EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 317 



Of these varieties the Alexander and Worthy were distributed to Michi- 

 gan farmers in 1912, College Wonder in 1915, College Success in 1916, 

 and the Wolverine in 1917. 



Of the three varieties that were distributed since 1912, the College Won- 

 der is the most generally grown and apparently is gaining in popularity. 

 The indications are that it will follow the Worthy as a higher yielder. 



The College Success is favored by the farmers of Ottawa and the neigh- 

 boring counties, but has been generally reported inferior to Worthy in 

 eastern Michigan. However, twenty acres in Huron county showed 95 

 bushels per acre in 1918. In some sections, farmers get a great variety of 

 results from the College Success. At the College, these oats were later than 

 the average. This factor has been more or less consistent with the variety 

 over the State and under the general weather conditions of the past two 

 years has been an undesirable characteristic. 



The Wolverine was represented by only one farmer's field in 1917, 

 and has been distributed generally in a small way in 1918. About 350 

 acres were grown this year. It is too early to estimate its value, but at 

 the College it has produced about 20% or one fifth more oats than the 

 W'orthy during the past four years. It will undoubtedly prove to be a 

 valuable addition to Michigan agriculture. 



SUMMARY. 



1 . There are two equally important problems to be considered : 



(a) The best variety of oats to grow, 



(b) The best cultural method. 



2. The soil and climatic conditions are so variable in Michigan as 

 to demand special varieties for some environments, and to cause a standard 

 variety grown in an adjacent field to produce different results. 



3. Always test a new variety side by side with the old accepting the 

 new variety only when proven superior. 



4. The relative yield of varieties cannot be tested in separate fields. 

 They must be tested under identical conditions, and in long narrow strips 

 side by side. 



5. The oat breeding work has been in progress since 1900. 



6. The present writer took up the work in 1906, yearly making large 

 numbers of plant selections from specially planted beds. 



7. Variety testing work began with the new strains in 1909. The most 

 reliable early work was in plant-row series with checks. The methods 

 were greatly improved in larger plats after 1913. 



8. As the results of early testing, the Alexander and Worthy (two new 

 varieties) were distributed to farmers in 1912. Each of these originated 

 in a selected individual plant of 1906. 



9. Over six thousand bushels of Worthy Oats were used for seed in 

 1915, and now this variety of oats is so widely grown as to be known by 

 most progressive Michigan farmers. 



10. The investigations since 1912 have found a few strains that are 

 yielding more than the Worthy. The College Wonder was distributed 

 in 1915, the College Success in 1916, and the Wolverine in 1917. Based 

 on Worthy as 100%, the following are the results: 



