40 
Journal oj Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXX, No. 1 
Table VII.— Data on inheritance of twisted , nontwisted (long and short), and 
absent awns in eight strains of Burt oat grown at the Akron Field Station in 
1920 
Awn classes in progeny 
Number of kernels with awns— 
parent kernels ° 
Twis;ed 
Nontwisted 
Absent 
Twisted 
Nontwisted 
Absent 
Long 
Short 
Long 
Short 
Kansas No. 5020: 
Twisted_ 
114 
33 
10 
69 
50.5 
14.6 
4.4 
30. 5 
Nontwisted_ _ 
107 
158 
562 
233 
10.1 
14.9 
53.0 
22. 0 
Absent__ _ 
166 
158 
194 
1,157 
9.9 
9.4 
11.6 
69.1 
Kansas No. 5211: 
26 
Twisted____ 
562 
30 
143 
73.9 
3.4 
3.9 
18. 8 
Nontwisted_ 
458 
815 
3,602 
661 
8.3 
14.7 
65. 1 
11.9 
Absent.__ 
389 
289 
557 
2,105 
11.6 
8.7 
16.7 
63.0 
Kansas No. 5220: 
Nontwisted___ 
46 
87 
168 
87 
11.9 
22.4 
43.3 
22.4 
Absent..... 
120 
208 
237 
681 
9.6 
16.7 
19.0 
54.7 
Kansas No. 6004: 
Twisted__ 
18 
12 
26 
29 
21.2 
14.1 
30.6 
34. 1 
Nontwisted__ 
34 
86 
115 
283 
6.6 
16.6 
22.2 
54.6 
Absent___ 
14 
15 
6 
524 
2.5 
2.7 
1.1 
93.7 
Kansas No. 6052: 
Twisted.__ 
138 
82 
31 
271 
26.4 
15.7 
5.9 
51.9 
Nontwisted___ 
274 
81 
45 
302 
39.0 
11.6 
6.4 
43.0 
Absent_ _ 
308 
115 
99 
1,614 
14.4 
5.4 
4.6 
75.6 
Kansas No. 6076: 
Twisted.... 
141 
75 
14 
138 
38.3 
20.4 
3.8 
37.5 
Nontwisted_ 
93 
51 
54 
111 
30.1 
16.5 
17.5 
35.9 
Absent____ 
7 
80 
106 
1,181 
.5 
5.8 
7. 7 
86.0 
Kansas No. 6090: 
Twisted__ 
129 
3 
2 
72 
62.6 
1.5 
1.0 
34.9 
Nontwisted_ 
53 
324 
1,077 
303 
3.0 
38. 4 
61.3 
17.3 
Absent__ 
74 
87 
294 
1,150 
4.6 
5.4 
18.3 
71.7 
Kansas No. 6094: 
Twisted... 
308 
11 
3 
35 
86.3 
3.1 
0.8 
9.8 
Nontwisted_ 
163 
137 
654 
179 
14.4 
12.1 
57.7 
15.8 
Absent__ 
211 
88 
187 
597 
19.5 
8.1 
17.3 
55.1 
All strains: 
Twisted_ 
1,410 
242 
116 
757 
55.8 
9.6 
4.6 
30.0 
Nontwisted__ 
1,228 
1, 739 
6, 377 
2,159 
10. 7 
15. 1 
55.4 
18.8 
Absent____ 
1,289 
1,040 
1, 682 
9,009 
9.9 
8.0 
12.9 
69.2 
Percentage of kernels with awns- 
a No differentiation was made between the long and the short nontwisted awns in describing the parent 
kernels. 
percentages of each of the two extreme 
classes, namely, twisted and absent. 
In five of the eight strains parental 
kernels described as having nontwisted 
awns produced progeny of which the 
majority had the same type of awns. 
Taking all strains together, the 
parental kernels described as having 
nontwisted awns produced 70.5 per 
cent of progeny kernels with non¬ 
twisted awns. The kernels described 
as having awns absent bred true to 
about as great an extent. In each of 
the eight strains over 50 per cent of the 
progeny of these kernels were awnless 
and the average for all strains was 69.2 
per cent. 
The data obtained in 1920 on the 
inheritance of awns indicate that 
parental kernels of the three classes 
reproduced their awn class in at least 
50 per cent of their progeny. However, 
all classes of awns were produced in the 
progeny of each of the parental classes 
in all of the strains grown. 
STUDY IN 1921 
The data on the inheritance of awns 
in 1921 are presented in Table VIII. 
The twisted awn appears to breed com¬ 
paratively true. Occasionally, probably 
for physiological reasons, kernels which 
carry the gene for twisted awns fail to 
produce any awns or awns as large as 
would be expected. In describing about 
60,000 kernels of Burt oat the writers 
have observed that the twisted awn 
occasionally does not reach its full 
development until a rather late stage in 
the maturity of the plant and if unfavor¬ 
able conditions prevent the normal ma¬ 
turing of the plant the development of 
the awn also is affected. 
