The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1895-05-23
CULTIVATION OF OATS.
comparison Of Varieties. Weight Per Bush
Ell, shrinkage Of Grain, Etc.


comparison Of Varieties. Weight Per Bush
ell, shrinlxage Of Grain, Etc.
Following is a summary Of bulletin
teceived from the Ohio station concern
ing experiments conducted there with
oats. Sixty sorts were grown with
a view to u comparison Of varieties.
These were divided into groups, each
having some distinctive characteristic.
The first group embraces 16 differently
named sorts, having the open or spread
ing panicle, coarse, weak straw and
short, plump grain of which the We'll
come is the best known type The sec
ond group comprises ID kinds, in which
the head or panicle is more or less one
sided, and which are ordinarily termed
side oats. The Seizure is one Of the best
representatives of this class. A third
group consists of 1S varieties which are
in general form similar to the Welcome
class, except that the berry is longer
and more pointed, and the straw gener-
ally little stronger, but the grain
lighter The Wideawake was selected
as the type Of this class. In the fourth
and last group are six sorts of black or
mixed oats, having in the main the
characteristics of the Welcome. In this
group are included the Monarch, Rust
Proof and others of like kind
In the short, unfavorable season Of
1898 the Welcome variety gave lower
| yields than any other Of that class,
while the group as whole gave larger
yields than any of the other three. The
Seizure kind was the lowest yielder in
the whole list for 1898, where sown
late, but the same variety sown four to
five weeks earlier gave, the same season,
as good returns as any other variety on
the farm. In 1894 only three varieties
in the Welcome group gave higher yields
than that variety--namely, Improved
American Badger Queen and Bonanza
king. The highest yields in the Seizure
group for 1894 were from the following
varieties Japan, Early Swedish, White
Swiss Prince Edwards Island and Will
sons Prolific, the latter variety badly
mixed, The highest average yield was
decidedly in favor Of the Side oats group.
In series Of tests covering four sea
sons the varieties that have given the
highest average yields are Improved
American, Japan, Early Swedish, Prince
Edwards Island, State of North Dako.
ia, Colonel, Dakota Gray, Kansas Hy.
brid, Probsteier and Egyptian.
The average weight per measured
bushel Of all oats grown upon the sta
tion farm during the last four years
falls below the standard Of 80 pounds tc
the bushel. The highest average for any
one variety has been 3S6 pounds the
lowest, 27.3. From the investigation
thus far made it has not been found thai
oats Of heavy weight necessarily have {
smaller percentage of hull than those o.
lighter weight per measured bushel.
A single trial indicates that oats pu
away in good condition shrink but yer.
little--in this instance less than pc
cent--and the straw under ordinar.
conditions shrinks about 6 per cent.
Experiments extending over three sea
sons ON clay soil show that the metho'
of putting in oats without first plowini
the ground may involve a loss of tiv
bushels per acre as compared with SOW
ing on land that has been plowed an,
well prepared.