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BULLETIN OF THE 
No. 99 
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, Wm. A. Taylor, Chief. 
June 8, 1914. 
TESTS OF SELECTIONS FROM HYBRIDS AND 
COMMERCIAL VARIETIES OF OATS. 
By C. W. Warburton, Agronomist in Charge of Oat Investigations,^ and L. C. Burnett 
and H. H. Love, Collaborators, Office of Cereal Investigations (in cooperation with 
the Iowa and Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Stations). 2 
INTRODUCTION. 
The breeding of oats was begun by the Bureau of Plant Industry 
in 1902. In that year Mr. Jesse B. Norton, then of the Plant-Breeding 
Laboratory, grew a collection of varieties at the Arlington Experi- 
mental Farm, near Washington, D. C., and made a large number of 
crosses. The resulting seed was planted in the spring of 1903 at 
Willey, 111. The following year the work was transferred to the 
vicinity of Bloomington, 111., where it was conducted from 1904 to 
1908. 3 Field-plat tests of a number of commercial varieties were 
also made at Willey in 1903 and during the earlier years of the work 
near Bloomington. The experiments were confined to nursery tests 
in 1907 and 1908. Pure-line selections were made from these plats 
of commercial varieties, and material for crossing was also taken 
from them. The first selections were made from the hybrids in 1904, 
and reselections were made from time to time as further breaking up 
was apparent. All these selections were first grown in head rows, 
and those which appeared to be most desirable were grown in suc- 
ceeding years in nursery rows of uniform length for comparative 
tests. 
In 1907 considerable numbers of the selections were sent to the 
Kentucky, Iowa, and Cornell University (New York) agricultural 
1 This bulletin is intended for the use of farmers, agronomists, and cereal breeders, to whom the com- 
parative data on selections from hybrids and commercial varieties should be of interest. It is adapted 
to the northern part of the United States as far west as the Missouri River. 
2 The work in cooperation with the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station has been under the direct 
chargeof Mr. L. C Burnett, while that in cooperation with theCornell University Agricultural Experiment 
Station has been under the direction of Dr. H. H. Love. The results of the work at these stations have 
been prepared for publication by Messrs. Burnett and Love, respectively. The remainder of the bulletin 
has been prepared by Mr. C. W. Warburton. 
3 Mr. Norton and the writer desire to acknowledge their indebtedness to Messrs. Deane N. and J. F. Funk 
for facilities furnished and for their hearty cooperation in the work near Bloomington. 
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