1788 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



machine. As a threshing machine is moved from farm to farm it carries 

 some grain from one place to another, and when the next variety is 

 threshed the seed becomes mixed. In some localities it is a common prac- 

 tice to save the first load of oats for seed. This always means that the 

 second man, in his load of seed oats, gets practically all the seed carried by 

 the threshing machine from his neighbor's farm. If the practice of saving 

 the last load were followed, little mixing would occur from threshing 

 outfits. 



Mixing may occur also through careless handling, as a result of which 

 varieties are kept so close together in a seedhouse that seeds of one variety 

 may fall into a bin containing seeds of another variety. 



What to select. — When a grower selects oats or any other plants for seed, 

 the question immediately arises as to what character should be selected 

 and what kind of plants should be saved. When one observes a field of 

 oats he immediately notices that certain types are producing larger and 

 better plants than others and are therefore much better yielders for that 

 locality. If these vigorous, high-yielding plants were saved separately 

 and grown, a pure strain of the desired type would soon be obtained. 

 Care must be taken to select heads in which the kernels are numerous and 

 well filled. Heads with only one kernel in the spikelet should not be 

 selected for seed. Notes should be taken regarding the thickness of the 

 hull and the plumpness of the seed. This can be done better after the 

 heads have been selected in the field and taken to the house for further 

 study. 



Heads that show a tendency to shatter and those from which some of 

 the kernels have been lost should not be saved. Care should be exercised 

 to select heads from plants that have stiff straw and that stand well 

 in the field. 



When there are panicled, or branched, heads, and side, or mane, oats 

 (Fig. 105) in the same field, both may be selected. As a rule, side oats show 

 a greater tendency to lodge during a heavy wind or a rainstorm than do 

 panicled oats, since all the weight is on one side and this may cause the 

 head to break over when very wet. 



In making selections from the field the grower should be careful to make 

 them where the seeding has been done uniformly and where some of the 

 plants have not had undue advantage over their neighbors. If the grower 

 selects plants that arc large merely because they have been grown in a 

 more favorable part of the field, where there has been better nutrition, 

 more moisture, or thin seeding, it will not necessarily follow that these 

 plants will yield better than their neighbors when grown under the same 

 conditions. It is usually better to select from the most thickly seeded 

 part of the field, where the fertility is average for the field. 



