6 
Journal oj Agricultural Research voi. xxx, No. 1 
possesses tall stiff straw, and fills early 
in the spring, often escaping the hot 
weather which stops the filling of 
the later-maturing varieties. Hendry 
thinks the Burt probably will not 
prove to be more prolific than the red 
or black varieties in the Coast districts 
and recommends it for only the 
interior of the State. 
Florell ( 36 ) presents data on oat 
varietal experiments conducted at 
Chico, Calif. He states that— 
as a general group, the so-called red oats are 
preferable to all other types for the peculiarly hot, 
dry climatic conditions of the Sacramento valley. 
He names Burt among the varieties of 
this group, but apparently does not 
consider it as one of the most important 
representatives of the group. 
CONCERNING SOUTH AFRICA AND 
AUSTRALIA 
Mundy (81) considers the Burt oat 
a variety of great promise in southern 
Rhodesia. It is said to be extremely 
rust resisting, producing a fine straw 
2.5 to 3 feet in length, with heavy 
heads and grain of good quality. Seed 
of Burt is available in commercial 
quantities and can be purchased from 
South African seed merchants. He 
states (82, 83) that the Burt oat did 
the best of all varieties under trial at 
the Arlington Sand Veld Experiment 
Station in Rhodesia. It was early and 
extremely vigorous but lacked the rust- 
resistant properties of Kherson. This 
latter observation is of interest, because 
in the article previously cited (81) he 
described Burt as extremely rust resist¬ 
ing, and in America it has been found 
to be more resistant to crown rust 
than the Kherson. 
Archer and others (4) state that 
Burt is a good drought-resistant oat, 
suitable for conditions in West Aus¬ 
tralia and especially useful for early 
hay and early grazing. 
LITERATURE ON DESCRIPTION AND 
CLASSIFICATION 
The classification of the Burt oat 
has proved a difficult problem. Dif¬ 
ferent strains have long been recog¬ 
nized as having varying characters and 
probably for this reason authors have 
classified Burt in different ways. 
Duggar (28) and Duggar and Cau- 
then (29) describe this variety as 
follows: 
The majority of spikelets bear one bearded and 
one beardless grain, but some are double bearded 
and a few are entirely beardless. The grains are 
more slender than those of Red Rustproof oats, and 
are of a paler cream or brownish-yellow color. 
Most spikelets have only short bristles or none. 
The straw is taller and weaker than that of Red 
oats. The variety is tender and is adapted to 
spring sowing. It matures from 8 to 10 days earlier 
than the Red Rustproof oats. Burt and May are 
apparently the same variety. 
Norton (99) states that— 
while Avena fatua has been considered the progenitor 
of the cultivated oats, some of the varieties, as the 
red oats of the South, are undoubtedly descended 
from Avena sterilis. 
He believes it probable that a third 
wild species is represented by the 
common Burt oat of the Southern 
States. 
Burnett (13) classes Burt as one of 
the typical varieties of Rustproof, 
which he groups with the red oats. 
Carleton (17, p. 97) classifies Burt 
as belonging to Avena sativa aristata 
Krause, and describes the variety as 
“awned, hull white or light yellow .’* 
Etheridge (33), in his classification 
of oat varieties, gives the following 
description of Burt: 
Culms semi-erect in early growth, otherwise 
similar to those of Avena sterilis nigra; f sheaths, 
leaves, panicles, spikelets, and glumes similar to 
those of A. sterilis nigra, except that the glumes 
are shorter, ranging from 25 to 30 mm.; grains dull 
yellow, elongated, outer grains 18 mm. long, long- 
pointed; lemma glabrous, with 7 obscure nerves; 
awn usually present on the outer grain and fre¬ 
quently on the inner grain, seldom twisted; basal 
hairs usually present, numerous, short (1-2.5 mm.), 
fine; basilar articulation of the outer grain evident; 
rachilla of the outer grain short (2-2.5 mm.), strong, 
glabrous, persistent to the inner grain. Plants 5-8 
dm. tall; medium early in maturing. 
Etheridge obtained samples of Burt 
oat under the names Early Ripe and 
Red Rustproof. He classifies Burt as 
a variety of Avena sterilis and considers 
it one of the principal representatives 
of the red-oat group grown in the 
United States. 
Waller (141) states: 
While the origin of some of the early maturing 
varieties is at present unknown, there is reason to 
believe that one at least, Burt, may have come from 
Avena barbata. 
Warburton 8 believes that Burt prob¬ 
ably is the result of natural crossing 
between varieties of Avena sterilis and 
Avena sativa. 
Pridham (107) lists Burt and Early 
Burt among eight medium early ma¬ 
turing varieties tested in New Sq^ith 
Wales and gives as one of the dis¬ 
tinguishing characters that they closely 
resemble Algerian. He states that 
Algerian “is often of a pale brown tint 
in warm districts and dark brown in 
cool ones.” 
Archer (4), of Australia, also con¬ 
siders Burt a variety of Avena sterilis, 
and describes the variety as follows: 
Panicle, equilateral, spreading, erect, medium to 
long; spikelets, two grained, outer grain awned, 
8 Letter to F. A. Coffman, 1920. 
