Our Oat Crop. 317 



not including fertility removed from the soil, amounts to $7.56 per 

 acre. 



Taking this estimate as typical of IMissouri conditions, and compar- 

 ing cost of production with the value per acre of the crop, it is seen that 

 oat growers are realizing just 35 cents per acre clear profit on their 

 crop. Is it any wonder that many farmers are dropping it out al- 

 together ? 



Varieties. — The Experiment Station at Columbia has been testing 

 a large number of oat varieties for several years. The object has been 

 to find a variety which will resist the rust, not run out, and maintain 

 its yields. 



So far all varieties tested show signs of running out, but some hold 

 up much better than others. Running out is shown in several ways. 

 The oat hulls may remain full and plump, but upon pinehing them it is 

 found that there is very little grain inside. -The weight per bushel is 

 then considerably reduced. Other varieties do not retain their size but 

 become pointed and sharp, there being a reduction in size of both grain 

 and hull. The weight of such oats remains comparatively heavy, but 

 the yield per acre is reduced. Still another sign of running out is the 

 change in color of the grain. Our black oats do not retain the coal black 

 as is seen in the heavy, plump, black oats in the north, but gradually 

 change to a reddish brown, some of them even becoming nearly white. 

 White oats do not retain the white glistening color of good plump north- 

 ern oats. They gradually assume a gray color which is prevalent among 

 southern varieties. 



The varieties of white oats which have yielded best since 1905 are 

 Siberian, Silvermine, Wide Awake and Great Dakota. The best adapted 

 black oats are Jeanette, Martinsburg, Nichol's Black Comet and Victor. 

 The Kherson is the only yellow oat the station has had under test and 

 it has made a good average yield. The grains of this oat are small as 

 compared with other varieties and do not prepossess a farmer in their 

 favor. However, the Kherson is one of our earliest maturing and most 

 dependable varieties of oats. 



The Texas Red Rust Proof, although not showing as high an average 

 yield as some other varieties, is perhaps the best variety to grow in this 

 State on account of its rust resisting power. This was strikingly shown 

 in the season of 1908. When the yields of other varieties were not 

 worth taking, the Red Rust Proof average twenty-seven bushels to the 

 acre. The main objection to this variety is the fact that the kernels have 

 long beards, which cause the grain to must rather freely in the shock 

 and to become dusty and bin-burned when stored. As far as yielding a 



