Department of Plant-Breeding Ixv 



This past year many other commercial varieties of oats were added 

 to those ah-eady being tested. This was done in order to determine 

 whether the hybrids and selections were better than some of the com- 

 mercial varieties already on the market. 



About three thousand plants each from several of the most promising 

 commercial varieties were grown during 1912 with the intention of making 

 new selections. These plants were grown one foot apart each way, so 

 that all would have the same cultural conditions, and selections were 

 made from the field. 



During the summer of 1911 and the following winter in the greenhouses, 

 many new hybrids were made with the hope that certain other combina- 

 tions might be found which would prove of value for New York con- 

 ditions. 



In the spring of 1912 seed from some of the best hybrids and selections 

 was sent to several parts of the State, where cooperative tests were to be 

 made comparing these new strains with some good commercial varieties 

 grown locally. The yields from these tests have not all been obtained 

 as yet, but indications are that certain of the strains will prove to be 

 very good for some parts of the State. 



The investigation to determine whether it is possible to produce a 

 winter oat suitable for New York conditions is still under way, although 

 results have advanced little in addition to what has been announced in 

 previous reports of the Department. Several individual selections of 

 plants have been tested with the hope of obtaining some good strains 

 that will withstand the winter and give high yields. The main object 

 of this investigation is to overcome low yield due to the fact that because 

 of bad weather in spring many fields have to be seeded very late. Ex- 

 perience has shown that the late sowing of oats, as a rule, gives lower 

 yields than do oats seeded earlier. It is thought that if a winter variety 

 can be obtained, the seeding can be accomplished in the fall as is done 

 with winter wheat, and thus the late spring planting would not so ma- 

 terially affect the yields. It is not possible at present to make any pre- 

 dictions regarding this line of investigation, but results obtained thus far 

 certainly justify its continuance. The winter oats ripened about two 

 weeks earlier than spring oats and were much freer from smut and 

 rust. 



In addition to the oat experiments just outlined, for the past two years 

 the Department has been conducting an experiment to determine whether 

 the ordinary method of testing different varieties of oats is the best one to 

 use. In ordinary practice, oats are sown at a certain rate per acre. The 

 number of bushels per acre sown is usually determined by either measure 

 or weight, but, owing to the fact that some strains are large-grained and 



