6 BULLETIISr 823, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



EXPERIMENTAL DATA. 



While experiments with the Kherson and Sixty-Day oats were 

 begun soon after their introduction into this country, these oats were 

 not generally grown in varietal experiments in field plats until about 

 1904. Within the following three or four years these varieties were 

 generally included in varietal experiments by the agricultural ex- 

 periment stations, particularly those in the corn belt and in the Great 

 Plains area. Some of these experiments are still in progress, while 

 others have been discontinued. Most of these experiments were 

 continued long enough to furnish definite evidence regarding the 

 adaptability of the variety to the locality. 



VARIETAL EXPERIMENTS IN THE EASTERN HALF OP THE 

 UNITED STATES. 



Kherson and Sixty-Day oats have been included in practically all 

 the varietal experiments with spring oats conducted in the eastern 

 half, or humid area, of the United States. Results obtained at 23 

 experiment stations located in 17 States are presented herein. For 

 the most part, these experiments have been conducted in the North- 

 Atlantic, the east North-Central, and the west North-Central groups 

 of States. 



The experiments at Ithaca, N. Y., Ames, Iowa, McPherson, Kans., 

 and Brookings, S. Dak., have been conducted cooperatively by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture and the State agricultural 

 experiment stations of those States, respectively. The experiments 

 at Orono, Me., Durham, N. H., State College, Pa., Wooster, Ohio, 

 La Fayette, Ind., De Kalb, Fairfield, and Urbana, 111., St. Paul, 

 Crookston, and Grand Rapids, Minn., Fargo, N. Dak., Lincoln, Nebr., 

 Manhattan, Kans., Knoxville, Tenn., Carthage, Mo., Fayetteville, 

 Ark., and Denton, Tex., have been conducted independently by the 

 agricultural experiment stations of the respective States. 



In' order to interpret experimental results properly, a knowledge 

 of the principal physical factors influencing plant growth is essential. 

 Such information as is available regarding these factors is shown in 

 Table I. 



According to the data shown in Table I, the average annual pre- 

 cipitation exceeds 40 inches at Orono, Me., Knoxville, Tenn., and 

 Fayetteville, Ark. At the remaining stations except those in 

 Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Nebraska, the average annual pre- 

 cipitation is above 30 inches. Though occasional droughts occur, 

 some of which are so long continued and so severe as to cause serious 

 damage, the rainfall throughout this area is usually sufiicient for 

 croj) growth. 



In most of the area under discussion summer temperatures are 

 high. Except in New England and the Dakotas the mean tempera- 



