Jan. 1,1925 
A Study of Variability in the Burt Oat 
5 
The same author {158), in reporting 
on the results of a four-year study of the 
tillering of oats, found that the Early 
Ripe and Burt oats averaged 17 and 18 
tillers per plant, respectively, compared 
with 14 and 17 for Sixty-Day and 
Kherson, respectively. However, 
Zavitz 5 states that Burt is not con¬ 
sidered of much agricultural value in 
Ontario. 
Georgeson {45), reporting on experi¬ 
mental work in Alaska, names Burt’s 
Extra Early among the varieties 
grown. From the data he presents, 
the variety appears to be among the 
earliest maturing grown in Alaska. 
He states that oats are grown for hay 
and make excellent silage. 
CONCERNING GREAT PLAINS STATES 
AND WESTWARD 
Jardine {55) in a paper on dry-land 
grains mentions the Burt oat as being 
one of the most promising drought- 
resistant varieties. 
Stoa {126) states that red, gray, or 
black oats are not common in North 
Dakota. 
Martin {76) has reported extensive 
nursery and plat experiments with oats 
on dry and on irrigated land in western 
South Dakota. Burt (C. I. No. 293) 6 
produced an average acre yield of 33.7 
bushels on dry land in the eight-year 
period from 1912 to 1919, inclusive. 
It was exceeded in yield by only one 
other variety, a selection of Sixty-Day, 
which averaged 36.1 bushels to the 
acre for the same period. Martin 
observed that the Burt variety as 
grown is a mixture of kernels of various 
colors. 
Montgomery {79) found that Burt 
out yielded all other varieties at the 
Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Sta¬ 
tion. It was found, however, that the 
Burt lodged and rusted badly under 
unfavorable conditions. He states that 
the early oats grown at the Nebraska 
station are of either a reddish or yellow 
color, while the late varieties, with but 
one exception, are white. The early 
maturity of yellow oats also has been 
redbgnized by Zavitz {159) in the ex¬ 
periments conducted at the Ontario 
Agricultural College. 
Snyder and Burr {121) state that of 
the varieties tested at the North Platte 
substation in Nebraska, Burt is one 
of the earliest and has ranked with 
Kherson in yield. It is said to be a 
few days earlier than the Kherson. 
Kiesselbach and Ratcliffe {58) found 
that Burt outyielded all other varieties 
at the Nebraska Agricultural Experi¬ 
ment Station over a long period of 
years. 
Ten Eyck {128) found the Burt oat 
to be one of the earliest varieties tested 
at the Kansas Agricultural Experiment 
Station. He stated that it was a very 
hardy and drought-resistant variety 
and recommended it for western Kansas. 
Salmon and Parker {117) describe 
a high-yielding strain of Fulghum oats 
distributed by the Kansas station 
under the name Kanota. Data on the 
comparative yield of Burt oats are 
included in the same paper. In plats 
at the Agronomy Farm in the four- 
year period from 1917 to 1920, in¬ 
clusive, a strain of the Burt oat (Kansas 
No. 5020) was outyielded only by 
Kanota, Fulghum (Kansas No. 6084), 
and a strain of Red Texas (Kansas No. 
5205). In the nursery experiments, 
the average yield of Burt (Kansas No. 
5020) for the five-year period from 1916 
to 1920, inclusive, was exceeded only 
by that of Kanota. 
Ross and Leidigh {115) found that 
of the varieties tested in the Texas 
Panhandle the Burt oat made the best 
yields, and stated that it was an 
extremely early brown variety, resem¬ 
bling Red Rustproof in some char¬ 
acteristics, but earlier. In another 
publication, Ross {116) describes the 
Burt as having ^smaller kernels than 
those of Red Rustproof, variable in 
color, ranging from yellowish brown to 
dark brown or almost black, and often 
distinctly striped. Burt matured a 
little earlier than the Rustproof group 
and produced slightly lower yields. 
McMurdo {74) found that a selec¬ 
tion of Burt, made by W. G. Shelley, 
and grown by McMurdo simply as 
Burt, was the highest yielding variety 
at the Akron Field Station in Colorado. 
This selection later was named Colburt 
by C. W. Warburton. Coffman 7 recom¬ 
mends it for seeding on dry land in 
northeastern Colorado. 
Hendry {49) states that Burt is 
meeting with favor among California 
farmers. Trials at the University 
Farm, Davis, Calif., are said to have 
shown that this variety, which is 
described as gray seeded, possesses ad¬ 
vantages over the red and black varie¬ 
ties in the interior districts which may 
warrant its release for general cultiva¬ 
tion. In California, Burt is early, 
6 Letter to John H. Parker, 1916. 
6 Accession number of the Office of Cereal Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. Agr. 
7 Coffman, Franklin A. cereal experiments on the akron field station. U. S. Dept. 
Agr. Bui. 1287. [In press.] 
