Agricultural Research in South Dakota
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c>0 'ERIMENT STATION uth Dakota State College tgriculture &Mechanic Arts tOOKINGS, SOUTH DAKOTA Letter of Transmittal Dean A. M. Eberle Division of Agriculture South Dakota State College Dear Dean Eberle: The sixty-third annual report of the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station is herewith presented for the fiscal year endingJune 30, 1950. Whileit pre sentsa report of progress of the Station'sresearch activities during the year, it differs slightly from former annual reports. The first 100 pages of this report comprise the year's quarterly issues of the South Dakota Farm and Home Research, which were mailed to the farmers and homemakers of thestate upon request. Subsequent pages set forth a brief report of the research activitieswhich have not been discussed in the first four issues of the Quarterly. Increased state funds made available for research by the State Legislature have enabled the Station to increase and strengthen itsscientific staff, acquire needed labo ratory facilities and tootherwise improve itsphysical plant at both theState College Station and the substations throughout the state. Through the cooperation of the Bureau of Reclamation, additional research in irrigation agriculture is carried on at the two Reclamation development farms near ffuron and Redfield. This research is conducted to secure the essential facts with respect to irrigation requirements and practices prior to the building of the irrigation structures by the Bureau of Rec lamation. During the year some of the research investigations have been completed and work has been started in eight new fields. Results of the completed research have been set forth in the various publications of the Station and in seventeen scientific articles submitted to technical journals. As in previous years. Field Days have been heldat both the main Station and at the substations. This year these field activities have been exceptionally well attended, andtheinterest shown by thefarm andranch operators of the state has been a real inspiration to the members of the Station staff, spurring them on to still greater achievementsfor the future. Respectfullysubmitted. Director, Experiment Station Agricultural Research in South Dakota Sixty-third Annual Report July 1, 1949, to June 30, 1950 South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station I. B. Johnson, Director SOUTH DAKOTA STATE COLLEGE of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts Brookings, South Dakota Index of Contents AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY 104 Barley Varieties, Protein Content 104 Corn Plants, Chemical Composition 127 Hard Water, Household, Farm, Dairy Use 106 Minerals and Trace Elements in Feeds and Water 106 CROP DISEASES AND INSECTS 107 Corn Borer Control 62 Corn, Root Rot 111 Grasshoppers, 1950 ' 57 Lic]uid Seed Treatment 25 Potato Diseases 109 Tomatoes, Foliage Diseases :..... 109 Wheat Mosaic 110 CROPS, FIELD 101 Birdsfoot Trefoil 103 Corn Hybrid, S. Dak. 270 102 Corn Hybrids Tested 102 Grass Strains Tested __ 103 Legumes 103 Oats, James Hulless 49 Sorghums, Grain 103 Sorghum, Norghum 1 Soybeans .. 104 Sweetclover 103 CROPS, HORTICULTURAL Apples ..... Fruit Plants, Testing Fruit Varieties Strawberries, Vitamin C Sweet Corn Tomatoes 55 Vegetable Yields and Quality 107 dairy 120 Dairy Cattle Breeding 121 Dairy Calf Feeding 12 Manufacturing Cottage Cheese 121 Milking Machine Sanitation 120 Winter Housing 120 FARM ECONOMICS AND COMMUNITY WELFARE Belle Fourche Irrigation Project Egg Marketing Losses Farm Income Improving the Crop-Share Lease Irrigation, Changes in Methods of Farming Irrigation, Market Potentials Land Price Movements Marketing, Dairy Products Marketing, Feeder Cattle — Marketing, Slaughter Lambs Overproduction Threatens Farm Income School Reorganization Transferring the Farm FARM ENGINEERING Farm Building Materials Farm Electrification Harvest and Threshing Machinery .. Methods of Water Application Septic Tanks Sprinkler Irrigation Steel Fence Posts HOME ECONOMICS .. 133 Deep Freeze or Locker Plant Meat —- 29 Food Habits of Women Over 30 134 Frozen Fruits and Vegetables 32 Measuring Heat Transfer of Wool Materials — 134 Serviceability of Fabrics, Wool 133 LIVESTOCK 112 Breeding, Beef Cattle 112 Breeding, No-Tail Sheep 116 Breeding, Swine 5 Comparing Spring, Summer, and Fall Farrowed Pigs 119 Feeding, Norghum Sorghum and Feebar Barley for Pigs 117 Feeding Thyro-Protein to Lactating Ewes _____ 115 Feeding Ewe Lambs 115 Feeds, Urea Fortified 116 Feedlot Fattening of Lambs 116 Harvesting Prairie Hay for Greater Feeding Value 88 Hay and Concentrate Rations for Wintering Bred Ewes 114 Joint Use of Range by Cattle, Sheep and Antelope 114 Lamb Feeding, Colbalt 18 Lamb Feeding, Norghum 40 Lamb Feeding, Stilbestrol 77 Roughage and Pasture for Fattening Steers 112 Sagebrush as a Feed for Sheep 117 Summer Grazing Rates and Systems of Wintering BeefCattle 113 Swine Production, Irrigated Areas 118 LIVESTOCK DISEASES, PARASITES, POISONING 124 Cattle Grubs — 43 Cornstalk Poisoning 127 Insects, Mites and Ticks 125 Newcastle Disease 66 Nitrate Poisoning 3 Selenium Poisoning 126 Sheep Parasite Control 124 Sporadic Bovine Encephalitis 124 POULTRY 122 Chickens, Effects of Inbreeding 122 Dubbed Hens 52 Poultry Rations. Relative Values of Common Crop Varieties 122 Selenium Poisoning in Poultry 123 Turkey Eggs, Hatchability 123 Turkeys, Feeding Grain and Proso Millet 123 SHELTERBELTS 108 Cottonwoods 75 Hybrid Elms 108 Ponderosa Pine 69 SOILS 101 Soil Management Practices, Cottonwood 102 Soil Management Practices in a Dry Year 101 Irrigation, Redfield Soil Studies 34 Soil Sampling 15 Soil Survey, Spink County — 92 SUBSTATIONS Cottonwood, Range Field Station 7, 80, 88, 102 Highmore, Central Station 7, 88 Eureka, North Central Station 52, 88,122, 123 Newell Station 114, 115, 116, 118 Antelope Range 114, 125 WEED CONTROL 46 MISCELLANEOUS Publications 135 Journal Articles by Staff Members 135 Experiment Station Staff 137 Financial Statement 139 f 0 A foundation field of Norghum, an early grain sorghum. By C. J. Franzke Other grain sorghum varieties now grown in South Dakota have been an early combine grain sorghum, was brought up from southern states and developed by the Agricultural Experi have not been adapted to our shorter ment Station to meet the needs of growing season. These varieties are South Dakota farmers and ranchers too late in maturing and the crop is for a stable feed supply. As its name killed by frost before the grain ripens. implies,it is a sorghum for the north, and is adapted to all parts of South Later maturing varieties dry out slow Dakota. ly and spoileasily when put into stor age. Also, if the immature crop isleft Matures Early standingin thefield tocure, the stalks Norghum gets ripe beforefrost and break over making combining diffi can he harvested by mid-September. cult. In the past,sorghum has proved to be about as hazardous a crop to turing sorghum for South Dakota grow as corn. since 1930. Norghum isa crossof three different sorghums. Dwarf Feterita, Drought Resistant Dwarf Freed and Yellow Kafir. The Norghum fills the gap in feed seeds, which are medium in size and grains where corn is a hazardous crop reddish brown, germinate rapidly and due to drought and grasshoppers. at a low temperature. This is very im portant, especially in the northern Where corn failed in South Dakota this year, nearhy fields of Norghum states where it may be necessary to flourished and produced excellent plant early and under unfavorable growing conditions. crops. As a feed for livestock, it is almost equal to corn in the amount of nutri Rate of Planting tive value it supplies, 100 pounds of Norghum should be planted in grain sorghum being equal to 95 rows at the rate of 2^^ to 4 pounds of pounds of corn. seed to an acre. The lighter rate of seeding should be made in the drier Stands Up Well areas of South Dakota. Mature plants of Norghum stand Norghum will produce well on all longer and resist lodging better than soilssuited for general agriculture, but Sooner Milo or Early Kalo. Norghum thrives best in a rich, warm sandy grows to a height of 36 to 46 inches. loam soil, well supplied with organic The seed cluster is'long and open matter. A water logged soil will not which allows for thorough drying of grow a satisfactory grain crop. Heavy the seed and is better than other more types of soil that warm slowly in the compact types,such as Sooner Milo or spring and bake easily are lesssatisfac Midland, which often mold. Also, the tory than are the lighter soil types. seed head grows well above the foli However, these heavy soilsare usually age, making it easier to harvest by rich and will produce a high yield of grain combine. grain if properly handled. Soils that will not produce a crop of wheat sel Yields Are High dom produce a profitable crop of sor Yields of Norghum are consider ghum grain. Norghum, like other sor ably higher than other grain sor ghums, is more resistant to alkali soils ghumswhich were tested throughout than most other grain crops, but can the state. Tests at three locations give not tolerate excessive quantities. a 3-year average of 47.7 bushels an About 1600 acresof Norghum were acre for Norghum, as compared to grown by the County Crop Improve 26.2 for Sooner Milo, its nearest rival, ment Associations in the spring of and 29.2bushels an acre for Rancher, a 1949. forage sorghum. Norghum is the answer to the de mand for a dependable grain which Result of Years of Cross-Breeding will produce a crop on dry land dur Agronomistshave been working on ing hot summer months. (Project 61, the developmentof a hardy, early ma Agronomy Department.) Poisoning By E. I. Whitehead and A. L. Moxon LossesInvestigated While investigating previous cattle losses in Sully, Potter, and Walworth counties, samples of cornstalks from SUDDEN DEATH may strike cattle and 12 fields in which cattle losses had oc sheep in South Dakota this fall un curred were taken for analyses.About less proper precautions are taken.