440 



The Seeding of Grain. 



sends up a number in proportion to the food, time and space 

 at its disposal. In this way there is a sort of compensating 

 element between thick and thin sowing, the thin-sown crop 

 always producing a greater number of stalks in proportion 

 to the seed sown than the thickly sown one, with a corre- 

 spondingly greater quantity of grain per bushel of seed sown. 



While the above is correct regarding the varieties named, 

 and several others, it is not so with regard to every oat, as 

 there are many varieties which are very feeble in regard to 

 tillering power. The old black Tartarian is very weak in 

 this respect, as is also the more recently introduced Tartar 

 King". The consequence is that in practice from a quarter to 

 a third more seed of these and similar varieties is sown than 

 where strong tillering ones are used. In an ordinary crop 

 Black Tartarian and Tartar King only occasionally throw 

 up over two stalks per plant, and in many cases only one, 

 whereas Tarn Findlay and Potato, under similar circumstances, 

 will have from two to four. In 1899 Professor Mc Alpine, of the 

 West of Scotland Agricultural College, sowed seven grains 

 of twelve varieties of oats in pots filled with loamy soil, and 

 set the pots side by side in garden soil, in order to test the 

 tillering power of each under similar circumstances. The 

 following is a condensed summary of the results given in the 

 Report of the West of Scotland Agricultural College for 

 1900 : — 





Total Number 



Total Number 



Total Number 



Name of Variety. 



of Shoots 



of Full-sized 



of 



Grown. Seven 



Matured 



Immature 





Grains Sown. 



Shoots. 



Shoots. 



*Providence .... 



41 



16 



25 



Potato 



18 



11 



7 



Potato (grown in pit sand) 



38 



23 



15 



Sandy 



65 



30 



35 



Hamilton 



57 



30 



27 



Longhoughton 



20 



12 



8 



Newmarket - 



27 



16 



11 



Tarn Findlay - - - 



84 



44 



40 



t Tartar King - - 



16 



16 



0 



tPioneer 



*7 



12 



- 5 ' 



fBanner (Canadian) - 



30 



24 



6 



Improved Ligowo (Canadian) - 



38 



18 



20 



Black Tartarian ... 



20 



20 



0 



* One of the plants of this variety produced smutty ears. 



t In Tartar King and Pioneer two of the grains failed to germinate, and in Banner 

 one grain failed. To make the results comparable with the others, allowance has been 

 made for this failure of germination. 



