24 TEX YEARS' EXPERIENCE WITH THE SWEDISH SELECT OAT. 



South Dakota. 



Mr. H. C. Warner, of Forestburg, S. Dak., found the Swedish 

 Select to be the best variety out of fifty-four under trial on his farm. 

 In 1905 it yielded 75 bushels per acre, while other varieties made 50 

 bushels. 



This oat was grown by Mr. G. A. Grant at Sherman, S. Dak., dur- 

 ing 1906, 1907, and 1908. In the second year he obtained a crop of 

 913 bushels, averaging 40 bushels per acre. In 1908 the acre yield 

 was the same and the total production 2,453 bushels. The only other 

 variety grown on the same farm was the Sixty-Day, also introduced 

 by this Department, which yielded 40 bushels per acre. 



Mr. J. E. Behnke, of Beresford, S. Dak., grew the Swedish Select 

 oat 7 years, 1903 to 1909, but no report is at hand of his 1906 crop. 

 For the other 6 years his average yield per acre was 40.5 bushels, 

 the separate yields being for 1903, 30 bushels; 1904, 55 bushels; 1905, 

 48 bushels; 1907, 50 bushels; 1908, 25 bushels; and 1909, 35 bushels. 

 Yields of other varieties for certain years were as follows: 1903, 28 

 bushels; 1904,41 bushels; 1905,35 bushels; and 1908, 20 bushels. 



Prof. J. H. Shepard, of Brookings, S. Dak., in addition to his official 

 experience with introduced grains obtained through this Department, 

 has taken much interest in a private way in trials on his own land of 

 some of the best varieties. He states his experience with the Swedish 

 Select as follows: 



I sowed some on corn ground, some on manured land, and some on very rich ground. 

 My findings are as follows: Remember the season (1905 1 was excessively wet. After 

 barley and after oats I got a good stand; the oats did not go clown and the berries were 

 plump and heavy. The same is true after wheat. 



On rich ground the oats lodged some in patches, but they all filled. On heavily 

 manured land they went down in patches and they filled well, except where the lodged 

 places occurred. On corn ground they lodged more, but not enough to prevent filling 

 in the lodged places. On no kind of ground did they all go down, but in patches only. 

 I believe that had the season been dry I would have had no lodged oats on any of these 

 places and that the quality of the oats would have been all that could be desired. 

 Naturally enough, the higher the ground the better the oats were during the past wet 

 season. During dry seasons they might be sown on low land. 



The record of yields this year (1906) was somewhat lower than last, owing to my ex- 

 perimenting under different conditions and also to the fact that a slight hailstorm 

 ruined many berries when they were just coming into milk. My yield this year was 

 65 bushels per acre, last year 75 bushels, while under the best conditions on our experi- 

 mental grounds the yield rose to 84 bushels per acre. But the most remarkable thing 

 to my mind is that on my old land, which had been systematically robbed by 25 years 

 of wheating, the best yield of oats I ever could get was 40 bushelsof White Russian oats, 

 and I never equaled that figure with any other kind, and I tried all I could get. The 

 first year the Swedish Select jumped immediately up to 75 bushels, while the station 

 has shown that this is by no means the limit. I sowed but 2 bushels and 1 peck per 

 acre, as they are heavy stoolers, but believe that heavier seeding will increase the 

 yield. 

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