110 THE SMALL GRAINS 



and a small corner of Colorado. Various northern and 

 southern oat varieties compete for establishment, in- 

 cluding the southern Rustproof and northern Swedish 

 Select, also Silvermine of the east and Kherson of the 

 west, making it truly a transition district. The conditions 

 in a large part of the district are very severe for oat- 

 growing, and the varieties that finally prevail must be 

 of the hardiest. The two varieties gradually predominat- 

 ing are Kherson and Sixty-Day. In Iowa, Early Cham- 

 pion is also extensively grown. Silvermine, Swedish 

 Select, and Rustproof have done well in portions of the 

 district. The usually recurring drought of early summer 

 makes drought-resistance an important characteristic. 

 Earliness also is very desirable that the crop may ripen 

 if possible before the drought occurs. 



Varieties now grown : 



Early Champion Rustproof Sixty-Day 



Kherson Russian Green Swedish Select 



Newmarket Silvermine 



Needs of the district : 

 Drought-resistance Earliness 



101. Southern Plains or Red oat district. This dis- 

 trict includes a large portion of Missouri, Kansas, eastern 

 Colorado, western Oklahoma, western Texas, and eastern 

 and southern New Mexico. As Texas Red or Rustproof 

 is the variety most generally grown, it may well be 

 called the Red oat district. However, Kherson and 

 Sixty-Day have in recent years been found well adapted 

 in Kansas. Rustproof and Kherson have proved to be 

 the best at the Oklahoma Experiment Station. In Texas 

 the fall-sown Rustproof oats of the Southern district is 

 gradually succeeded by the spring-sown strain to the 



