805 

 Ohio Station, Bulletin Vol. V, No. I (Second Series), January, 1892 (pp. 20). 



Experiments with oats, J. F. Hickman, M. S. A. — These experi- 

 meuts included comparison of varieties, amount of .seed, sowin.ij broadcast 

 vs. drilling, and treatment for smut. They were couduc^ted during 181)0 

 and 1891 and were largely in continuation of experiments in previous 

 years. 



Comparison of varieties (pp. 3-1,3). — In 1890, 54 varieties were tested, 

 and in 1891, 50 varieties. In 1890 the oats suffered from an unknown 

 disease; in 1891 the sea.son was reasonably ftivorable throug'liont and 

 tliere was but little appearance of disease. The results for both years 

 are tabulated and discussed at length. 



Out of the 54 varieties grown in 1890 only 10 yielded over 30 bushels per acre. The 

 Improved American, Dakota Gray, White Canadian, and State of North Dakota gave 

 the highest yields under the adverse conditions of that season. Tlio average yield 

 of the 10 most productive varieties for 1890 was 32.48 bushels. For 1891 the average 

 yield of the same 10 was 52.64 bushels. These figures show that under favorable 

 conditions these varieties have yielded 60 per cent more than under the unfavorable 

 circumstances of the preceding year and indicate the loss sustained by tlie fiirmera 

 of the State as a result of tlie oats disease previously mentioned. * » * 



AVe have harvested on the average about 46 pounds of grain per acre more from the 

 Widc-Awake than from the Welcome and about 279 pounds more from the Seizure 

 than from the Welcome. The lowest yield of Seizure is higher than the higliest of 

 eitlier Welcome or Wide-Awake. » » * We are therefore abundantly justified in 

 assuming that for this season and for this rich bottom land the Seizure and a few 

 other varieties of its type have proved decidedly more productive than those of the 

 Welcome and Wide-Awake types. * * » 



[From the yield of 23 varieties during 6 years — 1886-91 — ] it appears that the 

 varieties of the Welcome type have given the lowest yield on the average, those of 

 the Wide-Awake type surjiassing them by 5 bushels per acre, and the mixed and 

 black oats giving a yield still greater. The largest average yield over this 6-year 

 jieriod has been given by Probsteier, which is closely followed by Early Dakota of 

 the same class, and by Black Tartarian and Monarch of the mixed varieties, while 

 State of North Dakota, Rust-Proof, Kansas Hybrid, White Schonen, and Black Rus- 

 sian all show average yields exceeding 50 bushels. 



In the weight per bushel of these varieties over the same 6-year period, we find 

 here a marked difl^erence in favor of the Welcome group, which is expl.aiiied by the 

 shorter, plumper berry of that class of oats. We have harvested on the average a 

 smaller weight of grain from the Welcome than from either of the other classes. 

 Just what proportion of this weight is husk or chaff in the difterent classes we are 

 not yet prepared to state. * * * 



Nearly a million acres are aimually sown to oats in Ohio. To increase this crop by 

 3 bushels per acre, which these experiments show to be quite within the bounds of 

 possibility, would add a million dollars annually to the income of the farmers of 

 the State. 



The results of tests of varieties made by farmers in the State in 

 1890 are tabulated. 



Quantity of seed (pp. 14-lG). — In 1890 oats were drilled on 11 plats at 

 rates ranging from 2 to 12 pecks of seed per acre, and in 1891 at rates 

 ranging from 4 to 9 pecks per acre. " In 1890 wet, cold weather and 

 the oat disease cut the crop down almost to a failure." In 1891 there 



