DAIRY AND SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETINGS. I/Q 



WORK OF THE MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERI- 

 . MENT STATION IN BREEDING OATS. 



By C. W. Barber, Assistant Biologist. Maine Agricultural R-'- 

 periment Station, Orono, ]\Iaine. 



Upon the acquisition by the state in 1909 of Highmoor 

 Farm, located in the town of Monmouth, for the use of the 

 Maine Agricultural Experiment Station in the investigation 

 of problems pertaining to agriculture, plans for breeding oats 

 were formulated. To know how to produce strains of oats 

 embodying such characters as stiff straw, immunity to disease, 

 and ability to give high \ields of grain through successive sea- 

 sons, is the problem. To date our efforts have been devoted 

 chiefly to the task of building the foundation for such work. 

 However, during the past season actual breeding of oats was 

 undertaken in that crossings between many individual plants 

 were made. 



As an essential basis in experiments dealing with this subject 

 it was necessary to introduce many varieties of oats possessing 

 the characters and types that are desirable in crossing for the 

 ■purpose of learning the ways and means of combining the 

 strongest qualities into strains better adapted as a farm crop 

 in our state. In 1910, as a beginning, a variety test of oats was 

 instituted. Consequently the best varieties of oats procurable 

 in the United States and Canada were purchased and subjected 

 to field tests. These varieties were obtained from members of the 

 Canadian Seed Growers Association, from seed dealers and 

 growers in widely separated sections of the United States, in- 

 cluding Maine. In choosing this original stock the basis of 

 selection was the cropping ability and the general favor with 

 which each variety was looked upon by farmers in the respec- 

 tive localities wherein each variety was grown. In general the 

 results sought in testing varieties of oats according to plans of 



