A CLASSIFICATION OF THE VARIETIES OF CULTIVATED OATS 1 
W. C. Etheridge 
Among the varieties of oats grown in this country there is a diversity of 
type to fit the wide range in natural environment. Adaptiveness of the 
variety to local conditions is therefore a factor that directly affects the 
yield and the profitableness of the crop; hence the choice of a variety for 
given conditions and purposes should receive careful consideration. 
But the choice of a variety is contingent on the establishment of the 
identity of the several types. The desired type must be recognized and 
distinguished with certainty from all other types, otherwise a proper 
choice is largely a matter of chance. In recent years the number of 
varieties has been rapidly increased by foreign introductions and by the 
development of plant breeding. This has resulted in a multiplicity of 
forms for which there are no comprehensive and accurate descriptions, 
and hence no means of systematic identification. Along with the increase 
in varietal forms have come misuses of nomenclature, similar popular 
names being applied to different forms, and similar forms carrying dif- 
ferent names. The increase in number of forms, many of them scarcely 
different, and the confusion of their nomenclature, now make uncertain 
the identification of varieties by their names or general appearance. 
There is need, therefore, for a usable system of classification by which 
the grower may identify the varieties with which he is concerned. It is 
the purpose of this study to make such a classification of the American 
varieties as they appear when grown in the environment of New York 
State, and to clear to some extent the confusion in varietal nomenclature. 
Since a knowbdge of the structure of cultivated plants is of funda- 
mental importance to the student in agronomy, the morphology of the 
oats plant is fully discussed herein. It is hoped that the descriptions of 
structural parts may be useful to those who study systematically the 
cultivated varieties. 
i Also presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University, September, 1915, as a 
major thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy. 
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