Methods of Breeding Oats 



1793 



pared with the yields of the checks, or ordinary variety. The difference 

 between the total weight of the row and the weight of the grain gives the 

 weight of the straw, and this difference can be used as a basis for selecting 

 strains that produce heavy yields of both grain and straw. After this has 

 been done the seed from the highest-yielding rows should be carefully 

 saved and stored so that it will not be destroyed by mice or rats during 

 winter. 



It will be better to save seed from at least thirty out of the one hundred 

 head rows. In the following season the seed from these thirty rows should 



*3%°Vf 



Pig. iio.- 



Harvesting rod rows of oats on the plant-breeding plats of the Cornell University 

 Agricultural Experiment Station 



be planted in longer rows, again using check rows. If there is enough seed 

 it will be well to weigh out one half ounce from each of the thirty rows, to 

 be sown in rows one rod long and one foot apart. When there is enough 

 available it will be well to weigh out as many half-ounce lots as 

 possible, so that two- or three-rod rows may be sown from the same head 

 row. These rows should be sown in different parts of the field in order to 

 overcome soil differences. The rod rows should be given the same num- 

 bers as the head rows from which the seed was selected. These numbers 

 may be carried through to the end of the selection. 



