Spring Grain Characteristics which Influence their Value as Companion Crops 1

INFLUENCE THEIR VALUE AS COMPANION CROPS1 I T zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA is still a common practice in many parts of the country to make spring seedings of legumes with small grain companion crops. Whether such use of small grains is beneficial or harmful to legume seedling establishment is controversial and obviously depends on many factors. One of these factors is choice of variety. With the development of early maturing, shorter, and stiffer-strawed oat varieties from Bond crossles, the choice of oat varieties for companion crop use has been increased. Information, however, on the companion crop value of these varieties is lacking. An opportunity to obtain information on the companion crop value of several spring oat varieties, including some of Bond origin, was provided by a legume establishment experiment conducted at State College, Pa., in 1948. The spring grain varieties used in this experiment were: Ajax, Benton, Clinton, Mindo, h4ohawk, and Patterson oats and Alpha barley. Patterson was included as typical of the leafier, taller, late oat varieties commonly grown several years ago. These varieties were seeded on April 22 at the rate of zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 2 bushels per acre on a Hagerstown loam in randomized 6by 60-foot plots, replicated four times. The legumes broadcast over the drill rows on April 26-27 were alfalfa, birdsfoot trefoil, Ladino clover, and red clover. These small grains showed highly significant differences in stem numbers and heights at maturity, and in the total yield of grain and straw at harvest (Table 1). Lower tiller numbers were related to larger red clover populations, and greater small grain heights were related to larger losses in stands of alfalfa and red clover. Since by observation the several small grain varieties were noted to vary considerably in amount of