New Mexico Winter 1 was selected to fill a specific need. It is grown on the irrigated lands of southern New Mexico, where winter oats, spring oats, or spring barley are not quite hardy enough when fall sown, or do not yield sufficient grain.

Hooded winter barleys, although not suited for combine harvesting, are commonly grown in the mid-South. This is a preferred type of barley where the crop is to be used for hay. Rough-awned varieties are especially undesirable for this use as the awns cause sores in the mouths of the stock. Hooded varieties tend to shatter more than awned types, but losses from this cause are less in the mid-South than anywhere else in the United States. It is believed that the low ash content of varieties grown here and the relative greater humidity at harvesttime are largely responsible for this difference. Three hooded varieties have been produced as the result of selection.

In 1930 G. K. Middleton of the North Carolina station made a number of selections from a field of Tennessee Beardless 6 on W. B. Craw-ford's farm near Statesville, N. C. The two most promising selections were named Iredell and North Carolina Hooded 26, and were released in 1940 and 1942. At Statesville they have outyielded Tennessee Beardless 6 by 3 and 4 bushels an acre. They resist certain smuts but are subject to mildew and rust. North Carolina Hooded 26 is somewhat shorter than Iredell and is 5 to 6 days earlier. Because of this earliness it is especially useful as a companion crop with lespedeza. It also has a broader leaf and more abundant early growth and therefore is valuable for grazing. It is grown mostly in North Carolina.

Tucker is a product of the West Virginia station and was released there in 1941. The variety is moderately resistant to smut, leaf rust, and mildew. Its yield and winter hardiness compare favorably with other hooded varieties. It is grown on a limited acreage in West Virginia.

In the early history of barley production in the United States it was common to introduce varieties from Europe and Asia. Until the plant breeder came on the scene, this was nearly the only source of new varieties. The Manchuria variety widely grown in the Upper Mississippi Valley and the Coast variety in California are typical introductions of this kind. These exotic varieties served a very useful purpose during this period, but this means of adding new varieties to our agriculture is now largely supplanted by varieties produced by plant breeders. There are, however, three foreign varieties that possess certain special characteristics.

From among a number of foreign varieties E. S. McFadden of the Department selected a variety named Tunis, which is specially suited to southern Texas. It was tested and distributed in the cooperative work of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and the United States Department of Agriculture. The distribution of this variety marks the first instance of a pure spring type being grown from fall seeding south of the main winter barley area in the United States. It is quite probable that spring barleys will be well suited to the entire Gulf area. Tunis is recommended only for southern Texas and in that area has been superior in yield. It is resistant to leaf rust and mildew and is used for winter grazing as well as for grain. It makes a vigorous early winter growth and when grown for grain is suitable for combining. It is not so stiff-strawed as some other varieties and may lodge in wet years when grown on rich soil. It was released in 1943.

Olympia, a winter-type variety, was introduced into this country by E. F. Gaines, of the Washington station, who obtained seed of it from Germany. The Washington station released it in 1937. Olympia matures earlier than Winter Club, the standard variety in the Palouse area, and for this reason is a good variety to grow in the transitional zone between the Palouse and the dry-land area. Under these conditions it yields more grain of higher quality than Winter Club.

Poland, another winter variety, was first grown in this country by John Baron, a farmer near Auburn, N. Y. He obtained the seed from Poland between 1930 and 1932. There is a small acreage in New York, but it is being replaced by Wong. Poland is fairly winter hardy and moderately resistant to mildew and scald, but has a weak straw. On occasions, the variety has shown exceptional vigor during the early growth stage.

THE AUTHOR

G. A. Wiebe is in charge of barley investigations in the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering. He has had 24 years of practical experience in barley-breeding and production research. Dr. Wiebe is a graduate of the University of California.