72 BULLETII!T 1334_, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICTJLTUES 
ST. PAUL, MINN. 
Barley varieties have been tested at University Farm, St. Paul, Minn., in all 
of the 29 years from 1S93 to 1921, inclusive. The annual yields given in Table 
28 were furnished through the courtesy of the Minnesota"^ Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station. During a part of the time the work was carried on in loose 
cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. The annual 
yields were not filed with the department but have been supplied by the Minne- 
sota station for the years in which there was no connection with the Department 
of Agriculture as well as for the j^ears of cooperation. 
The history of the test at the Minnesota station has been like that at all the 
older stations of the United States. During the earlier 3-ears most of the varie- 
ties were not pedigreed, and the identification of many of them is not adequate. 
It is thought, however, that the chance of their being incorrectly identified is 
small. The facilities for keeping varieties pure were not so good as at present, 
a.nd the barleys were grown on unreplicated plats. For these reasons the officials 
of the Minnesota station have expressed a desire that conclusions be drawn from 
the yields only when the limitations of the earlier experiments are taken into 
full consideration. The use made of the yields in this bulletin is but little 
affected by these conditions of experimentation. 
The conditions at Minnesota were no different from those at any of the other 
stations in the same period, and the work was more carefully carried out and 
results more carefully recorded than at most places. When it is considered that 
this bulletin is intended to be partiaUy historical and partially a comparison of 
commercial varieties and that one of the principal aims is to delimit all regions 
adapted to types of barley, it can be readily seen that the Minnesota results are 
most valuable. The large number of barleA^s of each t^'pe included is in a way 
equivalent to a replication of varieties. In many of the important sorts there 
was actual replication. Varieties were sent from Minnesota to other stations, 
reaccessioned at those places, and again brought back to Minnesota, so that the 
same variety was sometimes carried under two or several numbers. This hap- 
pened at many stations. Where they could be definitely identified the yields 
of such duplications have been combined and the average yield reported as the 
yield of the variety. 
The Minnesota station has been one of the most important distributing centers 
of barley varieties in the United States. From a historical standpoint Minne- 
sota is an invaluable link in tracing the distribution of the early varieties. The 
Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station was responsible for the distribution 
of many of the varieties grown at the experiment stations under the name of 
Oderbrucker. The Minnesota station is responsible for a great many of the vari- 
eties grown under the name of Manchuria. In a similar way, the Central Experi- 
mental Farm at Ottawa, Canada, has furnished a large percentage of our named 
hj'brids. These three stations have been the three most important points dis- 
tributing to the experiment stations. 
In Table 28 it will be seen that the average yields of the barley varieties at 
St. Paul have been very good. In the column of percentages, where the percent- 
age yield of each variety is given, the rank of the Manchuria group must be very 
high, as most of the percentages over 100 are those of barleys of this group. 
Since 200 varieties v^ere tested in one or more of the 29 j-cars, an inspection of 
Table 28 is difficult. To analyze the results more readily a digest was made by 
arranging most of the varieties in eight groups. The Manchuria group, which 
included about 80 varieties, was the best, with the same large percentage superi- 
ority as in Wisconsin. The Coast group was second in point of yield, but con- 
tained only two varieties, which vrere grown but a few years. It is not thought 
that this group is well adapted to Minnesota, and the acre yields were far less 
than those of the Manchuria. The Hj'brid and the Chevalier groups, which 
follow. Mere about equal, as were Hanna and Polar, which are next in rank. 
The I lull-loss and Thorpe groups gave low yields. 
Table 28 presents a summarized digest in which 12 varieties are compared. 
These were not selected because of their value, but because they were good vari- 
eties, representative of the different groups and were grown long enough to make 
comparisons possible. Manchuria (C. I. No. 244) was by far the best variety. 
A hvbrid barley (C. I. No. 2838) gave very good yields, as did Highland Chief 
(C. I. No. 883), Odessa (C. I. No. 182), and Coast (C. I. No. 690). 
Several conclusions can be definitely drawn from the earlier experiments. It 
is uncjiiestionably dcmonslratod that Minnesota is in a region jirceminently 
adajjlcd to the production of barleys of the Manchuria group. This conclusion 
is supported by the experiments in the neighboring States as well as at the sub- 
