STUDIES ON OAT BREEDING. I45 



by the more vigorous growing marginal plants than in the case 

 of long and narrow plots. A plot in the form of a square more 

 nearly approaches the conditions found in a general field than a 

 plot of equal size in any other shape. 



All of the grain sown at Highmoor in plots of i-io acre or 

 larger is planted in drills seven inches apart by means of a large 

 disk grain drill. This machine drops the seed under forced 

 feed. Eleven rows are planted at a time. This method of seed- 

 ing insures that the grain is covered at an even depth and gives 

 a much more even stand than does the usual method of broad- 

 casting. 



In the case of fortieth acre plots in the form of a square it 

 is obviously impossible to use a large drill. In these plots the 

 ground is first thoroughly prepared and then marked ofif in 

 rows six inches apart. The grain is then planted with a small 

 hand drill which plants one row at a time. Three of these drills 

 were used in planting the 191 3 plots. 



The rate of seeding has been uniformly two bushels per acre 

 for each variety in each year. However, in 1910 the rate was 

 two bushels by measure, while in 191 1, 1912, and 191 3 it was 

 two bushels by weight. For many varieties characterized by 

 large grains two bushels per acre does not give a sufficient 

 stand. The basis for seeding oats should take into account the 

 number of grains per bushel. However, the four year test of 

 these varieties with uniform rate of seeding gives us a kind of 

 data that could not be obtained by other methods. 



HARVESTING AND THRESHING. 



The general practice in harvesting has been to allow the grain 

 to mature as much as possible without shattering. This means 

 that the plants will have lost practically all the green color and 

 the grain will be fairly hard. In the case of the larger plots it 

 is then cut with a binder, shocked and allowed to dry. On the 

 fortieth acre plots it is necessary to cut the grain with a cradle 

 and bind it by hand. When completely cured each plot is 

 hauled to the scales and threshing machine. In order to facili- 

 tate handling the grain from the fortieth acre plots, large can- 

 vasses 12 X 12 feet were used to wrap around all the grain from 

 a single plot. In this way a number of small plots could be 

 hauled at once without danger of rtiixing the grain. 



