10 TEN YEARS ' EXPERIENCE WITH THE SWEDISH SELECT OAT. 



the Swedish Select oat was sold to members of this association, and in 

 1902 forty-one members grew this oat in thirty- three different counties 

 of the State. The average yield per acre from all these trials was 

 53* bushels, while the average yield of ordinary oats for the State 

 was 40 bushels. No doubt a part of this difference in yield should 

 be credited to the better methods of cultivation that would likely 

 be practiced by these men, but it is probable that the larger per- 

 centage of increase was due to the variety employed. In 1903, 

 1904, and 1907 certain members of the association grew other varie- 

 ties in comparison with the Swedish Select, with results here tabulated 



as follows: 



1903. 



Number of members reporting 100 



Number of acres sown 538f 



Number of bushels harvested 23, 705 



Average number of bushels per acre of Swedish Select 44 



Average number of bushels per acre of other varieties 37. 5 



1904. 



Number of members reporting 30 



Number of acres sown 352 



Number of bushels harvested 18, 300 



Average number of bushels per acre of Swedish Select 45 



Average number of bushels per acre of other varieties 40 



1907. 



Number of members reporting 96 



Number sowing on fall-plowed land 64 



Number sowing on spring-plowed land 32 



Number sowing with a drill 44 



Number sowing with a seeder 46 



Number treating for prevention of smut 25 



Number of cases where oats were smutted 17 



Number of cases where oats rusted badly 61 



Average number of bushels per acre of Swedish Select 27. 9 



Average number of bushels per acre of other varieties 24. 3 



Seed has been sold by members of the experiment association to 

 other farmers of the State, until the Swedish Select oat has become 

 very widely distributed. Professor Moore estimates that 150,000 

 bushels were grown in 1903, 4,000,000 bushels in 1904, and in 1905 

 8,000,000 bushels by at least 10,000 farmers. In 1906 about 12,000,- 

 000 bushels were produced, and in 1907 at least 20,000,000 bushels, 

 though the season was very unfavorable. In 1908 no less than 

 30,000,000 bushels were harvested, or over two-fifths of the entire 

 oat crop of the State. These estimates refer only to the crop de- 

 scended from the original 6 pounds of seed sent to the experiment 

 station. There is a considerable production in Wisconsin descended 

 from other seed and referred to in another place. About three- 

 fourths of the members of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment 

 Association were growing the Swedish Select oat in 1908. 



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