BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 313 



sterility of wheats in the Southwest, and on the relationships and dis- 

 tribution of timothy rust, which has recently become an important 

 disease. Results promising briefer and simpler treatments tor the 

 prevention of loose smuts in wheat and barley have been obtained. 

 A Bureau circular on the smuts of sorghum has been revised and 

 improved preventive measures have been recommended. 



Particular attention has been given to the breeding of rust-resistant 

 grains. Numerous new crosses between the rust-resistant durums and 

 the common bread wheats have been made, and the selection and fixing 

 of types from crosses made in 1907 have been continued. 



Oat investigations. — Work in the investigation of oats has con- 

 tinued under the immediate charge of Mr. C. W. Warburton, Agrono- 

 mist. Breeding work with spring oats in the Middle West and with 

 winter oats at the Arlington Experimental Farm has been con- 

 ducted along the same lines as in previous years. Some excellent 

 strains of spring oats, quite difl'erent from an}' now in cultivation, 

 are being developed, the result of hybridization between the Clydes- 

 dale oat and a variety of the Rustproof type imiDorted from Asia 

 Minor. Preliminary tests show them to be desirable in size of 

 grain, yield of grain, and stiffness of straw. Hybrids of the Sixty- 

 day crossed with Burt promise some good strains of early oats, while 

 somewhat later, large-grained types with good straw are being devel- 

 oped from hybrids between Sixty-day and Clydesdale and Sixty-day 

 and Probsteier. In winter oats the most promising pedigreed selec- 

 tions so far are those derived from the Culberson and Red Rustproof. 



The methods of producing and handling oats in common use among 

 farmers have been studied rather extensively during the past few 

 years in connection with experimental work on all phases of oat pro- 

 duction, and the results of these studies have now been presented in a 

 series of bulletins. One of these has been devoted exclusively to the 

 methods of growing winter oats in the South, where considerable 

 interest has been aroused in the past few years in the production of 

 winter small grain. 



Barley investigations. — The work with barley, conducted by Mr. 

 H. B, Derr, Agronomist, has continued along three general lines, the 

 introduction of new varieties, the improvement of existing varieties, 

 and the production of improved strains by hybridization. Excellent 

 results have been attained during the past season from some of the 

 newly introduced barley's. Gaitami, introduced from Manchuria, 

 ripens one week to ten days earlier and is outyielding the other six- 

 rowed barleys in the Northwest. Several hull-less varieties are also 

 very promising. Good results have been accomplished in improving 

 the yield and quality of barley by means of selecting the seed. This 

 method is simple and can be practiced by any intelligent farmer. A 

 circular has been issued on the subject entitled " The Selection of 

 Seed Barley by the Specific Gravity Method." 



Experiments have been continued with the awnless winter variety 

 of barley. This barley resembles the Tennessee Winter variety and 

 from all indications it will be as hardy and yield fully as well. It 

 will be a valuable addition to the crops of the South where hay 

 grasses do not succeed very well. A hooded hybrid barley has also 

 been produced that gave an excellent yield under field tests the past 

 season. 



