192 LUTHER BURBANK 



An interesting anomaly with which I have 

 experimented is a hybrid form of the wild oat. 



A field of the second generation of these 

 hybrid oats furnishes one of the most interesting 

 studies of variation that has come under my 

 observation. Inspecting a field of these oats, 

 sown quite thinly, one finds on the same day some 

 that are thoroughly ripe, while others are not 

 yet in bloom. There is corresponding diversity 

 as to the appearance of the plants, some having 

 broad leaves and some narrow ones. 



Some of the plants are very tall, and others 

 short and stocky. The panicles are of all forms 

 and sizes. In a word, the hybrids vary in almost 

 every way in which they could vary, and still be 

 recognized as oats. 



It is obvious that such a variant type of oats 

 gives opportunity for selection and development 

 of new varieties. 



The tendency to vary as to time of ripening 

 has peculiar interest, as suggesting the possibil- 

 ity of adapting oats and doubtless also the 

 other cereals to different climates, or even of 

 the production of different varieties in the same 

 locality, which, by ripening at different seasons, 

 would enable the farmer to avoid the ex- 

 cessive rush of work that attends the harvest 

 season. 



