CEREAL EXPERIMENTS AT THE WILLISTON SUBSTATION. 35 
The average annual precipitation at Williston for the 36 years from 
1879 to 1914, inclusive, was 14.9 inches. The average seasonal rain- 
fall (April to July, inclusive) for these years was 8.86 inches. The 
heaviest rainfall at Williston occurs during the growing season. 
The average evaporation from a free water surface at the Williston 
substation during the growing season for the years 1909 to 1914, in- 
_clusive, was 24.03 inches. The average precipitation for the same 
period was 8.43 inches. : 
The average wind velocity per hour durmg the months from April 
to July, inclusive, for the years 1909 to 1914, inclusive, was 6.6 miles. 
The average length of the frost-free period for the 33 years has 
been 119 days. The average date of the last killmg frost in the 
spring has been May 18 and of the first killing frost in the fall, Sep- 
tember 14. | 
The soil at the Williston substation on which the cereal varieties 
have been tested consists of a fine sandy loam. 
The varietal tests on plats have included 36 varieties and strains 
of spring wheat, 40 of oats, 27 of barley, and a few each of flax, 
emmer, spelt, rye, proso, and winter wheat. 
Spring wheats have given better results than winter wheats. 
Except in the dry years, 1910 and 1911, the durum wheats have 
produced higher yields than the common spring wheats. 
Kubanka durum wheat (C. I. No. 1440) gave the highest average 
yield of all of the spring wheats tested from 1908 to 1914, inclusive, 
29.9 bushels per acre. Power fife wheat (C. I. No. 3697) stood second 
for the same period, producing 28.6 bushels per acre. | 
The bluestem group has not yielded as well as the durums and 
fifes, and the average weight per bushel has also been lower. 
Rate-of-seeding tests with bluestem spring wheat have indicated 
that the highest yields are obtained from sowing 4 pecks to the acre. 
The average yields from winter wheat are lower than those from 
the spring wheats, for winter wheat frequently winterkills.. Sowing 
winter wheat in grain stubble or standing corn gives protection to 
the plants and reduces the loss from winterkilling. 
The best three varieties of oats for the seven years, 1908 to 1914, 
are Abundance, with an average yield of 66.4 bushels per acre; 
Lincoln, 65.9 bushels; and Siberian, 64.5 bushels. These are all 
midseason varieties. The late-maturing varieties, such as White 
Russian, and the very early varieties, Sixty-Day and Kherson, have 
yielded much less than the midseason varieties. 
Rate-of-seeding tests with Swedish Select oats indicate that the 
best yields are obtained by sowing from 4 to 6 pecks per acre. 
The 6-rowed group of ‘barley has yielded better than the 2-rowed 
group. The highest average yield for the seven years (1908 to 1914), 
