STUDIES ON OAT BREEDING. 117 



obtained in a variety test with several small plots of each vari- 

 ety than with a single large one. Furthermore all the plots are 

 subjected to the same conditions and consequently the results are 

 comparable. Some of our observations indicate that the yield 

 of oats in 1-40 acre plots may be 10 per cent higher than in a 

 large field. If the reader so desires he may reduce the yield 

 reported, by 10 or even 15 per cent but that will not in the least 

 affect the conclusions drawn from this work as to the relative 

 value of these varieties. It is this relative value which we are 

 trying to determine. The use of systematically repeated small 

 plots helps very materially in reducing the experimental errors 

 due to differences in soils and other environmental condi- 

 tions and aids us in determining the relative intrinsic value of 

 the different varieties. 



In 1914 the test plots were located in the field to the south- 

 west of the buildings on Highmoor Farm. They were on the 

 west side of the farm road and extended from the house almost 

 to Ben Davis No. 1 orchard. This field had been in potatoes in 

 1913. The land was apparently very uniform with the excep- 

 tion of a few places where a ledge came near the surface. These 

 spots were not included in the variety test. The methods cf 

 handling the soil and the crop were the same as those given in 

 a previous paper. 12 



The plots were arranged in six tiers, each with 28 plots. Al- 

 lowing for plots not planted on account of ledges, etc., there 

 were 148 plots in the variety test. Eighty-eight of these were 

 sown with commercial varieties, i. e., there were 22 commercial 

 varieties with four plots each. The remaining plots contained 

 the pure line varieties discussed in this paper. The plots were 

 planted May 3 to 6 with the exception of a few which on ac- 

 count of heavy rains could not be sown until about ten days 

 later. 



The seasonal conditions for oats in 1914 were very favorable. 

 A sufficient supply of moisture well distributed throughout the 

 season produced a very heavy crop. The yield in this year was 

 much heavier than can be expected throughout a series of years. 



The yield and other data for each of the pure line plots to- 

 gether with the average observed and corrected yield of each 

 line is given in Table 4. 



2 Surface and Barber. Loc. cit. 



