BULLETIN OF THE 
No. 218 
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, Wm. A. Taylor, Chief. 
May 28, 1915. 
OATS IN THE GREAT PLAINS AREA: RELATION OF CULTURAL 
METHODS TO PRODUCTION. 
By E. 0. Chilcott, Agriculturist in Charge, and J. S. Cole and W. W. Burr, 
Assistants, Office of Dry -Land Agriculture. 1 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Introduction 1 
Area included in these investigations 3 
Climatic conditions 3 
General plan of the investigations 4 
Comparison of cultural methods . 
Results at the several stations . . . 
General discussion of results 
Conclusions 
Tage. 
8 
11 
38 
41 
INTRODUCTION. 
This bulletin contains a study of the yields of oats from different 
methods of cultivation and seed-bed preparation at fourteen field 
stations on the Great Plains. 
i All of the members of the scientific stall of the Office of Dry-Land Agriculture have contributed 
more or less to this paper by having charge of field investigations and by assisting in the preparation of 
data for records or for publication. The scientific staff as at present constituted consists of the fol- 
lowing members, named in the order of length of service: W. W. Burr, Denver, Colo.; E. F. Chilcott, 
Woodward, Okla.; O. J. Grace, Akron, Colo.; J. S. Cole, Denver, Colo.; J. M. Stephens, Moccasin, Mont.; 
A. L. Ilallsted, Hays, Kans.; O. R. Mathews, Belle Fourche, S. Dak.; J. C. Thysell, Dickinson, N. Dak.; 
M. Pfaender, Mandan, N. Dak.; H. C. McKinstry, Hettinger, N. Dak.; W. M. Osborn, North Flatte, 
Nebr.; W. D. Griggs, Dalhart, Tex.; C. A. Burmeister, Amarillo, Tex.; J. E. Mundell, Big Spring, Tex.; 
F. L. Kelso, Ardmore, S. Dak.; W. A. Peterson, Mandan, N. Dak.; J. T. Sards, Ardmore, S. Dak.; G. W. 
Morgan, Huntley, Mont.; J. H. Jacobson, Mitchell, Nebr.; H. G. Smith, Tucumcari, N. Mcx.; L.N. 
Jensen, Woodward, Okla.; J. G. Lill, Garden City, Kans.; R. S. Towle, Edgeley, N. Dak.; A. J. Ogaard, 
Williston, N. Dak.; C. B. Brown, Dalhart, Tex.; L. D. Willey, Archer, Wyo.; J. B. Kuska, Colby, Kans.;- 
and A. E. Seamans, Akron, Colo. 
The following-named men have held positions on the scientific staff of the Office of Dry-Land Agriculture 
during the past nine years, but have resigned or have been transferred to other offices of the Department of 
Agriculture: Sylvester Balz, F. L. Kennard, J. E. Payne, L. E. Hazen, C. A. Jensen, H. R. Reed, W. O. 
Whiteomb, C. H. Plath, F. Knorr, and R. W. Edwards. 
The data here reported from the stations in Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Montana have been 
obtained in cooperation with the agricultural experiment stations of their respective States. In South 
Dakota, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico the stations are operated by the United States 
Department of Agriculture. 
Field, office, and laboratory facilities, teams, and implements have been provided by the Office of Western 
Irrigation Agriculture, at Huntley, Mont., Belle Fourche, S. Dak., and Mitchell, Nebr., and by the Office 
of Cereal Investigations at Amarillo, Tex. , and Archer, Wyo. The Biophysical Laboratory has cooperated 
in obtaining the meteorological data reported. 
Note.— This bulletin is intended for all who are interested in the agricultural possibilities of the Great 
Plains area. 
87674°— Bull. 218 — 1.5- 
