l8o AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



this Station include the determination of the yield of grain and 

 straw produced by standard varieties, the most efficient methods 

 of culture and rates of seeding and the soil conditions in which 

 each strain grows most profitably. Specifically the aim is to 

 produce varieties of oats that yield a large amount of good' 

 giain and prove most satisfactory as a crop amid the variable 

 conditions on Maine farms. Such a comparative test of oats 

 is of immediate value to the farmer in that it reveals the high 

 yielding varieties already in the market and affords a source 

 of supply from which good strains may be started on our farms. 

 Before discussing in detail the relative worth of the varieties 

 of oats in these tests it is well to speak of the general condi- 

 tions amid which such work must be carried on and of the 

 methods employed. 



The soil of Highmoor Farm varies from a light sandy loam 

 to clay loam. For the greater part the soil should be designated 

 as a loam. The subsoil, judging from the appearances of suc- 

 cessive crops, is also exceedingly variable in fertility and water 

 holding capacity. During the time in which this farm has been 

 managed by the Station a vast amount of work has been ex- 

 pended in uprooting the dead trees that were scattered through- 

 out the fields and in removing boulders and rocks that hindered 

 the efficient and economical working of the fields by modern 

 implements. From this it will be inferred that the soil condi- 

 tions as a whole varied a great deal and rendered exceedingly 

 difficult the task of establishing a uniform environment for 

 plant breeding work. Each working of the soil and the addi- 

 tion of fertilizers and green crops will tend toward the produc- 

 tion of a fertile environment of a much greater uniformity 

 than at present. In all of these tests oats have not been planted 

 on the same piece of land in successive years. This, also, tests 

 each variety in a wide range of soil conditions and affords a 

 basis for judging to which particular type of soil it is best 

 adapted. 



The varieties tested in 1910 were sown on land that had 

 been plowed the previous summer and kept clean by working 

 over about once a week with cutaway and spring-tooth harrows. 

 Before the farm was placed under the management of the Sta- 

 tion this land had laid in sod for many years, becoming quite 

 densely infested with witch grass. The summer fallow and 



