CEREAL INVESTIGATIONS ON THE BELLE FOURCHE FARM. 81 
worthy of consideration. In 1911 no yields were obtained from any 
of the varieties, because of the severe drought. 
In 1912 there was little water stored in the soil, but the precipita- 
tion during the growing season was fairly favorable. On account of 
the dryness of the soil at seeding time the drill was run rather deeper 
than usual. Just after seeding a heavy rain caused the soil to pack 
and crust, so that the germination was low. This, in addition to 
the lack of stored water, caused the low yields which were obtained. 
The midseason and late varieties yielded better than the early 
varieties, for the reason that they were benefited by a heavy rain 
which fell early in July, too late to be of material help to the early 
varieties. 
In 1913 the varietal test of oats-was grown on land which produced 
a crop of corn in 1912. In all previous years the oats were grown 
on soil which had been fallowed. The corn land was not plowed but 
was disked and harrowed to make a good seed bed. The rainfall 
conditions were about normal and fair yields were obtained. As in 
previous years the 
earlier varieties pro- YIELD PER ACRE. 
. (2) Ft 
duced the highest [@#7—— T 
: SUNT = DAV aa a 
yields. 
M/OS EASON. 
In 1907 two- plats CANADIAN. — ~~~ 
SWEO/SH SELECT. 
of Boswell Winter | 2472: 
oats, C. 1. No. 480, 
were sown. Only a Fic. 10.—Diagram showing the average yields per acre, in bushels, 
small percentage of of the leading varieties of oats at the Belle Fourche Experiment 
Farm, for six years, 1908 to 1913, inclusive. 
the plants survived 
the winter, but these tillered so freely that a yield of 28.5 bushels 
per acre was obtained. This variety was again sown in 1908 and 
1909, but winterkilled entirely each year. 
WHITE RUSSIAN. .- 
LEADING VARIETIES OF OATS. 
In Table XVII the average date of heading, date of ripening, weight 
per bushel, and yield per acre of grain and of straw are given for the 
five varieties which were grown during the entire period of six years. 
With the exception of the yield data, the averages are for five years 
(1908-1910, 1912, and 1913). The ares yields of grain are shown 
graphically in Houma 10. 
The five varieties which have been grown for the entire six years 
at Newell, in the order of their average yield, are the Sixty-Day, 
Kherson, Canadian, Swedish Select, and White Russian. The pure- 
line selection of Sixty-Day, C. I. No. 626, which was added to the 
test in 1910, has given an average yield 1.6 bushels higher than the 
unselected Sixty-Day for the four years from 1910 to 1913. 
The Sixty-Day and Kherson are very similar varieties, imported 
about 15 years ago from southern Russia. They are earlyin maturing, 
