56 



Experiments in Growth of Oats. 



Oat seeds grown in Scotland, and sown at Garforth, were 

 found to produce oats with a smaller percentage of husk, but 

 the weight of the grains was also, as a rule, diminished. 



The first object of this experiment was to test the yield of the 

 mixture as compared with either variety grown separately. 

 Abundance and Black Tartarian oats were mixed and sown on 

 plots which contained in the same series each variety sown 

 separately. The following table shows the results of two years' 

 experiments : — 



Yield of Oats fkom One-tenth Acre. 



• 



Variety. 



1901. 



1902. 



Average for 

 the 2 years. 



Average. 



Saleable 

 Corn. 



Second 

 Corn. 



Saleable 

 Corn. 



Second 

 Corn. 



Saleable 

 Corn . 



Second 

 Corn. 



Saleable 

 Corn. 



Second 

 Corn. 





lb. 



lb. 



lb. 



lb. 











Abundance ... 



231 



10 



257 



44 



244 



27 



1 



















| 204 



33*5 



Black Tartarian 



140 



5 



188 



75 



164 



40 







Mixture of Both 



195 



7 



257 



26 



226 



16-5 



226 



i6-5 



The second object of the experiment was to ascertain whether 

 there was any change in the proportion of black and white 

 oats in the crop as compared with the seed. 



The plot, one-tenth of an acre, was sown at the rate of four 

 bushels per acre. The seed corn consisted of equal weights of 

 the white and black oats, a sample of which was found to 

 contain the following proportion of grains : — 



Black Tartarian. Abundance. 



890 570 or roughly 3 Black : 2 White. 



The crop showed the 



following ratio ... 1,265 2 >97° „ ,, 3 Black : 7 White. 



The white oats in the crop during 1901 thus increased three 

 and a-half times compared with the black. A similar result 

 was obtained in 1902. The reason for this has not yet been 

 fully investigated. 



