1074 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXX, No. 11 
It is reasonable to assume that the 
comparatively small percentage of 
kernels in which floret disjunction was 
by basifracture and by heterofractufe 
in all years can be accounted for by 
chance variations or as due to acci¬ 
dental causes in the breaking apart of 
the two kernels of the spikelet rather 
than to a hereditary cause. It is 
believed, therefore, that these data 
show conclusively that the Kherson 
oat used in these experiments belongs 
to the Arena saliva group in which 
floret disjunction usually is by dis¬ 
articulation and that it contains few, 
if any, strains in which floret disjunc¬ 
tion is by basifracture, as in the A. 
sterilis group. The different methods 
of floret disjunction are shown in Plates 
3 and 4. 
BASAL HAIRS 
The results obtained on the inheri¬ 
tance of basal hairs are presented in 
Table III. These data show that pa¬ 
rental florets classed as having few 
basal hairs produced progeny in 1921 of 
which about three-fourths had either 
few or abundant basal hairs and about 
one-fourth had the basal hairs absent. 
Parental florets with hairs absent pro¬ 
duced progenies of which only about 
40 per cent had hairs absent, while over 
60 per cent had basal hairs present. 
These data indicate that a tendency 
exists for parental kernels having basal 
hairs to produce progeny having basal 
hairs. The fact that in 1921 parental 
kernels without hairs produced in 
many cases progeny having basal hairs 
either few or abundant may be ac¬ 
counted for by the fact that the original 
material was machine-threshed. As a 
result some parental kernels which 
originally bore basal hairs may have 
had them rubbed off in threshing 
(Table III). 
The 1922 data show that 14 of the 
25 groups of parental kernels described 
as having few basal hairs produced 
progeny largely or wholly of that de¬ 
scription, one group having all progeny 
like the parents. In 9 of the remain¬ 
ing 11 groups more progeny kernels had 
basal hairs absent than bore few basal 
hairs, 3 of these groups showing no 
kernels with such hairs. In 2 groups 
about half of the progeny were of each 
class. 
Table III.— Inheritance of basal hairs 
in strains of the Kherson oat grown at 
the Akron Field Station, Akron, Colo., " 
in 1921, 1922, and 1923 
DATA FOR 1921 
EXPLANATORY LEGEND FOR PLATE 4 
Description of lemma color and other characters in Kherson florets 
A. Yellowish white, basal hairs absent, awn twisted 
B. Yellow, basal hairs absent, awn twisted 
O. Reddish yellow, basal hairs absent, awn absent 
D. White, basal hairs absent, awn nontwisted long 
E. Yellowish white, spikelet disarticulation by fracture, floret disjunction by disarticulation 
F. Yellow, spikelet disarticulation by fracture, floret disjunction by basifracture 
G. Reddish yellow, spikelet disarticulation by fracture, floret disjunction by heterofracture, basal hairs 
absent, awn nontwisted long 
H. White, spikelet disarticulation by fracture, floret disjunction by heterofracture, basal hairs absent, 
awn nontwisted short 
I. Yellowish white, spikelet disarticulation by fracture, floret disjunction by disarticulation, basal hairs 
few, awn nontwisted long 
J. Yellow, spikelet disarticulation by fracture, floret disjunction by disarticulation, basal hairs absent, 
awn absen t 
K. White, spikelet disarticulation by fracture, floret disjunction by disarticulation, basal hairs absent, 
awn absent 
L. White, spikelet disarticulation by fracture, floret disjunction by disarticulation, basal hairs abundant, 
