1905.] Experiments with Varieties of Oats. 221 



Variety, 



Navity. 



Rosehaugh. 



Davidston. 



Ballach- 

 raggari. 



Average . 



I 



£ s. 



d. 



£ s. 



d. 



£ s. 



d. 



£ s. 



d. 



£ s. d. 



Waver ley 



13 17 



3 



H 3 



0 



13 12 



0 



13 4 



9 



13 14 3 



Hamilton 



12 13 



0 



13 5 



6 



14 4 



0 



13 11 



9 



13 8 7 



Potato 



11 7 



6 



16 13 



9 



II 4 



0 



13 6 



0 



13 2 10 



Sandy 



10 17 



9 



15 12 



9 



12 II 



6 



13 7 



0 



13 2 3 



Newmarket ... 



11 17 



9 



15 10 



0 



II S 



6 



12 18 



6 



12 18 8 



Banner 



9 0 



0 



14 2 



9 



12 II 



6 



13 4 



9 



12 4 9 



Storm King ... 



9 15 



0 



16 16 



9 



II 2 



3 



9 4 



0 



11 14 6 



Goldfinder ... 



10 6 



6 



11 7 



3 



II 16 



0 



12 8 



6 



11 9 7 



On the whole the popularity of the old-established strains — 

 Potato, Hamilton, and Sandy — in such years as 1902 and 1903 

 is considered to be justified. By a process of selection the 

 varieties that best withstand the frequent adverse climatic con- 

 ditions have been retained, and the old strains are the progeny 

 of these ; incapable of responding freely to favourable seasons, 

 but hardened to low temperatures and able to mature in a 

 deficiency of sunlight. 



The new varieties, on the other hand, are frequently the 

 result of crosses with foreign oats of delicate constitution, or the 

 progeny of direct importations from sunnier and hotter climates. 

 Banner is an example. 



Nevertheless, there is no doubt that in many cases the 

 " new " varieties are far more valuable than the " old." Even in 

 1903 Waverley was, in total money value of crop, superior to any 

 older strain. It remains to discover under what conditions 

 they will prove more profitable and how they may be still 

 further improved. 



The Report concludes with the observation that a variety 

 experiment is easily made, and may prove of the greatest 

 value to the experimenter. The difference in value between 

 one variety and another is often more than the rent, and 

 the cost of discovering the difference is chiefly the trouble 

 of weighing the produce on a selected area. There is no sure 

 test but the weighing machine. Nothing is easier than to 

 misjudge two crops of oats of different kinds. In Moray- 

 shire, when the growing crops were inspected, Siberian was 

 generally put in the lowest place, but the weighbridge proved it 

 the second best. 



