14 TEN YEARS' EXPEEIENCE WITH THE SWEDISH SELECT OAT. 



This fact is well illustrated in the results obtained at the North Da- 

 kota Agricultural Experiment Station at Fargo. This experiment 

 station is located in the Red River Valley, a region of low elevation^ 

 having a rich, black soil and a good average rainfall. In recent 

 years the rainfall has been considerably above the average, finally 

 resulting in 1905 in actual inundations of portions of the valley, 

 including the site of the experiment station. Accordingly, no com- 

 parison of yields of oats can be given for 1905. The loss of seed by 

 fire prevented the sowing of the Swedish Select variety in 1901. For 

 the remaining years from 1899 to 1908 the yield per acre of the 

 Swedish Select, compared with other varieties, is as follows: 



Table II. — Yield to the acre of the Swedish Select oat compared with that of other varieties 

 grown at the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and throughout the State 

 from 1899 to 1908, except 1901 and 1905. 



Year. 



1899 



1900 



1902 



1903 



1904 



1900 



1907 



1908 



Average 



Yield of 



Swedish 



Select. 



Bushels. 

 75.4 

 23.0 

 30.8 

 68.2 

 54.6 

 48.1 

 58.7 

 67.0 



53.2 



Highest 



yield of 



any other 



variety 



Bushels. 

 81.1 

 45.7 

 72.2 

 77.3 

 75.4 

 55.6 

 78.0 

 95.2 



72.6 



Average 

 yield of 

 all other 

 varieties. 



Bushels. 

 70.7 

 29.1 

 40.7 

 62.8 

 57.8 

 46.6 

 58.1 

 79.8 



55.7 



Average 

 yield of 

 oats in 

 North 

 Dakota. 



Bushels. 

 30.0 

 10.3 

 38.4 

 27.4 

 37.4 

 32.5 

 24.5 

 23.4 



28.0 



It will be observed that here the Swedish Select compares unfavor- 

 ably with other varieties, its yield per acre being less than the average 

 for all others in the years 1900, 1902, 1904, and 1908, and its average 

 for the 8 years less by 2£ bushels than the average for all other 

 varieties for that period. It remains, however, pretty nearly an 

 average variety in yield for that region, and is superior to many others 

 in size and weight of kernel. As might be supposed, it has done much 

 better in higher and drier portions of the State westward. Prof. J. H. 

 Shepperd, collaborator in these investigations, writes as follows: 



The Swedish Select oat has not proven a very good variety under local conditions. 

 It does far better on our lighter and drier soil. 



At the branch experiment station at Edgeley, N. Dak., in 1903 and 

 1904 this variety gave good results, making a yield per acre consider- 

 ably greater than the average of all other varieties. (See fig. 1.) 



Montana. 



At the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, at Bozeman, the 

 conditions for oat cultivation are even more favorable ordinarily than 

 at Fargo, N. Dak. Here, also, in a 5-year trial the Swedish Select 

 oat gave yields inferior to those of a number of other varieties. In 



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