better adapted to those conditions than 

 any now available. The work of breeding new varieties is 

 under way, but is necessarily slow. It will be several years 

 before any of the new varieties already produced will have been 

 sufficiently tested to warrant distribution. 



For several reasons the results obtained in 1914 were not 

 entirely satisfactory. The farm was purchased very late in the 

 fall of 1913 and there was little opportunity to learn anything 

 by observation of the land until planting time was come. Be- 

 cause of everything being new to the staff it was impossible to 

 get the oats planted as early as they should have been. The very 

 loose character of the soil allowed the heavy disk drill used in 

 seeding to put the seed too deeply in the ground. All of these 

 things tended to lower the yields. 



In 1915 the work at the Farm was very much better organ- 

 ized and more favorable results were obtained. Fifteen dif- 

 ferent varities were grown each in a single half acre plot. 

 These varieties were all sown with a large disk drill. In order 

 to prevent the seed going into the ground too deeply the land was 

 rolled before drilling. The seeding was at the rate of 3 bushels 

 per acre. 



