The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-02-11

sAsh~N "a NAA~ NS~ ~ '~S~~SA
both in regard to the entire crop and
in regard to grain produced. The
White Hulless is quite ~extravagant in
the use Of water, relatively speaking
should be made for .tf1a
presence of hulls3 on the Hannchen
barley but even when this is done, the
Hannchen barley is found to have a
water requirement Of something like
800 less than that of the huIless bar
ley. Some stations have made a claim
OF advantage for the hulIess barleys
as grains for dry lands, but these fig
ures do not support the claim. At the
Dickinson station, as The Dakota
has been our best yielding barley and
the hulless barleys have been our low
yielding ones. This concordance
OF results is certainly gratifying. The
water requirement for Hannchen bar
l. is intermediate between kubanka
wheat and Sixty Day oats.
Corn.
Three varieties Of corn were tried,
one a Mexican variety. The North
Dent had a water require
ment Of 36S for the entire crop. The
Iowa silvermine had a water require
mont of 400 for the entire o being
higher than the North
western Dent. The water require
ment for the Kubanka wheat is 27 per
cent more than that for Northwestern
Dent and that for oats is still higher.
1t Is seen that corn Is economical in
its use Of water, a thing Of course
which has been tn1Ggably well known.
S%orahums.
Five varieties of sorghums were
tried but the results with these were
not OF such great interest to north
ern people. Suffice it to say that they
were found to be very economical in
the use of water, even more than
corn. Dwarf Milo required but 1913
parts Of water to produce one part
OF dry crop. The Brown Kaoliang
had a. water requirement OF only 725
for the grain crop. The best sorg-
OF the water required by kubanka
wheat. for the production Of either
grain or entire crop. q.
MiIIet.
Millet had the lowest water require
ment Of any Of the plants under eX-
pertinent. This Is a fact OF consider
able importance. Based on the entire
crop, the water requirement Of the
varieties tested amounted to only 27J.
The water requirements for the entire
crop of spring rye is 725. If the two
are grown for hay one sees at a glance
the difference in water economy
From the figures given, one could
pect to get more than two and q half
times as much hay from a millet field
as from a rye field with the Same
amount of water to draw upon. Tho
water requirements of the grain OF the
Kursk millet was 1928 or % per cent
less thar the water requirements Of
kubanka wheat.
Alfalfa.
Three cuttings were made Of the
Grimm alfalfa and the water require
ments Of the scveral cuttings were as
follows:
Cuttings. Water requirement.
First crop, cut July 10 $500. zoos a.
Second crop, cut Sept. 49,. 1854
Third crop, u Oct. % go. $40
The three crops ............ 1858
The most water required is at the
might be expected. The third crop was
with a comparatively small
amount of water. Alfalfa is seen not
to be very economical of water which
is something not entirely new. From
the above facts alone. n would hest
tate in recommending it as a crop for
conditions. and these rca-
sons arc no doubt sufficient for. many
dry areas. But there are some facts
which should be remembered. espe-.
cially for tho northern Great Plains.
area and I will touch upon them. ~.
In the first place one can be almost
certain Of harvesting one alfalfa crop
for it is pretty sure to come to the.
cutting period before any disastrous
storms occur. Again it is a perennial
plant and many times, h moisture
conditions are such that growth occurs
when growth Is not possible with
many of the other crops, g. &. late in
the fail or early in the spring. In
times Of stress, alfalfa merely laws
.-SsJ A ~ a--1W 80 snf~R-
enables it to come forward with vigor-
Gus growth. This ability to lie dor
mant Is much in it's favor.
The root development of alfalfa is
another thing to be said in favor of
the plant. 1t can draw moisture from
sources unavailable to other plants, If
proper precautions are used in eStab-
fishing the stand of alfalfa. ",
There is another thing in regard to
alfalfa that seems to me is of great
Importance. Mention was made OF
the comparatively high water require
ment Of the plants rich in protein.
Now protein is the substance that.
puts the milk in the milk pail and
puts flesh onto growing animals.
Foods containing much protein are
expensive. -a.
Oats Is the richest cereal in protein
that we have though the presence OF
the ,hulls masks this fact. The pro-
tein in oats is easily digested. Let
us compare the amounts Of digesti-
BILE protein obtained per acre from
the grain of oats and from alfalfa hay,
based upon the water requirements
Of the two plants. e.
It would take 9.75 acre-inches OF
water (inches of rainfaIl) to grow a
50-bushel crop (1,600 pounds) of Sixty
Day oats with a grain water require
ment OF 1880 which is that Of sixty,
day oats. If the same amount of
water, 9.75 acre-inches. were used in
the growth Of alfalfa, there would be
secured 2,072 pounds of dry alfalfa.
Now the grain of oats has a protein
content Of 1873 per cent and alfalfa
hay has a protein content Of 1916 per.
cent. Then 9.75 acre-inches Of water
would produce 220.S pounds Of protein
per acre in oats and 1892 pounds Of
protein per acre in alfalfa. In South
Dakota bulletin ia we find that sheep
digested 85.5 per cent Of the protein
IT'S per cent Of the protein Of alfalfa
hay. working out the problem, we
find that with equal amounts Of rain
fall, Sixty Day oats produces 1883
pounds of digestible protein per acre
while alfalfa produces 251.4 pounds
per acre, a balance in favor Of alfalfa
Of nearly 50 pounds. This is certainly
a very considerable amount.
= Protein isva necessary element in ali,
foods for it goes to build the sinew
and the lean meat. For many purpos--
es it is not found abundant enough In,
such feeds as corn or millet and must
be added to the ration in a more coma
eentrated form and it Is in alfalfa that