The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1911-04-05
Small Grains
for Montana,
BY Alfred Atkinson, Montana
Experiment Station.

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From the splendid conditions pres.
ent, it is evident that nature intended
Montana farmers to devote themselves
to the production of small grains. The
irrigated valleys have long been ia
nous for the high quality of the oats
and wheat, and the marked superiority
OF the barley produced. While we
may not have thought of the reasons
for this, a glance at conditions as we
find them indicates an ideal state for
the production of these crops. The
climatic conditions prevailing over
most of the state are such as to meet,
in an almost perfect way, the growth
demands of the small grains.
In the first place, the soils are rich,
having been leached by heavy
rainfall through the centuries past.
The days are bright and warm, with
many hours of strong sunshine. While
this condition is frequently overlooked.
yet strong, active growth demands sun
shine, and the records show a larger
number of hours OF sunshine during
the growth period in this state than in
most other communities. A third con.
dition, which is very favorable, is the
DOL nights which prevail through the
summer. This insures against too
rapid growth and the imperfect filing
of the kernels. All things considered,
indications point to the fact that the
state of Montana is as strictly and
peculiarly fitted for the production of
small grains as the section of the so
called Corn Belt" is fitted for the
production of that crop.
For the irrigated farmer, certain
kinds of grain have shown themselves
to be better adapted for profitable
growth than some of the other kinds.
While wheat is not SO largely grown
as oats and barley, yet we find farmers
in every community raising a certain
acreage of this crop each season. The
observations of farmers and the tests
made by the experiment station sug.
gest such varieties as the Spring Club
and the Stanley, which are two soft
white kinds, or tho Red Fife, which is
a hard bread making strain, as
amongst the good varities. While
there might be other varieties peculiar.
ly fitted to some of the localities, yet
we believe these are standard kinds.
The excellence of Montana's oats is
everywhere conceded and certain va.
rieties have come to be we'll known
through the State. Among these are
the Banner and Swedish Select va
rieties, which have shown themselves
to be of high quality and very profit
able in yielding ability. An interest.
ing feature regarding Montana grown
oats is the small percentage of hull
which they carry.
The average hull content of Amer.
lean grown oats is about 80 per cent,
while the average content of Montana
varieties is about Is per cent. This
means that there is five pounds less
of tndigestible hull material and five
pounds more of valuable kernel nate
rial in every hundred pounds of Mon
tana grown oats than there is in a
hundred pounds of the average oats
grown throughout the United States.
Turning to the barley crop, farmers
and others remember the splendid
showing which Montana barleys have
made in the expositions where they
have been exhibited. The two-rowed
barley is the highest yielder through
out the state, which is contrary to the
experience in many sections. Com
monty the six-rowed kind excels the
two-rowed in point of yield, but the
returns are very clearly the reverse
in this state. The New Zealand Chew.
alier, a strong two-rowed variety, is
about the best known and best yield
ing kind that has been introduced
and generally distributed over the
state. 1t came originally from New
Zealand and Is now rather widely
grown. For the irrigated farmer, who
desires to produce feed. the hulless
kinds. such as the Guy Maybe, are
worth consideration. While they have
no brewing value, they have a high
yield and a high feeding value.
The kinds of grain above men,
toned are commonly rather long sea-
Son kinds and are not SO we'll adapted
to the dry farm as to the irrigated
section. The dry farmer does we'll to
procure early maturing varieties. In
wheat, a macaroni variety, such as
the Kubanka, is strong growing and
early maturing. In oats, the Sixty
Day and Kherson kinds have shown
themselves to be superior to the long
err season varieties. In barley, hulless
varieties such as White Hulless or