8 TEN YEARS' EXPERIENCE WITH THE SWEDISH SELECT OAT. 



by weight instead of measured bushels. It also grows to a consider- 

 able height and produces much straw, its chief fault being a tendency 

 toward overproduction of straw when grown on rich or low land. 

 The roots are large and vigorous, giving the plants hardiness in cold 

 or dry seasons. This quality was probably developed during the 

 period of acclimation in northern Russia. Plate II shows a sample 

 of the Swedish Select oat in comparison with two other introduced 

 oats, Sixty-Day and North Finnish Black. 



RESULTS OF TRIALS IN THIS COUNTRY. 



Only 20 bushels of seed of the Swedish Select oat were obtained in 

 the original introduction." One other importation of 160 bushels 

 was made through Mr. E. A. Bessey in 1901. 6 However, a large per- 

 centage of the present production has descended from the 20 bushels 

 received in 1899. 



In another publication of this Department c the following statement 

 by the writer is made at the close of a description of this oat : 



In this country it will be suitable for cultivation in all the extreme Northern States, 

 from New York to Washington, and in southern Alaska. 



With the exception that northern New England might have been 

 included, no statement could be more completely and accurately con- 

 firmed by present results than this one has been after ten years of 

 experience. The results of a long series of trials show that this variety 

 is sharply limited in its adaptation to just the region mentioned and 

 that it is not only much superior to other kinds previously grown in 

 that region but is just as much inferior to other kinds in adaptation 

 to other regions. It is just as worthless for Texas and Tennessee as 

 it is superior for Wisconsin and Montana. 



The whole series of trials of the Swedish Select oat in the United 

 States and the accompanying results have been extremely interest- 

 ing. No other introduced oat has been so thoroughly and widely 

 tested.** 



This oat was grown on the experimental plats of the Agricultural 

 Academy at Moscow, Russia, and was considered by Professor Wil- 

 liams, of that institution, to be an excellent variety for the North. 



a Inventory No. 4, Division of Botany, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1899, p. 3 (S. P. I. 

 No. 2788), and Inventory No. 7, same series, 1900, p. 13 (S. P. I. No. 2788). 



b Bulletin 66, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, p. 276 (S. P. I. 

 No. 9422). 



c See "Russian Cereals Adapted for Cultivation in the United States," Bulletin 23, 

 Division of Botany, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1900, p. 21. 



d It may be of interest, however, to state that another variety, the Sixty-Day, also 

 from Russia, stands second in the attention it is receiving and promises to become 

 fully as popular as the Swedish Select, although it is adapted to conditions largely 

 just the opposite of those required by the latter oat. 

 182 



