Ix\CREASE PLATS OF WHEAT 



Striking contrasts are evident amon.^ the various plats in respect to the size of the 



plants. (Fig. 11.) 



periment Station and our department. 

 The work is done jointly by Professor 

 Alfred Atkinson and ourselves. Each 

 year seeds are exchanged between the 

 two places for comparison with the 

 locally grown seeds. This experiment 

 is now five years old and results will 

 soon be ready for publication. 



Another cooperative experiment of a 

 similar nature with wheat has been ar- 

 ranged between Professor W. C. Ethe- 

 ridge of the Agronomy Department of 

 the University of Missouri and our 

 department. 



HYBRIDIZATION WORK 



The experiments in hybridization 

 are two-fold in nature. They are 

 planned to study the mode of inherit- 

 ance of the various quantitative and 

 qualitative characters while at the 

 same time any types that give promise 

 of being of commercial value are saved 

 for comparison with standard sorts. 

 Fig. 12 shows the method of harvesting 

 hybrids in the field. These studies 

 have been under way since 1910 and 

 are furnishing much valuable data. 



With oats such characters as color of 

 glume, pubescence on the glume, basal 

 pubescence, kind of awns, presence of 

 awns, articulation, ligule and hull-less- 

 ness are being studied. Numerous 

 crosses between the various domestic 

 or cultivated oats have been made as 

 well as crosses between the different 

 wild forais. So far as possible all of 

 the important species are being used in 

 these crosses. 



Various colors have been studied and 

 some interesting facts have been deter- 

 mined. It has been found in crosses 

 between the Sixty Day oat and the 

 wild Avena fatua that the yellow color 

 of the Sixty Day inhibits the produc- 

 tion of well-developed awns and pubes- 

 cence on the glumes. These crosses 

 have also shown that different types are 

 found among the fatua. One sort 

 when crossed with the White Tartar 

 King gives 15 pubescent to 1 non- 

 pubescent plants in the second genera- 

 tion while another type produces a. 

 ratio of 3 pubescent to 1 non-pubes- 

 cent. Two forms of black oats classed 

 as the same variety give white glumed 



71 



