American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1915-11-25
OUR EXPERIMENT FARM.

The editor of the Press has an experiment farm.
1t is not a demonstration farm, although it may
demonstrate something, and that may be that woe
is unto him who seeds his wheat too late, so that it
sprouts but does not reach the surface before freeZ-
ing weather gets on the job. 1t is not a very big farm
and contains nothing but wheat, and not much of
that. 1t was established for the purpose of demon
s~trating that poor seed is not as good as good seed.
If results prove that good seed is the best, then the
farm will be a demonstration farm. If not, it will
still be an experiment farm. Like some others, we
wanted to do something and didn't know how. And
like still more others, we went ahead and did what
we thought was proper and right, and then made
inquiries to find whether it was or not. And we
found out that we had not done it the right way,
and would have to r%echristen our experiment
There has been much yellow berry in Turkey Red
wheat this year. Perhaps some of the farmers and
grain buyers have noticed it. The experiment was
undertaken to prove-we believed it would prove
that like produces like. And that yellow berries
planted would produce yellow berries at harvest;
and that red berries would produce red berries. If
it worked out this way, there would have been an
exhibit at the fair next year that would have been
an object lesson.
But a sad mistake was made, and this experiment
is likely to be spoiled as a result. That accounts for
the rechristening. The plot where this seed was
planted was heavily MANFRED; and manure is nitro
gen in available form; and yellow berries treated
with nitrogen, if they are not too yellow, or seeded
in soil containing sufficient nitrogen, will produce
berries of a red color, according to exhaustive dem
onstratiOns that have been made. Hence our yellow
berries, if they escape the rigors of winter, stand a
fair chance of producing red berries.
But the good seed was also planted in MANFRED
soil, and the experiment may prove that the good,
red berries will produce larger grains and more of
them than their off-colored brethren. If so, the
experiment will not have been in vain, and the
Press will have an exhibit anyway, only the label
we had figured on will have to be changed.
Yellow berries are inferior for milling, and in
sufficient numbers, will beat down the price of
grain. Millers will not be after it as they have
been this year. The result will be that prices will
fall. Yellow berries can be prevented. They are
produced by two causes-the exhaustion of nitro
gen, and possibly by too early seeding. Farmers
are requested to observe whether yellow berries are
more common in early seeding than in late. lnqui-
ries so far seem to indicate that such is the case.
This suggests one means of prevention. The other
is to replace the nitrogen that continuous wheat
growing has taken from the soil. Summer-fallowing
will greatly help if not entirely restore the needed
nitrogen. Alfalfa, clover, peas and beans will sup
ply it; and manure will supply it. This experiment
farm of ours is for the purpose of making these
demonstrations, but we invite the cooperation of
all farmers. The Press will appreciate it, and all
the wheat growers of the county will benefit, if only
a few farmers in the county observe the effects of
early and late seeding in the production of yellow
berries, and whether summer fallowed land is more
free from them than land that is not fallowed; and
also the results following the use of manure or the
growing of legumes. The cooperation of farmers
is invited.