THE IMPROVEMENT OF OATS 209 



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 or no value. 



254. 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 secured 

 if this process is continued from year to year. The careful 

 selection in the field of a quantity of good heads of the same 

 type and from plants which are growing under ordinary con- 

 ditions, and the planting of the grain from these heads in a 

 separate plat for seed production, will result in a marked 

 improvement of the crop. The best and most reliable 

 method for improving oats and developing new strains is to 

 make selections of individual plants or heads, and to plant 

 the seed from each of these individuals in separate rows. 

 The best strains can then be selected and the seed thrashed 

 and planted at a uniform rate in rows of a given length the 

 following year, so as to obtain a reliable test of their yielding 

 power. Each strain should be thrashed by itself and the 

 yield recorded each year, and the best strains planted on a 

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

 can be developed, either by 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. The selection of individual 

 plants for several successive years is sometimes necessary 

 before strains which will "come true" are obtained. 



