Rural School Leaflet 



939 



' '■'•4- 



ONE GRAIN, ONE GRASS, ONE CLOVER, TO BE STUDIED 



IN 1912-1913 



E. G. Montgomery 



I. OATS 



Oats are the most extensively cultivated cereal in New York State. 

 The value of the crop, as compared with other cereal crops, is shown by 

 the following statistics for 19 lo: 



Crops Value ^■HZl 



Oats $19,000,000 



Com 16,000,000 



Wheat 10,000,000 



Barley i , 500 , 000 



There are only four States with an oat crop ^^^^^^^i^^^-j, 

 more valuable than that of New York, 

 namely, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and 

 Wisconsin. 



About 4.3 acres out of every 100 are 

 devoted to oats in New York. The average 

 yield is 31.3 bushels and the average value is 

 $13.44 per acre. The part of the State show- 

 ing the highest production of oats is com- ^ 



? ^ . , . , 1 . ,, ,, Fig. I. — True panicle 



prised m the counties bordering on the south 



shore of Lake Ontario, while the east half of the State produces very 



little oats. 



It would be interesting to find how your own neighborhood compares 

 with other parts of the State in oat production. Find by inquiry what 

 percentage of the land in your district is devoted to oat culture, and its 

 average yield and value. 



Kinds of oats. — When the shape of head (or panicle) is considered 

 there are two kinds of oats, known as the true panicle (Fig. i) and the 

 side panicle (Fig. 2). The oat grain is also of several colors, as white 

 oats, black oats, red oats, yellow oats, and gray oats. 



There are several kinds of oat spikelets, as shown in Fig. 3 . Some have 

 only one grain and others have three. In some varieties a long awn is 

 borne on each grain. How many kinds of oat spikelets can you find? 



Oat grains vary also in shape, certain varieties having long, slender 

 grains, while in others the grains are short and plump. There are 400 

 kinds of oats. How many kinds can you find growing in your neighbor- 

 hood? 



