266 CHAPTER XV 



well filled out ; this indicates a high weight per bushel and 

 satisfactory maturity. For seeding purposes, large, plump seed 

 is very important. At the Ontario Agricultural College the 

 following result was obtained as an average of a seven years' 

 trial : — 



Large plump seed 62"0 bushels per acre. 



Mixed sample 54"1 ,, 



Small seed 46'6 ,, 



A great many experiments of this nature have been con- 

 ducted at various institutions, and while often faultily planned, 

 the general conclusion to be drawn from them is that the use 

 of large, plump seed for planting is very much the superior. 

 BoUey attributes the governing factor to be one largely of 

 disease, and he is, no doubt, very near the mark. These 

 experiments, too, emphasise the necessity for a greater use of 

 winnowing machines in the Union. 



(3) Freedo7n from Foreicjn Seed, etc. — Wild oats {Avena 

 fatua) is one of the worst weeds found in the oat crop, and it is 

 almost impossible to separate the seed from that of the ordinary 

 cultivated varieties. The seed of Darnel or Drabok (Loliimi 

 temulentum) is also frequently found in oat seed. 



(4) Thinness of Hull. —The percentage of hull varies 

 extraordinarily with the varieties, and while, of course, never 

 constant for the same variety, some breeds show an undesirable 

 and consistently high percentage. Since the hull, bran and 

 embryo are formed before the starch is fully developed in the 

 endosperm, naturally anything affecting full development, e.g., 

 unsuitable climatic and soil conditions, disease and insect injury 

 must, of course, affect the percentage of hull. At the Ontario 

 Agricultural College, in apparently well-developed oats this was 

 found to vary from 18*5 to 49'0 per cent, in different varieties. 



The importance of this point is well shown in the follow- 

 ing figures obtained at the above institution : — 



The weight per bushel, while important, is likely to be 

 misleading, e.g., the Early Devon in the above table weighed 

 37'67 pounds per bushel, but the seed contained 34*5 per cent, 

 hull. The feeding value of the hull is approximately equal to 



