


134 
| Weight of Weight of Weight of struck 
Plats | grain. straw. bushel. 
Oats sehen: 21 Ibs. 12 oz. 35 Ibs. 0 oz. 33 Ibs. 2 oz.. 
ats. ) A2 99 66 QO «8 39 +6 g «sé 39 + Q + 
Bi O91 «« Qo « 94 66 g 4 49 6 12 « 
Barley 1 Reeve p se g «“ 93. +6 1946 42 «6 g «6 
The White Australian oat, as grown in this vicinity, 
seems to be especially weak in the straw, and is easily 
lodged by winds and rain of no very great violence, days be- 
fore being suitable for cutting. In this experiment, as before 
noted, the plants growing on soil specially compacted re- 
mained erect and were easily cradled, while others growing 
alongside of the same rows in a loose seed bed, lay prone to 
the earth. In view of the circumstances, it seems difficult. 
to explain the erectness of the straw in one set of rows, and- 
its decumbency in the other, if we attempt to ascribe the, 
cause for this erectness to other than the firm seed bed. 
WHEAT SELECTION EXPERIMENT. 
In the fall of 1885 land was prepared for the following 
experiment. The soil was thoroughly plowed and fitted, 
and equally treated on all parts as nearly as possible. Ten 
rows were run across the plat, a distance of 33 feet, each 
being two feet apart. On September 25, five rows were 
planted to 1000 large grains of Clawson wheat, as selected. 
from the grain bin. ‘The five remaining rows were planted 
to fsmall, shrivelled grains, of the same variety, selected 
from the same bin. The seed was placed about an inch 
and a-half apart in the row. No fertilizer was used. 
The seed in these ten rows vegetated at practically the 
same time, though a greater percentage of plants appeared 
from large than from small seed. By winter, the former 
were much larger and more robust than the latter, and 
better fitted to pass the winter than the small seed plants. 
The spring of 1886 showed the plants of the large seed 
much larger and stronger than from the small, and in the 
latter part of May this difference became most striking, the 
plants from large seed being nearly if not quite three times 
as large and strong as the others. On June 5, the large 
plants began to panicle several days in advance of the 
small. On July 24 the plants from large seed were ripe 
and gave an average height of three feet eight inches, the 
panicles a length of 5+inches. Plants from small seed were 
ripe July 28, averaged three feet two inches high, and panicles 
5 {inches long. On July 28 the panicles in the rows of 
both plantings were counted, with the following result : 
