194 FIELD CROPS 



ing and disease. Most of these factors operate in one way 

 or another to increase the total yield. Early maturity is 

 particularly desirable in the Southern and Central states, so 

 that the grain may ripen before the hot summer weather, 

 which is unfavorable to the growth of this crop. An increase 

 in the proportion of kernel to hull is specially desired by 

 manufacturers of oatmeal and by stock feeders, for the hull 

 is of little value to live stock except as it lightens the ration 

 by increasing its bulk. 



239. Methods of Improvement. Some improvement in 

 the quality and yield of the crop may be obtained by cleaning 

 and grading the seed grain, sowing only the heaviest and 

 best seed. A considerable increase in yield will be obtained 

 if this process is continued from year to year. The best and 

 most reliable method for improving oats and developing new 

 strains is to make selections of individual plants or heads, 

 and to sow the seed from each of these individuals in separate 

 rows. The best strains can then be selected and the seed 

 threshed and sown at a uniform rate in rows of a given length 

 the following year, so as to obtain a reliable test of their yield- 

 ing power. Each strain should be threshed by itself and the 

 yield recorded each year, the best strains then being sown on 

 a larger scale the succeeding year. In this way, pure strains 

 can be developed, either bj^ straight selection or from plants 

 produced by hybridization. The production of oat hybrids 

 is rather a difficult process and is usually attempted only by 

 professional plant breeders. Even the selection and testing 

 of pure strains from commercial varieties involves too much 

 detail to make it practical for the farmer. 



240. Judging. Some of the agricultural colleges have 

 devised score cards for the use of their classes in judging 

 oats. While these differ in some minor points, they are usu- 

 ally based on the uniformity of the sample, the freedom from 

 other grains, weed seeds, and dirt, the odor, the weight per 

 bushel, and the percentage of hull to kernel. In some cases 



