UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
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BULLETIN No. 268 
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 
WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 
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Washington, D. C. 
July 20, 1915. 
CROP PRODUCTION IN THE GREAT PLAINS AREA 
RELATION OF CULTURAL METHODS TO YIELDS. 
By E. C. Chilcott, Agriculturist in Charge, and J. S. Cole and W. W. Burr, 
Assistants, Office of Dry-Land Agriculture. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Introduction 1 
Climatic features of the Great Plains 3 
Soils of the Great Plains - 5 
Crops and cultural methods 5 
Results of methods tested with various crops. 5 
Page. 
Tillage practices 21 
Accessory tillage 24 
Regional adaptation of crops 26 
Conclusions 27 
INTRODUCTION. 
This bulletin presents a summary of data obtained relative to the 
effect of cultural methods upon crop production in the Great Plains 
area. Six department bulletins have recently been published by 
the Office of Dry-Land Agriculture, dealing largely with this subject. 
In these are treated separately the effect of cultural methods upon 
the production of spring wheat, of oats, of corn, of barley, and of 
corn, milo, and kafir, and one deals with the effects of the time of 
plowing. The experimental results are presented in these bulletins in 
much greater detail than is possible in the present bulletin, and the 
reader is referred to them for the details of these investigations. 1 
The investigations upon which these conclusions are based were 
conducted at 14 field stations, located at Moccasin and Huntley, 
Mont. ; Williston, Dickinson, Hettinger, and Edgeley, N. Dak. ; Belle 
Fourche, S. Dak.; North Platte and Scottsbluff, Nebr.; Akron, Colo.; 
Hays and Garden City, Kans. ; and Amarillo and Dalhart, Tex. 
1 See bulletins of the United States Department of Agriculture bearing numbers and titles as follows: 
No. 214, "Spring wheat in the Great Plains area: Relation of cultural methods to production." No. 218, 
"Oats in the Great Plains area: Relation of cultural methods to production." No. 219, "Corn in the Great 
Plains area: Relation of cultural methods to production." No. 222, "Barley in the Great Plains area: 
Relation of cultural methods to production. " No. 242, " Cora, milo, and kafir in the southern Great Plains 
area: Relation of cultural methods to production." No. 253, "The effect of different times of plowing 
small-grain stubble in eastern Colorado." 
Note.— This bulletin is intended for all who are interested in the agricultural possibilities of the Great 
Plains area. 
90012°— Bull. 20S— 15 1 
