274 THE SMALL GRAINS 



South Dakota to "rush the season"; to plant early in order to 

 escape frost, which practice is also reflected in other spring crops. 

 However, in case of oats, unlike that of corn, early planting makes 

 little or no difference in time of ripening, hence necessarily lengthens 

 the period of growth. (See 289.) On the other hand, the un- 

 usual decrease in the length of this period in Nebraska, under that 

 of Kansas, with no further decrease even in North Dakota, may be 

 explained by the greater proportion of the cropping in Nebraska 

 under dry conditions (because of the greater extension westward of 

 that state than of Kansas, and the smaller percentage of farming 

 done in the western portions of North and South Dakota), for 

 length of growing period decreases with dry ness. 



288. Investigations. In this country, complete phe- 

 nological observations have not yet been made for any 

 crop at one place for any considerable time, much less 

 for different varieties of the same crop at different places 

 in comparison. The best source of accurate information 

 in this line, so far, exists in the cereal experiments now 

 being conducted by the Office of Cereal Investigations, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, at twenty- 

 eight points in the United States. At most of these sta- 

 tions six to eight years' work has already been done, but 

 the observations, which are now quite complete each 

 year, have not yet been brought together and made avail- 

 able for publication. A serious defect in observations 

 heretofore made is the lack of notes now being taken by 

 the United States Department of Agriculture, on the 

 time of cessation of growth of winter cereals in the fall, 

 and the time of beginning growth of the same the follow- 

 ing spring, in other words, taking account of the period 

 of rest already mentioned (285). 



289. The fruiting period. The most critical period 

 in the life of the crop is that between heading and ripen- 

 ing, including the flowering stage. Intense heat at 



