20 
BULLETIN 1309, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUltl 
WINTER OATS 
Wint3r oats have bean produced successfully on the Arlington 
Experiment Farm. Though the data available for a comparison 
of fall-sown and spring-sown oats are limited, they indicate that 
spring sowing is much more precarious. In 1911 and 1912 spring 
oats were grown in nursery rows. The 1911 crop was practically a 
failure, but in 1912 some varieties produced, good yields and others 
failed. The Burt, Sixty-Day, and Early Champion varieties and 
several selections from hybrids grown in tenth-acre plats in 1913 
produced low yields. The average acre yield of all varieties of 
spring oats in 1913 was 13.5 bushels. 
Fall-sown oats have been grown in the varietal experiments since 
1911, and in only 2 of the 12 years (1912 and 1920) has the average 
yield of all varieties been materially below r 40 bushels per acre. 
The 13-year average of all varieties is practically 47 bushels. In 
1912 a minimum winter temperature of — 13° F. was recorded in 
January, and severe winterkilling of the oat varieties resulted, re- 
ducing the average yield in that year to 13.1 bushels. The second 
failure of winter oats occurred in 1920, when the average yield was 
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Fig. 6.— Diagram showing the average yields of the principal varieties of oats grown at the Ar- 
lington Experiment Farm during the 8-year period, 1916-1923, inclusive 
14.5 bushels. The lowest temperature during the winter of 1919-20 
was 2° F., yet injury was severe; although the temperature was not 
extreme, the period of cold weather was more extended than usual. 
Spring conditions gave the oat plants little opportunity to recover, 
but favored a heavy growth of dog fennel. 
In the winter of 1917-18 it w T as shown that zero weather alone 
does not necessarily cause the failure of fall-sown oats. Minimum 
temperatures ranging from -2° to —7° F. occurred in December, 
January, and February, yet the average yield of oats in 1918 w^as 
almost 53 bushels per acre. Again in 1921-22 a minimum tempera- 
ture of — 2° F. was recorded, but the small grains were protected by 
an unusually heavy snow and no winter injury was observable. 
Yields of the oat varieties are shown in Table 15. Varieties grown 
three years or less prior to 1915 and then discarded are not included. 
Yields of these varieties were reported in Department Bulletin No. 
336. The highest yields of winter oats were produced in 1914, 1919, 
1921, and 1922. 
Two of the varieties of fall-sown oats, Winter Turf (C. I. No. 431) 
and Culberson (C. I. No. 273), have been grown each year during 
th el3-year period, 1911-1923, inclusive. The 13-year average acre 
