The Ordway new era., 1912-04-26
BARLEY ON DRY FARM
Success as Crop in Recent Years
Attracts Attention.
No Single Variety, Either Spring or
Winter, Seems Adapted to Entire
semI-Arid Reoions-YIeld De-
pends Upon Seeds.

tBy II. B. DERR. Agronomist. United
States Department OF Agriculture.)
Barley has generally not been con
sidered a dry land crop. but its sue
cess In the western states during the
past few years has attracted attention
to Its possibilities for that purpose. In
the northern Great Plains and Rocky
Mountain states. where corn Is an un-
certain crop. barley will furnish an
excellent feed for all kinds of farm
animals. This fact has already given
an impetus to the growing of live
stock. especially hogs. throughout the
northwest. In the Rocky Mountain
and Pacific Coast states hooded. or
beardless. barley has long been grown
for hay. OF which Is furnished an ex-
cellent and highly palatable crop. near
ly equal to alfalfa in feeding value.
In Utah, Idaho. eastern Colorado.
Kansas. Nebraska. Oklahoma and Tex
as farmers are beginning to realize
the advantages Of winter barley over
spring sown barley as a grain crop.
Winter barley. being fall sown. has
the advantage of an early start in
the spring and will frequently produce
crop where spring sown barley may
fail. At present there are but two
forms Of winter barley grown in the
west. the square-head Tennessee win
ter and the round.head Utah winter.
The office of grain Investigations. bu.
reau Of plant industry. department OF
agriculture. has developed a number
OF other winter forms which were dis
tributed In 1911. and results will be
watched with interest.
No single variety. either spring or
winter. seems to be adapted to the
entire semi-arid region. Among the
winter forms. Tennessee winter,
bearded six-rowed barley. has SO far.
given best results. and Hannchen. a
bearded two-rowed spring barley leads
In yield In the Dakotas. Among the
six-rowed spring forms. Manchuria.
Gatami and Odessa are the best.
Among the hulless varieties Himalaya
Guy Mayle) Black Hulless and Ne
paul (White hulless) give the best re-
suits.
With the exception Of sandy and
very alkaline land. barley can be
grown, on a variety OF soils. but the
best results are generally secured on
the prairie or alluv1al loan soils. Bar
ley Is more certain crop on alkaline
soils than is either wheat or oats.
The crop requires mellow seed
bed. II the land is plowed It should
be Immediately narrowed to conserve
the moisture. In many localities best
results are obtained when the land Is
fall plowed and left rough until spring
and then disked and narrowed. Where
there is a tendency to blowing OF the
soil. granular soil Is preferable to the
dust mulch generally advised.
The yield and quality Of barley are
considerably Influenced by the kind Of
seed sown. The seed should be thor.
oughly cleaned and graded before SOW
ing. Large. plump seed will produce
strong plants which. in the struggle
for existence that always follows seed
ing dry land crops. will be more likely
to survive than will plants produced
from small, shrunken seeds.
The tanning mill should be found on
every farm. but when not available,
a simple yet highly effective method
for cleaning and grading the seed Is
to immerse 1t In a tub Of water and
stir thoroughly. All the light. chaffy
and diseased grains. as well as the
larger portion Of wild oats and other
weed seeds. will come to the surface
and can be SKINNED of and burned.
If the seed was smutted. adding form
alin at the rate Of one pound to 40
gallons of water will be found effec-
tive In preventing its further propa-
cation.
Numerous trials conducted through.
out the dry land area have demon.
strated the advisability Of drilling the
seed. This insures a more uniform
rate and depth Of seeding. II sown
broadcast and narrowed in 1t Is COW
cred at various depths or not at all,
and consequently there is lack of uni
formity in termination and survival
that generally affects the growth and
yield. In a four years trial in Me-
braska the yield of barley was in.
creased more than seven bushels Der
acre by using press drill instead of
seeding broadcast
Esparto Grass.