TESTS OF BAKLEY VAFJETIES IX AMERICA 207 
As far as the agronomic classification is concerned the ecological 
features with their relation to season and rainfall are of more impor- 
tance than the taxonomic ones. Some of the physiological differ- 
ences which are expressed in height, time of flowering, or even in 
yield are the ones on which the final distinctions between varieties 
are likely to be made. In 1921 a large collection of barleys from 
various experiment stations was grown at Aberdeen, Idaho. The 
observations made on a few of these are shown in Table 95. One of 
the most useful observations made was the time of emergence of awns, 
which is shown in column 11 in this table. The date the awns 
emerged from the leaf sheath was noted. This is a much more accu- 
rate statement of the stage of development than the time of ripening. 
It can be much more accurately taken, and the plants at this time are 
not affected in their rate of development by disease and usually not 
by diminution of water supply. The great difference in appearance 
wliich is represented by only one or two days in the time of emer- 
gence of the awns can be appreciated only in the field. 
It is certain that as our selected varieties are increased in number 
by the man}- agencies now working in barley improvement, their 
separation will become more and more difficult. Most certainly 
varieties will be put out which are indistinguishable. It is impor- 
tant that their relationships be studied, and some such system as was 
used at Aberdeen in 1921 is likely to be useful. The occasional 
assembling of the varieties at a single place would serve to detect the 
confusion which is inevitable when so many are handled by a large 
number of stations. 
BEST VARIETIES OF THE PERIOD FROM 1917 TO 1921, 
INCLUSIVE 
Emphasis throughout this bulletin has been placed on group yields 
and on the ecological and regional adaptation of types. Specific vari- 
eties have been mentioned from time to time as having done well at 
the stations. Since the methods and equipment of testing in the 
earlier years were obviously imperfect the performances of individual 
sorts were not stressed. In the last ^ve years covered, however, 
replications of plats and other improvements have been common, and 
most of the varieties tested were pure-line selections. 
In Table 96 the varieties giving the best yield in some or all of 
the five years from 1917 to 1921, inclusive, at each station, are listed 
in the order of productiveness. It will be noticed that very few non- 
pedigreed varieties are included. The few that are found are for the 
most part very definite types, such as White Smyrna (C. I. No. 195) 
and Club Mariout (C. I. No. 261). But very little can be added in 
the way of amplif3dng the facts brought out in the table. The 
material contained should be of use to agronomists in obtaining 
varieties for testing which have done well at near-by stations, but 
which for some reason have not been included in their plats. 
