168 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
In Keweenaw County, Michigan, these oats are pluinp and heavy, and 
mature much earlier than common oats, the correspondent adding that 
they promise great improvement, in early maturity, quality, and quantity ‘ 
over anything raised there. In Jackson County the yield was fifty-nine 
bushels per acre, and the crop matured early. John F. Van de Vante, 
of Sturgis, St. Joseph County, reported on the 1st of October, 1870, 
that from a package of Excelsior oats, received from this Department 
the preceding year, he raised two bushels, which this year produced one 
hundred and twenty-five bushels, weighing forty-four pounds to the 
bushel. He thinks this variety better adapted to that climate than any 
he has seen. 
In Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, the Excelsior oats yielded over 
fifty-eight bushels per acre, by measure, weighing forty-nine and one-half 
pounds per bushel. In Adams County, drilled in, on sandy loam, the 
yield in one instance was one hundred and forty-two-fold, and the weight 
forty-two pounds per bushel. In Oconto County the yield was sixty 
bushels per acre, and weight forty-four pounds. In Waupacca County 
the yield was large, and weight, in 1869, forty-six pounds, and in 1870 
forty-seven pounds per bushel. 
In Hamilton County, Ilinois, they weigh forty-ore pounds per bushel. 
In Champaign County the yield was about twenty-seven-fold in 1869, 
and the grain heavy. 
From Terre Haute County, Indiana, the secretary of the Henry Creek 
Agricultural Society writes that the Excelsior oats raised from the seed 
received from the Department took the premium at the county fair, and 
that the grain was fully equal to the original seed. 
In Cole County, Missouri, the Excelsior oats are pronounced much 
superior in grain and length and strength of straw to other varieties 
cultivated beside them. They were the premium oats at the county fair 
in 1869. In Phelps County the yield was thirty-two-fold; weight, forty- 
six pounds. 
In Cherokee County, Kansas, though affected in some localities with 
’ rust, they yielded better than the common varieties. 
In Sibley County, Minnesota, these oats are about eight days earlier 
than other varieties, and are reported to yield eighty bushels per acre. 
In Wayne County, Iowa, they are classed as superior; in Dallas 
County the yield is large, and the weight of grain forty-five pounds per 
bushel; and in Humboldt the yield is stated to be eighty-fold. 
In San Pete County, Utah, they are considered “a great acquisition, 
and weigh eight to ten pounds heavier than other oats.” 
The secretary of the Oregon State Agricultural Society reports that 
of the various grains tested on his own farm, the Excelsior oats proved 
superior, and seem well adapted to that State. 
VEGETABLES, PLANTS, ETC. 
A larger proportion of the reports of experiments with field and gar- 
den vegetables, plants, and grasses has been received from Southern 
and Western States; but of all reports made, few are here used or can 
be made available, as few furnish statements which permit a comparison 
of their value with varieties already in general cultivation. In many 
localities, however, the seeds distributed have proved of especial value, 
introducing new plants into suitable localities untried before, or supe- 
rior varieties of kinds already cultivated; and frequently, as was ex- 
Dee the mere change of seed has resulted in increased production. 
n some portions of “Texas the Russian turnip has proved a valuable 
acquisition, surpassing all others in flavor. The Orange Globe mangel- 
