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U. S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd's presidential poll, announced and followed by a storm of protest, prompted an organizer for presidential hopeful Hubert Humphrey to challenge it with the comment:

"If Sen. Byrd will take another poll on May 11, he'll find a considerable change."

Robert M. Barrie of Washington, here to formally open campaign headquarters for Sen. Humphrey, was questioned about the poll which gave Sen. Lyndon Johnson the edge. Humphrey is running in the May 10 primary:Johnson is not.

"The poll doesn't show a landslide for Sen. Johnson," Barrie said. Actually, he was rather pleased with the results.

"Sen. Johnson is probably better known than the other Democratic candidates because he is Senate majority leader," he went on. Then he said:

"Sen. Humphrey has talked to only about 1,500 West Virginians in the last five years. After he campaigns the state I'm sure the results will be considerably different."

Only Sen. Humphrey and Sen. John Kennedy have filed in the West Virginia Democratic presidential primary.

"The biggest trouble we face," Barrie said, "is getting him exposed to the people. All we want is that chance in West Virginia."

Humphrey plans a barnstorming tour by bus in West Virginia in his quest for the Democratic nomination for president. He'll concentrate most of his efforts here after the Wisconsin primary next month.

His bus stops will be at supermarkets, shopping centers, plant gates and the like as he travels into all six of West Virginia's congressional districts. In the evenings there will be rallies with speeches along the route.

Humphrey's headquarters, where Barrie held a brief press conference, is at the Daniel Boone Hotel. Rein J. Vander Zee, Humphrey's West Virginia representative, was on hand.

Humphrey's first West Virginia appearance since he filed for the primary will be March 23 at a dinner and rally at the Prichard Hotel in Huntington. That will be his only West Virginia appearance until after the April 5 Wisconsin primary in which Humphrey and Kennedy are entered.

Barrie said Humphrey would be back in West Virginia April 8 through 11. He will speak in Fairmont the evening of April 8.

His schedule calls for appearances before two student convocations May 5, at Bethany College in the daytime and at West Virginia University in the evening. Tentative plans for May 6 include daytime appearances in Wheeling and Weirton and a speech at an evening rally at Wellsburg.

While dates and other arrangements are not yet firm, present plans also call for appearances in Bluefield, Williamson, Logan, Parkersburg, Clarksburg, Beckley and perhaps Welch.

Other dates on which Humphrey is scheduled to be in West Virginia at places not yet announced are April 25, May 2 and from May 5 until the primary. Barrie said Humphrey probably would be in the state for three "long weekends" between Easter and the primary.

Also scheduled for West Virginia appearances on behalf of Humphrey are his wife and sister and several leading Democratic officeholders in Minnesota, including Sen. Eugene McCarthy, Gov. Orville Freeman and Lt. Gov. Karl Rolvaag.

Mrs. Humphrey will be in Charleston March 19 to take part in a Democratic Women's Day program. Humphrey's sister, Mrs. Frances Humphrey Howard will be in the state March 12-13. She is executive director of the Maryland Assn. for the United Nations.