The Dickinson press., 1911-04-08
AN IMPORTANT CROP
Not Only for Grain Produced, but
Also for Putting Land In Shape
and Checking Weeds.

By PROF. o. o. CHURCH1LL)
Barley IL becoming an important
crop In North Dakota not only for
the grain which 10 produced. but also
for its value AZ = crop to put the land
in good condition and keep the
weeds In check. When barley is
grown for these purposes 1t must be
given special culture and not grown
in the way that the grain crops are
usually produced. The adaptibility Of
barley to late seeding makes it Of
great value for this purpose. To get
the best returns from Z crop Of bar
ley, however. 1t IL necessary to give
good culture and to harvest the crop
a. the proper time. The way barley
Is ordinarily handled in North Dako-
IA. very low grade is produced and
good prices cannot be expected.
There Is usually a difference 9. from
ten to fifteen cents per bushel be-
tween the feed grades and mailing
grades of barley. and rs q general
thing barley produced In North Da-
kota does not sell higher than the
feed grades.
The greatest fault to be found at
the present time with barley produced
in North Dakota is the very poor
condition Of the grain caused by the
poor, careless method of harvesting.
Some Is harvested green, some is
harvested over-ripe and nearly all IL
allowed to stand in the field and be-
come badly weather stained. Such
barley cannot bring a high price on
the market. 1t should be harvested
when the berries ri turning yellow
and are In the hard dough stage.
This is ripper than most people allow
the grain to become before harvest
ing. 1t should be shocked in large
shocks and If 1t cannot be threshed
as soon as ready 1t should be stacked.
The extra labor required to stack
will be more than Offset by the bet
ter quality and the resulting higher
prices secured.
When barley Ia used as q crop to
clean the land from weeds and to i'm.
prove the soil condition. the ground
should be plowed either in the fall
or early In the spring and then har.
rowed frequently until the time Of
seeding. The seeding may safely be
delayed until the first to the middle
of June. This late seeding may de.
crease the crop to some extent, but
. satisfactory yield will usually DO
secured. Under no circumstances
should the field be allowed to 20
without narrowing frequently and all
the weeds .shoule be kept in check 30
that at the time the barley is seeded
there will be no weeds ready to make
q rapid growth. If this work is done
carefully and thoroughly the barley
crop will be practically free from
weeds.
Barley may be used either as a
horse or hog feed. For hogs 1t has
about the same feeding value as corn
and the gains made in weight will be
as economical as that produced by
corn. Any n In this state desiring
to grow hogs. finding that corn is not
a profitable crop. should grow barley
for the grain feed. Barley may be
mixed with a variety Of crops and
used as a pasture or soiling crop.
When grown in this way the same
results will be secured as Tar az
weeds are concerned as when the
land Is cultivated until late in the
season.
There are several types Of barley
In this stata. The sl1ereWed barley Is
the best and sells. tina hest on the
market. 1t is strong strawed and
NnhAanA cnllAnF INV rEcrEn