32 BULLETIN 39, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
wheat. As uniform germination is essential for brewing and as 
varieties differ in the length of time required for germination, the best 
results are obtained from pedigreed selections. The danger of mix- 
ing in thrashing and other operations is great where varieties of dif- 
ferent groups are grown in the same locality: hence, it is desirable to 
confine the production of barley in a community to a single group or. 
better still, to a single variety. As the varieties of the different 
groups of barley do not succeed equally well in the different parts of 
South Dakota it is suggested that the State, so far as the production 
of barley is concerned, be divided into eastern, central, and western 
districts as follows: 
(1) Eastern district: That part of the State east of the James 
River. In this district 6-rowed varieties, such as Manchuria and 
Odessa, should be grown. 
(2) Central district: That part of the State between the James 
and Missouri Rivers. The 2-rowed varieties, Hannchen, Bohemian, 
and Kitzing, should be grown here. 
(3) Western district: That part of the State west of the Missouri 
River. As the crop can be fed to stock in this district to better ad- 
vantage than it can be marketed, little attention need be given to 
market requirements, but only the most drought-resistant varieties 
should be grown. These may be either 2-rowed or 6-rowed. 
The policy of developing separate producing areas has been ad- 
hered to during 1912 by the South Dakota station and the United 
States Department of Agriculture in the distribution of seed, and if 
the growers will realize the importance of this movement much good 
will be accomplished. By this means South Dakota barleys will be 
made pure and uniform in each district. The barley market will 
doubtless respond to this improvement and the South Dakota grower 
will reap the reward. 
So much work is in progress in various parts of the world in the 
breeding and improvement of barley that it is difficult to keep pace 
with the output of new varieties. For example, the Wisconsin Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station has recently distributed pedigreed 
strains of Manchuria barley. Without a test extending through sev- 
eral years it is impossible to say whether or not these Wisconsin 
selections are as well adapted to conditions in South Dakota as the 
varieties already tested. As soon as new varieties are obtained from 
the breeders they are placed in the tests at the station, and if any 
are found to be superior to the ones now recommended the informa- 
tion is readily available. It is not at all certain that a variety which 
has done well in Canada or Wisconsin will succeed in South Dakota. 
Experimenting on a large scale is expensive and hazardous, and such 
tests are best conducted by the State experiment station at public ex- 
pense. It is a safe policy for the South Dakota farmer to depend on 
