UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ee 
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 
WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 
Washington, D. C. it FESSIONAL PAPER October 31, 1918 
GRAIN-SORGHUM EXPERIMENTS IN THE 
PANHANDLE OF TEXAS. 
By CaRLeTon R. Batt, Cerealist in Charge, and Benton E. Roruces, Scientific 
Assistant in Charge of Grain-Sorghum and Broom-Corn Investigations, Office of Cereal 
Investigations. 
CONTENTS. 
Page Page 
In ELOMUCTION® treet cae et cee eee dee 1 | The grain sorghums—Continued. 
MhesPanhan dle 2.) ee es see etek es 2 Experimental conditions. ...-........... 20 
OCA TON eee eee Ee se een 2 Warietaliexpeniments=sss=- see eee 25 
Altitude and drainage. 2-2 .=2..---#-.---- A The milo-durra group....:.........-- 26 
Stor OS Stee 2 ae cae eee cree epee eerie Seg 4 Phe deiner OMp asses eee oe ee 53 
Climatielcondigionstes 2-505 2- ce eee 4 Theykaoliang eroups=_ 2 see eee eee eee 74 
Recent agricultural history. -..........--- 16 Mheshallw groupes. eee eee 86 
The cereal field stations-................- 16 Comparative yields of all the groups. 87 
Phe erain sonenums . 2420.62.02. -068 ston ie CONCIUSIONS = .200 8 ie Su ee a ee 89 ° 
Classiicationees seer eeen aeee ete eee. 17 
INTRODUCTION. 
The agricultural development of the district known as the Pan- 
handle of Texas is an interesting study. It is the story of four 
_successive stages—tree range, fenced range, attempts at grain farm- 
ing, and finally mixed farming. In this last stage stock raising is 
again the basis, and the chief crops are those that furnish feed. 
Chief of all such crops are the sorghums, especially the grain- 
producing varieties. 
The whole history of the grain sorghums has been a history of 
their ecology. Any experimental study of these crops must be a 
study of their response to environing conditions. The southern half 
of the Great Plains area, which properly may be called the grain- 
sorghum belt, is a section where crop production is governed almost 
entirely by the quantity and distribution of the annual precipitation. 
The sorghums are able to produce under conditions of less moisture 
and its more uneven distribution than are other crops; hence their 
extensive use. An understanding of how the different groups and 
varieties respond to the varying seasonal conditions is necessary to 
_a further increase in their usefulness. To show this response, it is 
necessary to present climatic data much more completely than is 
56086°—18—Bull. 698——1 
