14 
BULLETIN 1315, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
higher on the stalk. It was found necessary to revert to North- 
western Dent, which has proved to be one of the best varieties for 
this district. Later varieties produce more stover but less grain. 
Careful attention should be given to the selection of a variety and 
strain of corn adapted to the local conditions. 
Tab: 
Average yields of corn grown by different methods at the Archer Field 
Station from 1914 to 1923, inclusive 
Plate 
aver- 
aged 
Yields per acre 
(bushels) 
Treatment and previous 
crop 
1914 
1915 
1916 
1917 
1918 
1919 
1920 
1921 
1922 
1923 
Aver- 
age, 
1914 
to 
1923 
Fall plowed: 
Spring wheat 
2 
12 
4 
1 
1 
12.2 
~1L9~ 
~20.Y 





13.9 
6.9 
11.2 
6.9 
15.4 
16.3 
21.3 
19.6 
19.8 
18.0 
31.9 
29.6 
27.1 
25.4 
15.0 
7.5 
1.8 
4.4 

7.5 
7.9 
4.0 
4.8 
2.4 
3.9 
9.1 
1.4 
8.1 
3.6 
18.5 
17.0 
11.4 
15.0 
7.3 
14.1 
32.7 
39.0 
36.9 
32.4 
33.7 
14 9 
Winter wheat ... . 
2 12.8 
Oats 
13.9 
Flax 
2 10.9 
Corn 
14.7 
Total or average 
10 
13.3 

11.3 
19.1 
27.2 
4.3 
4.9 
7.5 
13.8 
35.7 
13.7 
Spring plowed: 
Spring wheat . 
5 
34 
11 
I 
1 
13.1 
12.7 
12.5 
18.0 
~19.~7~ 






23.0 
22.5 
22.8 
25.4 
24.3 
22.3 
19.5 
26.6 
21.8 
20.4 
22.3 
21.8 
34.1 
33.9 
35.7 
28.4 
35.8 
14.1 
5.6 
5.1 
5.2 
9.6 
3.2 
11.7 
6.7 
3.? 
4.2 
6.8 
5.7 
4.0 
15.2 
10.9 
13.7 
15.6 
10.0 
21.1 
18.9 
15.5 
14.4 
17.9 
14.7 
12.4 
37.8 
33.9 
37.3 
48.0 
32.5 
32.9 
17.4 
Winter wheat 
16.4 
Oats 
Barley 
16.8 
19.0 
Flax 
Corn 
2 16. 5 
16.0 
Total or average 
25 
13.3 

23.1 
22.1 
33.9 
5.4 
4.9 
13.5 
15.5 
36.5 
16.8 
Subsoiled: Corn.. 
Listed: Corn 
Fallowed 
1 
J 
22.0 
19.1 
20.0 



U8.8 
*13. 1 
29.8 
26.3 
11.3 
22.1 
11.9 
3.5 
14.3 
20.0 
17.5 
12.4 
2.2 
4.4 
5.8 
21.4 
14.0 
16.0 
15.7 
13.1 
18.8 
32.0 
18.0 
32.6 
17.0 
11.4 
17.2 
Average of all 38 plats. 14.0 
19.9 21.1 30.2. 6.0 4.8 12. 
15. 1 35. 6 15. 9 
1 Only one plat on fall-plowed winter wheat in 1916. 
: 9-year averages. 
3 Only three plats on spring-plowed winter wheat in 1916. 
4 Interpolated yields. 
GENERAL DISCUSSION OF ROTATIONS 
The experimental field was in native sod until 1912, and the first 
crops were grown on it in 1913. The soil is characterized by the fer- 
tility common to most semiarid and arid soils. It is evident that no 
changes in production due to changes in fertility are to be expected in 
so short a time. If the different cropping systems are working toward 
such changes by reducing, maintaining, or increasing fertility, such 
effects are for the present masked by the already adequate supply of 
fertility and by the controlling influence of the inadequate supply of 
water. 
Xone of the plats to which barnyard manure has been applied have 
shown any increase in yield over those which do not receive manure. 
Plowing peas under for green manure has resulted in increasing the 
yields of the following crops of spring wheat, winter wheat, and oats 
over those on bare fallow. There are no soil-moisture determinations 
at this station from which to compare the relative water contents of 
the soil following these two preparations, but such comparisons at 
other stations and a consideration of the conditions of the two warrant 
the belief that the increased yield is not to be explained by an increased 
water supply. The beneficial effect, however, is exhausted in the one 
