Rural School Leaflet 



1197 



PLANT STUDY 



Editors' note. — The radish is given in the syllabus as the plant for 

 special study this year, but the officers in charge of the work in the State 

 Education Department have decided to substitute the study of oats. 

 The radish is of comparatively little importance and nearly all boys and 

 girls know what the plant is and how to grow it. 



OATS 

 E. G. Montgomery 



ROB ABLY all teachers of rural schools will be able 

 to give a few lessons on oats during the year. Oats 

 are the most extensively cultivated cereal in New 



York State. The value of the crop, as compared 



with other cereal crops, is shown by the following 



statistics for 19 10: 



Crops Value 



Oats $19,000,000 



Corn 16,000,000 



Wheat 10,000,000 



Barley 1 , 500 , 000 



There are only four States with an oat crop more 

 valuable than that of New York, namely, Illinois, Iowa, 

 Minnesota, and Wisconsin. 



About four and three tenths acres out of every 

 one hundred are devoted to oats in New York. The 

 average yield is thirty-one and three tenths bushels and the average 

 value is $13.44 per acre. The part of the State showing the highest 

 production" of oats is comprised in the counties bordering on the south 

 shore of Lake Ontario, while the eastern half of the State produces 

 oats to only a small extent. 



It would be interesting to find how your own neighborhood compares 

 with other parts of the State in oat production. Find by inquiry what 

 percentage of the land in your district is devoted to the culture of oats, 

 and its average yield and value. 



Kinds of oats. — When the shape of head (or panicle) is considered 

 there are two kinds of oats, known as the true panicle (Fig. 2) and the 

 side panicle (Fig. 1). The oat grain is also of several colors, as white 

 oats, black oats, red oats, yellow oats, and gray oats. 



There are several kinds of oat spikelets, as shown in Fig. 3. Some 

 have only one grain and others have three. In some varieties a long awn 

 is borne on each grain. How many kinds of oat spikelets can you find? 



