VARIETIES OF OATS, BARLEY AND RYE 
Red Rustproof. Red Rustproof oats were in¬ 
troduced into the southern states from the 
Mediterranean Sea region at an early date. 
This type of oats is apparently best adapted 
to the warmer temperatures of the south. Nu¬ 
merous selections of Red Rustproof oats have 
been made by the experiment stations and 
different individuals and later distributed com¬ 
mercially. Most Red Rustproof oats on the 
market are unimproved and show mixtures 
of types. 
Nortex, a pedigreed selection made at the 
Texas Substation No. 6, Denton, Texas, has 
given good results in numerous trials in south¬ 
ern Oklahoma. 
Fulghum. Fulghum oats are said to be the 
result of a single plant selection made about 
1900 from a field of Red Rustproof (Appier) 
oats by J. A. Fulghum of Warrenton, Georgia. 
Fulghum oats are considered medium early 
in time of maturity and are popular on that 
account. In numerous tests by experiment 
stations in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Tex¬ 
as and other states Fulghum oats have led 
in yield. At the present time, Fulghum is the 
most important variety in Oklahoma and Kan¬ 
sas. Fulghum oats are grown and sold as 
Kanota oats in Kansas. Pedigreed selections 
of Fulghum oats have been made by several ex¬ 
periment stations and by different individuals. 
Frazier was developed from a locally grown 
field of Fulghum oats by the Texas Substation 
No. 6 at Denton, Texas. Some of the purest 
strains of Fulghum have been developed by 
the Coker’s Pedigreed Seed Company of Hart- 
ville, South Carolina. 
Michigan Winter Barley. Michigan Winter 
barley was developed by F. A. Spragg, plant 
breeder of the Michigan Experiment Station, 
from eight selected lots provided by Mr. H. B. 
Derr of the U. S. Department of Agriculture 
beginning in the fall of 1909. As a result of 
severe winter killing in the years that foll¬ 
owed, a promising strain was selected which 
was later named Michigan Winter. Early trials 
of the strain proved it to be a high yielder. It 
was first distributed in 1916. It was grown 
quite extensively in certain sections of Michi¬ 
gan until about 1923 when it was severely af¬ 
fected by winter killing after a hard winter. 
A few years later it again became prominent 
in southern Michigan. Urgent demand for 
a winter hardy barley in Oklahoma lead to its 
introduction into this state. The first trial of 
the variety in Oklahoma was made about 1923 
by Ben S. Allison, Cherokee, Alfalfa county. 
Mr. Allison has been a successful grower of 
the variety. Tests conducted by the state and 
federal experiment stations of Oklahoma have 
proved that the variety is one of the best for 
Oklahoma conditions. It is a bearded six row 
type. 
Missouri Early Beardless. Missouri Early 
beardless barley is an early maturing strain of 
the hooded type. It was first found on the farm 
of C. H. E. Walther, Boonville, Cooper county, 
Missouri about 1932. It was tested by the Mis¬ 
souri Experiment Station and found to be quite 
winter hardy, and, to some extent, chinch bug 
resistant. Early trials indicated that the va¬ 
riety could be used to advantage in a cropping 
system in which the early barley was followed 
immediately with soybeans in a cattle feed 
program. 
The variety has been widely distributed in 
Oklahoma during the past two years. In tests 
made by the state and federal experiment sta¬ 
tions of Oklahoma the variety was found to 
yield much less than adapted types and was 
much lighter in weight of grain. Adapted 
varieties of winter barley are all early in ma¬ 
turity and extreme earliness may be a disad¬ 
vantage under western Oklahoma conditions 
if the crop develops too rapidly during dry 
spring weather and ahead of May rains. In 
eastern Oklahoma, Missouri Early beardless 
barley should prove a desirable nurse crop in 
growing lespedeza and sweet clover. It matures 
from May 18 to May 25 depending upon the 
location, and can be followed with cowpeas or 
soybeans for soil improvement or late feed. 
Abruzzi. Abruzzi rye was introduced by the 
U. S. Department of Agriculture into the south 
over thirty years ago. Tests conducted by dif¬ 
ferent southern experiment stations indicate 
that Abruzzi is the leading variety of rye for 
the south. Breeding work of this variety was 
undertaken by David R. Coker of Hartsville, 
South Carolina, about 1909. A number of 
pedigreed strains of the variety have been dis¬ 
tributed since that time. 
Abruzzi is an early maturing productive 
variety. The variety makes a comparatively 
erect growth and is considered very desirable 
for winter pasture. On the other hand the 
variety is sometimes damaged by early freezes. 
It is probable that Abruzzi is best adapted to 
southeastern counties of the state, and that 
the area of its culture should be confined to 
the southern half of Oklahoma. 
