222 



for general use, althoup;h in our experiments it did not prevent all the smut. 

 However, in the most favorable form, only 5 heads out of ".5,912 were smutted, and it 

 is probable that these were accidental, since they grew from two hills on the edges 

 of the lilat. 



The Jensen treatment, which consists in immersing the seed for a few 

 minutes in scalding water, was the only one which destroyed the s^ut 

 and left a full stand and the highest yield, with one slight exceptiou. 

 This method is described in detail. 



The bulletin is illustrated with a plate showing smutted heads and 

 sound and smutted grains of wheat. 



Kansas Station, Bulletin No. 13, August, 1890 (pp. 30). 



Experiments with oats, C. 0. GEORaESON, M. S., and H. M. 

 CoTTRELL, M. S. (pp. 53-80). — The high temperature and dry atmos- 

 phere characteristic of Kansas during thegrowiug season prevent large 

 yields of oats, even under the most favorable conditions. "There is, 

 therefore, all the more reason for instituting careful and far-reaching 

 experiments with this crop in order to ascertain, if possible, by what 

 methods and from what varieties we may expect to obtain the best 

 results." 



The past season has been unusually dry, so that the yields of oats in 

 the experiments reported in tbis bulletin are abnormally low. The fol- 

 lowing series of experiments were uudertaken : 



1. Methods of seeding. CI) On plowed us. unplowed land : (a) listing, (6) drilling, 

 (c) cultivating, (2) broadcasting on plowed land, (3) plowed under. 



2. Character of seed: (n) light, (6) common, (c) heavy. 



3. Single variety vs. a mixture of varieties. 



4. Cultivation vs. no culture. 



5. Harvesting at different stages of ripeness : (a) dough, (b) hard dough, (o) ripe. 



6. Oats as a hay crop: (a) oats only, (5) oats and soi-ghum, (c) oats and millet. 



7. Oats grown as single plants. 



8. Test of eighty- five varieties. 



All the experiments except the last were made on a dark clay-loam 

 upland soil, which had been in corn the two previous years. Details 

 are given in tables. 



(1) Methods of seeding. — These experiments were on twentieth-acre 

 plats, five plats being used in each trial, with one exception. 



The following table shows the .average yieM of the several plats under each 

 method of seeding, in bushels iJer acre : 



