Bulletin No. 375 - Eradication of Mule Ear with Herbicides and Its Relation to Production of Forage on Range Lands

Mule ear (Wyethia amplexicaulis) , also known as green dock and black sunflower, is a tufted perennial with smooth waxy leaves and a thick woody taproot. It reproduces only by seed, yet it is aggressive, and once it becomes established it is highly competitive. Cattle seldom eat mule ear when other forage is available; however, sheep eat the heads when in full bloom and occasionally consume a small quantity of the young leaves before they completely unfold. Since mule ear is relatively unpalatable, it increases in density with continued heavy use of the range and in some cases has increased almost to the exclusion of other species. Rehabilitation of mule-ear-infested ranges through protection requires many years and such a procedure seems to be economically impractical. It would be highly desirable if a more expedient and practical method could be found for rehabilitating infested ranges

Bulletin No. 293 - Velvon: A New Smooth-Awned Barley

Velvon, a new barley variety with smooth awns, with relatively stiff straw, and with a high degree of resistance to covered smut was developed at the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station through the cooperative efforts of the Station and the Division of Cereal Crops and Diseases, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture. This new variety resulted as a hybrid strain from a cross made in 1930 for the purpose of improving straw strength and the texture of awns

Bulletin No. 263 - Relative Produciton of Feed Grain from Spring-Grown Cereals in Utah

Nearly one-third of the cropped acreage of Utah is devoted to cereals. Except for wheat, most of these crops are fed locally. In addition to this, an average of over a million bushels of corn, barley, and oats is shipped into the state each year to be used in various livestock and poultry industries. The purpose of this publication is to show the comparative amount of feed produced by the different crops--wheat, oats, barley, and corn--under similar conditions as determined for the specified four years by acre-yields obtained in various agricultural regions of the state. One should bear clearly in mind that its purpose is not to encourage all farmers to grow crops giving the highest feed value to the acre or to shift from one cereal to another, although this might be done to advantage if increased feed production is desired

Bulletin No. 262 - Comparative Yields of Spring Wheat Varieties in Utah

Wheat was one of the first crops grown by early Utah settlers. It has since occupied an important place in the agriculture of the state. While wheat is almost the only crop grown successfully on dry-lands, it is also important under irrigation. Thirty per cent of the wheat acreage of Utah in 1929 was spring-sown, which produced 44 per cent of the state\u27s production. Eighty-seven per cent of the spring wheat acreage was grown under irrigation, this acreage producing 92.3 per cent of the total spring wheat crop. Thirty-eight per cent of Utah farmers were growing spring wheat in 1929; this wheat was grown in all ,counties of the state except one, the percentage of farmers growing this crop at that time ranging from less than 1 per cent in Washington and San Juan Counties to 64 per cent in Emery County; yet Emery County ranks about sixth in acreage and eighth in production

Postal card from C. S. Tingey, as well as a letter from W. J. Kerr

Postal card and letter concerning a state warrant

Bulletin No. 287 - Tests of Corn Varieties and Hybrids in Utah

The corn acreage in Utah is only about half that planted in barley and approximately one-fourth that sown to spring wheat. During the period 1910-30 this acreage was about equally divided into corn for grain, corn for silage, and corn fed to livestock in the field (table 1) . Since 1930 there has been a gradual increase in the acreage of corn grown for silage with the exception of the years 1936 and 1937

Bulletin No. 281 - Sorghums Varietal Tests in Utah

Sorghums are not grown to any appreciable extent in Utah except in the Virgin River valley in the southwestern portion of the State. No experimental work on sorghum culture had been done prior to 1931 except on the dry land of Juab County near Nephi. Those early tests, discontinued after 1917, indicated that sorghums were poorly adapted to such conditions. Numerous improved varieties have been produced since that time, some of which are adapted to relatively short growing seasons. This bulletin will discuss the practicability of growing some of these varieties of sorghum in Utah and their economic value compared to leading crops now grown

Radiolytic reactions in the coolant of helium cooled reactors

The success of helium cooled reactors is dependent upon the ability to prevent significant reaction between the coolant and the other components in the reactor primary circuit. Since the thermal reaction of graphite with oxidizing gases is rapid at temperatures of interest, the thermal reactions are limited primarily by the concentration of impurity gases in the helium coolant. On the other hand, the rates of radiolytic reactions in helium are shown to be independent of reactive gas concentration until that concentration reaches a very low level. Calculated steady-state concentrations of reactive species in the reactor coolant and core burnoff rates are presented for current U. S. designed, helium cooled reactors. Since precise base data are not currently available for radiolytic rates of some reactions and thermal reaction rate data are often variable, the accuracy of the predicted gas composition is being compared with the actual gas compositions measured during startup tests of the Fort Saint Vrain high temperature gas-cooled reactor. The current status of these confirmatory tests is discussed. 12 references. (auth

Isotope powered Stirling generator for terrestrial applications

An electric power supply, small enough to be man-portable, is being developed for remote, terrestrial applications. This system is designed for an operating lifetime of five years without maintenance or refueling. A small Radioisotope Stirling Generator (RSG) has been developed. The energy source of the generator is a 60 watt plutonium-238 fuel clad used in the General Purpose Heat Sources (GPHS) developed for space applications. A free piston Stirling Engine drives a linear alternator to convert the heat to power. The system weighs about 7.5 kg and produces 11 watts AC power with a conversion efficiency of 18.5%. Two engine models have been designed, fabricated, and tested to date: (a) a developmental model instrumented to confirm and test parameters, and (b) an electrically heated model with an electrical heater equipped power input leads. Critical components have been tested for 10,000 to 20,000 hours. One complete generator has been operating for over 11,000 hours. Radioisotope heated prototypes are expected to be fabricated and tested in late 1995