Anrirnltnrul & Jnbnatrial {Irunrr r.u in Canada 

 Published Monthly. Free on request. 



It will be appreciated by the Department if editors and 

 writer t using matter from this Bulletin wtil quote source. 



Norman S. Rankin, Editor of Publications. 

 E. L. Chicanot, Asst. Editor. 



terms than any other country in the world, 

 except the United States itself." 



A New Variety of Oats 



By F.J. Cowdery, Calgary, Alberta 



What appears to be a new variety of oats 

 is being raised by Mr. Alby Kite on his farm at 

 Cluny in Southern Alberta. From tests made 

 by him it seems that this "Mammoth" oats 

 as it is called is a very high yielder, with a 

 strong straw and plump kernel, and an ex- 

 cellent drought resister. With such character- 

 istics as these, this new oat may prove as great 

 a blessing to the farmers of Western Canada 

 as did the discovery of "Marquis" wheat. 



It was in 1915 that Mr. Kite noticed a 

 single oat root of some sixteen stools growing 

 on some land he was preparing for a garden. 

 On maturing, the plant appeared to be something 

 new in this farmer's experience, so he gathered 

 the grains and seeded them the following 

 year. Hail and other misfortunes have dog- 

 ged his footsteps, but last fall Mr. Kite had 

 gathered enough seed to put some forty acres 

 into crop. After next year's harvest there 

 should be enough of this new grain to allow 

 its being put on the market commercially, 

 and to be tested out on a wider scale. Samples 

 have already been sent to the Peace River 

 and to Idaho, and enthusiastic reports were 

 received from both these points. As the 

 Peace River farmer put it: "It has turned 

 out so well that I will take a carload if you can 

 let me have it. " 



Both the new strain and the standard 

 "Banner" oats have been grown side by side 

 on "dry" or non-irrigated land under ordinary 

 farming conditions, so a comparison between 

 these two varieties will prove interesting. In 

 1918, the driest year for the past decade in 

 the Cluny District, Banner oats were so short 

 they had to be cut with a hay mower for feed. 

 "Mammoth," on the other hand, stood more 

 than three feet high and made a paying crop. 

 The 1917 crop was almost completely hailed 

 out, but neighbors claimed it had every 

 appearance of yielding 125 bushels to the acre, 

 before the storm. 



A Hundred Bushels per Acre 



This year, another dry season, the area 

 planted on summer-fallow gave a return of 

 about 100 bushels to the acre. The peculiar 



drought-resisting qualities are accounted for 

 by the fact that this new variety has a main 

 tap-root some six or eight inches long which 

 reaches well down into the soil and is able to 

 withstand a drought that would be fatal to other 

 strains. 



"Mammoth" ripens in about the same 

 period as Banner; i.e., on an average of 110 

 days. It has a considerably heavier head, 

 however. From 50 to 60 panicles to a stem 

 are considered a good yield of Banner, but it 

 is claimed it is nothing unusual to find between 

 90 and 120 grains in a single head of the 

 variety. 



The plant has a long, thick straw whic 

 enables it to support the heavy head and pre 

 vent lodging. In appearance it is similar 

 the "side" oat, the panicles lying close int 

 the stem. The kernel is short but very plump, 

 somewhat resembling a wheat grain. Sample 

 tested have weighed as high as 46 pounds i( 

 the bushel, or 14 pounds over the standar 

 The quality appears to be up to the averag 

 with about 75% grain and 25% hull. 



It is naturally impossible to give any 

 authoritative figures as to yield, quality, etc., 

 until this grain has been officially tested over 

 a number of years. The achievements quoted 

 are the results of Mr. Kite's personal experi- 

 ences, but they all point to a new variety 

 of oats eminently suited to the Western Cana- 

 dian climate, combining the advantages of 

 both the "dual purpose" and side types. 

 Samples have now been submitted to one 

 of the provincial experimental stations with 

 a view of registration. 



Walnut Production in British Columbia 



^~^^^^^^^^^^^.ii.^^^^^^^^"^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^-~^^^^ ^ ^^ 



It is only as Canadian life progresses anc 

 experimenters and investigators of all kinc 

 give their experiences to the world that the 

 wide latitude of the possibilities the Dominion 

 offers in all lines is revealed. The already 

 wide extent of agricultural production is con- 

 stantly being added to ever since it was first 

 dogmatically stated that wheat would never 

 be grown successfully in the Canadian North- 

 West, and experience is making ceaseless 

 revelations of new lines of production to which 

 Canadian soil and climate prove admirably 

 adapted. 



Alderman Tisdall of Vancouver, as an 

 after-dinner treat to visitors at his ranch in 

 the Fraser Valley, serves walnuts grown on the 

 ranch, the high excellence of which invariablj 

 causes comment and a certain amount of astonish- 

 ment at this fruit being grown so successfully 

 within forty miles of the Pacific metro- 

 polis. These walnuts are indeed equal in 

 appearance, quality and flavor to the Cali- 

 fornia variety as attested by the California 

 Walnut Growers' Association, to whom samples 



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