16 



FORAGE-CROP EXPERIMENTS AT SAN ANTONIO. 



profitable crop. The oats are ordinarily seeded in October or Novem- 

 ber and are not pastured until the plants are well established, which 

 is some time in December, depending on the weather conditions. If 

 a hay crop is to be secured, the stock is taken off as soon as the spring 

 growth starts. Little is known as to the extent of the damage done 

 to the crop by grazing, but farmers believe that the whiter pasturage 

 alone hi a year of normal rainfall is worth all it costs. 



Table XI shows the yields of oats grown during the years 1908 to 

 1911. In 1910 three local varieties were obtained to compare with 

 four varieties introduced by the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. These varieties were the Texas Red Rustproof, Hastings' 

 Hundred Bushel, and the Winter Turf. The plats were one-fifth of 

 an acre in size, and the land had been summer-fallowed the preceding 

 year in each case. 



Table XI. 



Yields of oats hay at the San Antonio Experiment Farm, in 1908-1911, 



inclusive. 



1 Averages of four plats. 



2 Averages of five plats. 



3 The actual weight on these plats was less than the figures indicate, as the hay was not thoroughly dry 

 when weighed. 



From the tests made thus far the variety of oats known as the 

 Appier Rustproof has proved to be the best for this locality, although 

 the 191.1 test apparently does not indicate this superiority. The low 

 yield of the Appier Rustproof oats hi 1911 was probably due to the 

 following causes: The four plats, which were planted with different 

 rates of seeding, were located north of four plats of Culberson winter 

 oats, which were so severely affected with rust that they were not 

 worth cutting. As the prevailing winds are from the southeast, the 

 rust spores were undoubtedly carried from the Culberson Whiter oats 

 to the Appier Rustproof oats, causing a much more severe infestation 

 than would otherwise have been the case. A plat of Appier Rust- 

 proof oats on the south side gave a hay yield of 2,260 pounds, and the 

 average yield of this variety in the rotation plats was 2,437 pounds 

 per acre. (PI. II, fig. 2.) 



[Cir. 100] 



