Gleanings from the Annual Report By
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BIMONTHLY BULLETIN VOLUME VI, NUMBER 3, JAN. 1944 13 Gleanings from the Annual Report By H, L. WALSTER, Director ACH YEAR the Director of the Station renders an annual report to the Governor of the State and to the E Secretary of the Treasury of the United States covering both the fiscal and scientific happenings of the previous experimental year. This year the director has set up a set of questions and of the answers obtained either during the year or arrived at during the year as result, perhaps, of several years experimentation. A series of these questions and answers will be printed in succeeding issues of the Bimonthly Bulletin. Because of the immediate interest in different aspects of crop problems this issue is confined to recent information on such problems. How much foundation seed did by North Dakota farmers in 1943 the Station distribute directly under contract with the Station? from the Stations in 1943? Stewart durum—18000 bushels Carleton durum—6000 bushels North Dakota seed producers Ns 2829 wheat—15000 bushels interested in getting and main- B. Golden flax—2000 bushels taining pure stocks of seed were Koto flax—3000 bushels supplied with the following Renew flax—750 bushels quantities of seed of the variety B 5128 flax—750 bushels or selection designated: B 5585 (Victory) flax— Hard Red Spring Wheat 225 bushels Pilot 13 wheat—53 bushels C. 1.1073 flax—80 bushels Rival wheat—5 bushels WHEAT QUESTIONS Durum wheats (supplied by Far- What lies ahead in durum breed- go and Langdon Stations) ing? Stewart—1161 bushels Through the splendid coopera- Carleton—402 bushels tion afforded by the Division of Oats Cereal Crops and Diseases of the Marion—217 bushels Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, Barley and Agricultural Engineering, Tregal—390 bushels Agricultural Research Adminis- tration, United States Depart- Flax ment of Agriculture, in assign- Koto—169 bu. (under contract) ing Mr. Glenn S. Smith, assistant Renew—45 bu. " agronomist, to this Station as a B5128—27V2 bu. " cooperator in charge of durum B 5585 (Victory) breeding two new varieties of 16 bu. durum, named Carleton and About how much choice seed Stewart have been developed of new varieties was produced and distributed by this Station— 14 NORTH DAKOTA AGRICULTURAL, EXPERIMENT STATION the first hybrid durum wheats (Data supplied by T. E. Stoa, to be grown commercially in the Agronomist) United States. How much does phosphate fer- Glenn S. Smith, breeder of tilizer help? Carleton, a stiff-strawed durum, and of Stewart, a somewhat In four years trials at the higher yielding durum has now Langdon Substation under the set his eyes on a new goal in supervision of Superintendent durum breeding, namely the pro- Victor Sturlaugson, wheat on un- duction of earlier varieties with fertilized plots has returned an shorter straw. Hybrid material average annual yield of 23.9 of this character is now being bushels per acre; a 0 - 43 - 0 grown in Station greenhouses. phosphate fertilizer application Progress is also being made in made an average yield of 26.2 selecting a strain of durum bushels per acre; a 6 - 30 - 0 ap- promising resistance to the black plication of ammonium phos- point disease. phate fertilizer made 28.0 bush- els to the acre, and a 10-48-0 Is the gluten or the starch in a granulated ammonium phos- wheaten flour the more import- phate fertilizer made 29.3 bush- ant in determining the length els to the acre. All these fertiliz- of time that a flour dough ers were applied at th'e rate of 50 should be machine mixed? pounds per acre. In 1943 a straight phosphate fertilizer 0-43-0 As a result of studies in which failed to increase yields as it had the mixing performance of flour done in the previous three years, doughs has been tested in a re- whereas the ammonium phos- cording dough mixer, R. H. Har- phate increased yields. Such dis- ris, Cereal Technologist, finds cordant results are not unusual that the gluten is the factor of in fertilizer trials, hence the ne- chief consequence. He now pro- cessity for continuing them over poses to discover what particular a long period of years in order part of the gluten is responsible to secure dependable results. for this behavior. How much greater wheat yields What may one expect from con- may we expect from growing tinuous wheat cropping on the wheat in rotation than under Fargo clay at Fargo? continuous culture on the Fargo clay soil? As an average of the period 1919 to 1942 inclusive continuous In the period 1919 - 1942 in- wheat sowed in 6-inch drills on clusive, wheat after sweet clover unmanured land returned an av- returned average annual yields erage annual yield of 16.0 bush- of 23.9 bushels per acre in the els per acre of hard red spring rotation corn, barley, sweet clov- wheat. When sowed in 12-inch er, wheat. When field peas were drills and given some annual in- used in place of sweet clover in ter-tilling but no manure the av- a similar rotation the average erage annual vield for the same annual yield was 23.2 bushels period was 17.3 bushels. In 1943. per acre but when millet or tim- the 6-inch drills returned 20.3 othy was substituted the average bushels per acre, and the 12-inch annual yields dropped to 16.5 drills 17.7 bushels per acre. bushels per acre, only insignifi- BIMONTHLY BULLETIN VOLUME VI, NUMBER 3, JAN. 1944 15 cantly better than under contin- cooperation with the Walsh uous culture. In the same period County Agricultural School at wheat after winter rye in the Park River 8 varieties and selec- four year rotation corn, winter tions of hard red spring wheats rye, wheat, sweet clover re- and 3 Durum wheats were turned average annual yields of tested at that point. 20.9 bushels per acre. All of the In general, the comparison of foregoing yields were in unman- varieties as to yield and disease ured rotations. resistance, observations were similar in 1943 to those in 1942 What causes "black point" on hence there will be no detailed wheat kernels? discussion in this report. In the "Black points" on wheat ker- trials at Fargo selection Ns 2829 nels are most often associated led all hard red spring wheats, with the fungus, Alternaria spp. and in the trials at Langdon all according to W. E. Brentzel, sta- varieties of hard spring wheat tion plant pathologist. Other fun- were high yielders with little gi and bacteria may also cause difference, except a significantly this trouble. In 1942 Brentzel lower yield of Marquis wheat. found much black point caused The differences in yield at by Helminthosporium sativum as Edgeley and Dickinson were not well as by Alternaria. Seed dis- of a high order and the same can infectants such as Ceresan quite be said of Williston. There were regularly increased the yield of large differences between varie- grain from black point-infected ties at Park River, Regent being seed. notably low. There was some leaf rust What did the Station learn about on varieties in the eastern wheat varieties in 1943? part of the State in 1943, and the The Station tested 22 varieties black chaff disease was generally and hybrid selections of hard red rather common, as were also cer- spring wheat at Fargo in 1943, tain areas where blight and scab and 8 varieties and selections of infection were common. The Durum wheats. 15 hard red reader is referred to report on spring wheats were tested at wheats published in the Bi- Langdon, and since Langdon is monthly Bulletin of this Station, in the principle Durum area it January, 1943, article on "Pro- tested 12 varieties and hybrid gress in Improvement of Wheat selections of Durum wheat. The Varieties for North Dakota." Edgeley station tested 12 varie- Reprints will be sent to inter- ties and selections of spring ested inquirers. wheat and 3 varieties and selec- tions of Durum. The Dickinson What is the effect of advancing station, a western station, tested maturity upon the moisture con- 26 varieties and selections of tent of a hard red spring wheat hard red spring wheat and 3 (Thatcher), and of an amber du- varieties of Durum wheat. The rum (Carleton) and correspond- Williston station (Upland) tested ingly upon test weight per bush- 11 varieties of hard red spring el, unofficial grade, and other wheat and no Durum. The Het- characteristics? tinger station tested 9 varietiesj Samples of Thatcher wheat of hard red spring wheats. Inl harvested and threshed out July 16 NORTH DAKOTA AGRICULTURAL, EXPERIMENT STATION 16, 20, 27, and August 2, con- FEED CROP QUESTIONS tained 69%, 59.8%, 47.7% and How does the Agronomy depart- 24.7% moisture at these respec- ment at the Experiment Station tive dates; weighed 42.8 lbs., 54.3 rate the different varieties of lbs., 60.9 lbs., and 62.1 lbs., to the oats with respect to percent of bushel at these respective date, crown rust under conditions at were rated as to unofficial grade Fargo, where rust was severe? Sample grade Red Spring; No. 4 Northern Spring; No. 1 Hard Crown rust (a leaf rust) in- Dark Northern Spring; and No. fection on oats ranged from as 1 Hard Dark Northern Spring at little as 3 percent on the highly these respective dates. On July crown rust resistant varieties 16, Thatcher wheat contained such as Vicland and Boone to as 14.3% protein, on July 20 13.6%; hieh as 95 percent on Gopher, on July 27, 13.4%, on August 2, Exeter, and Victory, according 14.3% protein.