Montana farmer-stockman. [volume], May 01, 1954, Image 1

About Montana farmer-stockman. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1947-1993

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
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May 1, 1954
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ßj ERHARDT R. HEHN
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Variety tests in Montana indicate that corn production
can average 75 bushels of grain or 14 tons of silage on irri
gated land, 25 bushels of grain or 4.5 tons of silage on dry
land.
I N MONTANA, through the cooperation
many people, a gratifying amount of corn
of
improvement work is being conducted by
the Montana Agricultural Experiment Sta
tions. Corn improvement reports are pre
pared annually and can be obtained from
your county agent or any one of the experi
ment stations.
Most hybrid corn varieties are the result
of controlled crossing of four inbred lines.
Anyone having in his possession even as
few as six inbred lines could produce 30 dif
ferent varieties. This is good in that it per
mits the tailoring of corn varieties to very
specific growing conditions, but at the same
time it necessitates a large variety testing
program.
In the graph below are shown the 1953
grain yields of a few of the many varieties
tested on dryland and under irrigation at
the Huntley Branch Station, Huntley, and
the Eastern Branch Station, Sidney. A study
of this graph will show a similarity in per
formance of most varieties under irrigation
at the two stations. However, three vari
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COVERS MONTANA AND NORTHERN WYOMING
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eties were markedly superior at Huntley.
Under very favorable moisture conditions
the dryland yield differences between va
rieties at Sidney were small. Because of ex
tremely droughty conditions at Huntley the
mean yield of the dryland nursery was only
3.6 bushels per acre, but the range was from
7.5 to 0.1 bushels. The early varieties had a
definite advantage because they were able
to escape partly July and August drought.
We can see that in 1953 some varieties
definitely did relatively better under one set
of conditions than under another. The ques
tion now is how often in succeeding years
will these varieties perform in the same
manner? Of course, only carefully meas
ured yields over a period of years will pro
vide the answer.
Variety tests have been grown at the
Huntley Branch Station for more than 10
years. The average grain yield under irri
gation has been over 75 bushels per acre.
The yield on dryland following fallow has
been 25 bushels per acre. During the last
three years
(Please turn to page 17)
IRRIGATED {
HUNTLEY
SIDNEY
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VARIETIES