FIELD CROPS 489 



partment of Agriculture, arid Kherson, introduced by the Nebraska 

 Agricultural Experiment Station. While much has been done in. 

 this line in the past, we can not depend entirely on this source for 

 the future, as we have practically exhausted the list of existing varie- 

 ties in Europe, and highly specialized varieties bred there are un- 

 likely to succeed over any large area of the United States. The se- 

 lection and improvement of those varieties already introduced which 

 have proved of value can best be carried on in our own country in 

 the sections to which they are adapted. 



Little permanent improvement can be secured by the exchange 

 of seed from one locality to another. A variety which does well 

 in one State or section will not necessarily succeed in another, even 

 though conditions are apparently similar, whereas the general ten- 

 dency is to make these transfers between localities with greatly 

 varying conditions of soil and climate. The transfer of plump, 

 heavy grain grown under irrigation in Montana can hardly be at- 

 tended with success when the succeeding crop is grown under the 

 very different conditions of Iowa or Illinois. Where improved 

 high-yielding varieties can be secured from near-by growers, their 

 purchase to replace common or inferior stock is to be recommended, 

 but it is not advisable to secure seed oats from a section in which 

 the conditions are widely different from those under which 

 the crop is to be grown. 



Use of the Seed Plat. A practical method of improving the 

 oat crop, though one which involves some time and expense, is the 

 use of the small seed plat. This requires the selection of a consider- 

 able quantity of good heads from the field after the grain matures, 

 and just before it is harvested. Care should be exercised in selecting 

 the heads, so as to get them as nearly as possible of one type. Only 

 plants which show superior qualities under ordinary conditions 

 should be selected. Those which stand alone, near the edge of the 

 field, or which are otherwise especially favored, should be rejected. 

 The heads selected should be thrashed by hand and the grain se- 

 cured should be sown on a plat of well-prepared land the following 

 epring. The crop should be harvested and thrashed separately from 

 the main crop. At thrashing, the first portion to go through the 

 machine should be rejected, as it is likely to contain a mixture of 

 other grain. The grain from the seed plat should be used the suc- 

 ceeding year for sowing the general crop, or such portion of it as 

 the quantity of seed secured makes possible. 



To effect permanent improvement, the best heads should be 

 selected from the seed plat at each harvest to plant the seed plat of the 

 next year. The quantity selected will, of course, vary with the size 

 of the seed plat desired. If possible this should be large enough to 

 furnish seed for the general crop of the following year. Where the 

 acreage is considerable, another year is required for the transfer 

 from the seed plat to the general crop. For instance, enough heads 

 are selected the first season to make one bushel of seed. This is 

 sown on a half acre and produces 25 bushels. The 25 bushels will 

 sow 10 to 12 acres the following year, which should produce enough 



