Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. 1917. 103 



The detailed results of the experiment for 1915 were pub- 

 lished in Bulletin 246. 



In 1916 sixteen dififerent varieties were tested. These in- 

 cluded all the varieties grown in 1915 except Imported Scotch, 

 and in addition two new varieties. One of these, known as 

 Maine 340, was originated by the Maine Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station at Highmoor Farm. This variety has proven to 

 be such an excellent oat for southern and central Maine that it 

 was thought desirable to test it under xA.roostook conditions. 

 The other new variety is the Alinnesota 26. This variety origi- 

 nated by the ^Minnesota Experiment Station has proven to be 

 very good in the southern part of the State. 



In the two preceding years each variety has been grown in 

 a single plot of about one-half acre. Owing to the uneven na- 

 ture of the land on Aroostook Farm the plot of one variety 

 sometimes fell on very good soil and that of another variety 

 on much poorer soil. In order to get around this difficulty 

 each variety was sown in 1916 on 3 separate plots each located 

 in a different part of the field. In this way there was much less 

 chance of all the plots of the variety falling on very good or 

 very poor soil. Each plot was 1-10 acre in area. The three 

 plots thus making 3-10 of an acre for each variety. The yield 

 of each variety is taken as the average of the 3 plots. 



The yield of each variety expressed in bushels of oats and 

 pounds of straw, and the average yield of grain for the two 

 years 1915 and 1916 are given in the table which follows on page 

 104. 



From this table it is seen that Maine 340 gave the best 

 yield and for this season at least has shown itself superior to 

 any of the other varieties. The Early Pearl and the Siberian 

 have always been near the top of the list in our variety tests. 

 The chief objection to these two varieties for Aroostook is their 

 late maturity. These varieties are from 3 to 6 days later than 

 Maine 340. 



The early varieties such as Kherson and Daubeney will 

 mature about a week or 10 days earlier than the others, but as 

 shown by the table their yields are not so good as many of the 

 others. 



Varieties such as Garton No. 5, Swedish Select and Senator 

 have been at the bottom of the list every year. We can be very 



