734 EXPEEIMENT STATIOX RECORD. 



Tlie average yields per acre in a comparisou of barley, ernmer, oats, hull-less 

 barley, spring wheat, field peas, aud spring rye, mentioned in the decreasing 

 order of yield, ranged from 2,672 lbs. to 1.709 lbs. of grain for the past 11 

 years. Results with 35 varieties of cereals and potatoes grown continuously 

 on the same fai'm from 17 to 23 years show that fully 80 per cent of the varie- 

 ties gave considerably larger yields during the latter as compared with the 

 earlier part of the period. In this connection, suitable crop rotations are 

 discussed and attention is called to the importance of growing the most profit- 

 able varieties. 



Experiments on the influence of seed selection with different crops in prog- 

 ress from 6 to 9 years are described and a table is presented showing that in 

 every instance the large plump seed gave a greater yield of grain per acre 

 than small, shrunken, or broken seed. The crops entering into this experiment 

 were spring and winter wheat, oats, barley, and peas, and exactly the same 

 number of seeds were used in the different plats. Plant selection as a factor in 

 crop improvement is dwelt upon, and the O. A. C. No. 21 barley and the O. A. C. 

 No. 72 oats, originated at the college, are described. The O. A. C. No. 21 

 barley is a selection from Mandscheuri barley, which has long been the leading 

 variety in Ontario but which is being supplanted at the present time by the 

 new strain, which 4 years' cooperative experiments in Ontario have indicated 

 to be the better of the two in yield of grain per acre, freedom from rust, and 

 both length and strength of straw. The O. A. C. No. 72 oats, a selection from 

 the Siberian variety, was distributed during the past year and the results 

 secured have shown it to be a very promising variety when compared with 

 other sorts such as Lincoln, Regenerated Abundance, and Siberian. It is 

 pointed out that the distribution of new varieties is greatly facilitated by the 

 Ontario Agricultural and Experimental Union, which numbered in 1911 4,490 

 experimenters. 



When 9 different proportions of oats and barley were use<l in combination the 

 mixture of 4 pks. or 34 lbs. of oats and of 4 pks. or 48 lbs. of barley per acre 

 gave the highest results in a test of G years, as well as in a second test of 5 

 years. This mixture surpassed in yield of grain per acre any one of 16 other 

 combinations. Different varieties of farm crops grown in combination with 

 barley for 5 years, the i*ate of seeding being 1 bu. of each per acre, showed that 

 hi every single instance the resulting crop was over 50 per cent barley. The 

 lowest percentage of barley was secured where Guy Mayle hull-less variety was 

 used with Siberian oats, and the highest percentage where Mandscheuri barley 

 was mixed with common flax. The influence of the Mandscheuri barley was 

 more pronounced than any of the two-rowed barleys used in combination with 

 oats. In studying the percentages of grain produced by different mixtures, it 

 was observed that six-rowed barley and oats have a strong tendency to repro- 

 duce themselves even when sown in combination with a larger number of other 

 leading varieties and classes of farm crops. 



Work in combating loose smut in oats and stinking smut in wheat was con- 

 tinued and a number of different treatments were compared. Early Ripe oats 

 proved practically immune to the attacks of smut spores, while Black Tartar 

 and Siberian were quite badly infested in 1911. The results of all the experi- 

 ments showed that the greatest yields of both winter wheat and oats per acre 

 were secured from the grain immersed in a solution of 42 gal. of water and 1 pt. 

 of formalin for 20 minutes. This treatment was the most effectiA-e in completely 

 preventing" smut in a 5-year test. 



The average yield of winter barley grown at the college for 15 years was 

 54.8 bu. per acre, the average weight being 47.S lbs. per measured bushel. 



