EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 301 



OAT IMPROVEMENT.^ 



BY FRANK A. SPRAGG. 



Looking towarfl the improvement of the Michigan oat crop, the im- 

 portant problems to be considered arc the best variety to grow, and the 

 cultural methods that will increase the production, regardless of the 

 variety. One of these is just as important as another, since the best variety 

 will fa!il if burnt up by drought, drowned by poor drainage, consumed by 

 smut, or if starved to death for lack of plant food. 



In seeking the best variety, many farmers are deceived by the condi- 

 tions under which the crop grows. A typical case is that of a certain 

 farmer, who had an extra high yield, which attracted such widespread 

 attention, that other farmers traveled miles from all directions to buy 

 seed from him. This farmer did not have a highly superior variety, 

 which would continue to give better yields than other varieties und(>r 

 poorer conditions as many thought, but the high yield was largely due 

 to the fact that he was a good farmer living on a rich piece of land im- 

 proved b}^ proper rotation and fertilization. He believed in plowing and 

 fitting the land so as to give his seed the best chances to grow. He used 

 two hundred pounds of acid phosphate per acre that his crop might stand 

 up, mature earlier and produce better under his conditions. He believed 

 in fanning out all weed seed and saving his crop from the ravages of smut 

 by the simple formaldehyde treatment. This alone may have saved him 

 ten bushels per acre that would have otherwise gone to smut the threshers 

 faces, and make the passer-by think his barn was on fire because of the 

 dust. Those who did not plant the seed that came from this splendid 

 field under equally good conditions, suffered a great disappointment as 

 they did not get the results expected. 



A neighboring farmer of similar soil who used a high yielding pedigreed 

 variety, but neglected some of these factors might have an inferior yield. 

 Pedigreed superior varieties have greater capacity than ordinary varieties 

 to utilize plant food and turn it into grain. They will therefore produce 

 more than the unimproved grains under the same conditions. Thus we 

 must remember that the selection of the variety while an essential to 

 maximum production, is only one of a number of factors necessary for 

 success. 



Michigan has such a great A-ariety of conditions (soil and climate), that 

 it is not possible to obtain any one variety that will suit all of these condi- 

 tions. There are the low flat, recently drained parts of Saginaw and Bay 

 counties where Mr. DeGuss has introduced the Strube Oats with great 

 success. There are ill drained conditions in some parts of southern 

 Michigan where ordinary varieties are caught by hot sun before they are 

 ready to ripen. Those localities may need extra early oats of the type of 

 the Kherson, or Sixty Day. The Swedish Select is an old variety that seems 

 to be especially suited to the north. It is also favored by scattered farmers 



* The data contained in this paper having to do with the consensus of opinion among 

 farmers, is largely compiled from data gathered by Mr. J. W. Nicholson, Secretary, Michigan 

 Crop Improvement Association. 



