New Grain Varieties Live Up to
Expectations in 1951 Performance
In response to a request for in
formation on 1951 performance of I
Edda barley and Golden Rain
oats, two new cereal varieties rec
ommended for the Territory this
year by the Alaska Experiment
Station, Dr. S. C. Litzenberger
in charge of cereal crops in the
station’s Agronomy Department,
reporter this week that they did
all right.
Results obtained in Uniform
Cereal Variety Trials from 17 lo
cations throughout the Territory
this year showed that the varie
ties lived up to expectations
gained from experimental trials
by the station for several years
previous to their recommenda
tion. Of the 17 farmers cooperat
ing in the trials, two were from
the Kenai Peninsula, two from
the Chugiak-Anchorage area, one
from the Copper River Valley,
four from the Tanana Valley, ana
nine from the Matanuska Valley.
Comparisons were made for
maturity, straw strength, disease
reaction, plant height, test weight
per bushel, and grain yields per
acre.
Edda Barley Outstanding
considering an iaciors, ur.
Litzenberger said, Edda barley
was outstanding in performance
at all locations. Compared with
Olli (the standard for compari
son), Edda yielded 18 percent
more in the Matanuska Valley,
17 percent more in the Tanana
Valley, 33 percent more in the
Copper River Valley, and 66 per
cent more on the Kenai Penin
sula. Hulless Markhinetz (the va
riety imported from Sweden by
Art Thompson) and Trapmar
(19b) were highly inferior to the
hulled varieties. The only advan
tage of these two varieties ap
pears to be their hulless charac- j
teristis, the agronomist said.
The average yield in bushels
per acre from seven locations in
the Matanuska Valley was 50.1
for Edda, 42.5 for Olli, and 29.9
for Trapmar.
Golden Rain Oats
Newly released Golden Rain
oats continued to perform well
throughout the Territory. It sig
nificantly exceeded the slightly
later maturing variety Climax in
grain yield in the Tanana and
Matanuska Valleys by 8.7 and
10.5 bushels per acre, respective
ly. Gopher, although normally
lower yielding than Climax ancf
Golden Rain, this year exceeded
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Climax but not Golden Rain.
In another test where straw
yield comparisons could be made,
Climax oats was found to be su
perior for this characteristic. For
the coming season, the Experi
ment Station is recommending
either Climax or Victory oats for
forage. For grain. Golden Rain,
Gopher, and Climax will be rec
ommended. Average yields per
bushel in seven Matanuska Val
ley locations was 73.4 for Golden
Rain. 65.8 for Gopher, and 62.9
for Climax.
New Wheat Disappointing
Wheat tests showed that Kho
got (standard for comparison)
was exceeded in most tests for
grain yield by a later-maturing,
experimental variety which i;
still unavailable commercially.
Saunders, the new wheat va
riety released in Canada this
year, although promising in early
observations did not come up «,c
expectations, Dr. Litzenberger
said. It headed earlier than Kho
got but ripened later. The only
place where Saunders appeared
to be promising was in the Ga
kona-Big Delta section—close *o
Canada. In mat area me resuns
from Saunders were comparable
to those obtained from Khogot.
Comparison of yields from seven
locations in the Matanuska Val
ley showed an average of 26.2
•bushels per acre for Khogot and
19.6 bushels for Saunders.
Alaskan Grains Superior
According to results obtained
on chemical analyses during the
past two years, Alaskan farmers
should be encouraged to produce
all the grain feed necessary. Ac
cording- to Dr. Litzenberger, the
data show that Alaskan grains
are generally superior in digesti
ble nutrients or feed value to
shipped-in grains.
Drying Equipment Helps
The 1951 Valley crop was gen
erally favorable, although the
season was very dry during crop
establishment and early growth,
and very “wet during the fall. Al
though some precipitation was
received from late June on, it
was not until September that
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near normal precipitation was re- |
ceived. In the Matanuska Valley, |
September was one of the wettest
months on record. Relatively
high temperatures and excessive I
moisture during that period j
caused severe sprouting of cere- |
als. In some instances the grain
was observed to grow as it stood
in the field. Much early-cut and j
shocked gram sprouted to the ex- J
tent that the shocks became !
green. It is felt that the use of
combines and drying equipment
would do much to reduce or pre- j
vent losses such as were sustained
this year. During the two years
that the combine harvester has
been used at the Experiment
Station at Fairbanks in conjunc
tion with drying equipment, ce
real grain harvesting has beers
accomplished quite satisfactorily 1
- ' i
PTA Meeting Features
Teachers’ Roundtable
Palmer School teachers will
provide the program for the PTA
meeting scheduled for next Tues
day evening. Nov. 20 in the school
cafeteria, Mrs. Betty Kindler.
PTA president announced this
week.
The teachers, under the chair- !
manship of William Elliott, are
planning a round table discussion.
What the subject will be, Mrs.
Kindler does not know, but she
is certain that the teachers have
something very entertaining up
their collective sleeves.
COFFEY INSURES
EVERYTHING. REMEMBER?
CONSERVATION
NOTES
By LEW HANKS
The nice soft weather we've
had sort of reminded me of
spring. I even got stuck in the
mud. It brought back that old
familiar feeling. The muddy
roads reminded me of the snow
drifts I fought last winter. I re
member the story about the fam
ily that went out to dinner last
winter and stayed a week. There
are things we can do about drift
ing snow though.
Mr. Onkka of the Alaska Road
Commission tells me they would
be very glad to see farmers es
tablish their windbreaks and
fences back from the property
lines. This would then keep the
snow from drifting over them.
Then we could farm the field out
side the windbreak clear out to
the road ditch. Even though the
road commission has the job of
keeping the roads open, we have
to use them to get to town. Any
thing we can do to help is to out
advantage.
Mr. Onkka also tells me of a
new type of snow fence being
used some in the tates. It is es
sentially a 1” by 8” board set
horizontally about 8 inches above
the ground. Under some condi
tions it causes a double drift to
form and is a pretty effective
snow catcher.
How it would work here in our
Matanuska winds I don’t know.
Alaska Telephone Co.
Engineer Visits Palmer
Ward Carroll, brother of Claude
and Jim Carroll and Mrs. Sher
man Crosby, former Palmer resi
dents, was in Palmer last week
gathering material for a tentative
: engineer’s survey of the Valley
by the Alaska Telephone Com
pany, which has agreed to back
Maynard Sands and the Matanus
ka Telephone Company if a fran
chise is granted.
Carroll is a telephone engineer
employed by the Alaska Tele
phone Company. With him here
was Bert Proctor, a salesman for
Harper Magee Co, producers of
| automatic telephone equipment.
The two men talked with mem
bers of tlie city council who were
hastily called together by tele
phone committeeman Lloyd Sev
erns.
The Claud Carrolls are in the
spud-nut business in Fairbanks,
Carroll reported. He said that the
Sherman Crosbys want to sell out
their spud-nut business in Juneau
and return to Palmer.
Acting Manager Carl Rasmus
sen was back on the job at the
Co-Op this week after two weeks
on the hospitalization and re
cuperation list.
. It wouldn’t be hard to construct
a few sections though. We will
never know how effective it is
until we try it. How about build
ing a few sections to protect your
farm driveway? If it worfo it
might be the thing to protect a
lot of fields in the future.
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P AUA.DE
Be Sure To See Our
Selection Of New Watches
And New "Dress-Up"
Watch Bands!
Speaking of walch bands—why nol gei a
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Convenient Lay-away Plan
Now, too, is the time to choose a watch
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under our layaway plan.
Nick Gooscnin
MANUFACTURING JEWELER
340 Fourth Avenue Anchorage
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