Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-12-28
Continental Building. Baltimore
KING OF GRAIN CROPS
BY Frederic ]. Haskin

Saviour spoke OF the corn of wheat" nj
meant the same that we mean by mead
of wheat and the Engiishman Dy ar
"ear OF wheat
To Scotland the world owes it's first
acquaintance with oats as a food for the
human race. I'm generations gone by thou
sands of people lived for years with oats
and milk as the principal articles of diet.
AS rice converts the Japanese into fight
ing machines with an endurance far be-
yond that of the European and American
meat eater. so oats produces a race of
strong people able to endure much. and
gives point to the declaration of the Scot
that England is famous for its horses and
Scotland for It's men.
The tables of the worlds production Of
oats and other grains reveal some Won
derfulIy impressive and significant facts.
Europe and North America, with a land
area only one-fourth as great as the re-
naming continents, produce four times
as many bushels of grain. including rice.
as all the other continents together,
Reckoning on the basis of population it
win be found that one-ffth of the hu-
man race grows four-fifths of the cereal
crops of the world Europe and North
teen billion bushels that represent q
normal world-crop of gathered grain; OF
which crop oats constitutes nearly "a per
cent. It is difficult for the human mind
to conceive the immensity of this yield
Of grain. 1t would I'll bin a mile long
and a mile wide, with a height of about
430 feet or 100 average city blocks piled
over 400 feet highs
There are some 70 different varieties of
oats grown in America. That the yield
may be increased to a remarkable extent
by the selection of seed is shown by the
experiments of Professor Zavttz, of the
Ontario Agricultural college. One part OF
a plat of ground was sowed with oats
each grain of which was selected by hand.
and only the plumpest chosen. From these
seeds ne gathered a harvest Of oats
which showed a yield OF n bushels TO
the acre. Using light grains for seed on
the other part of the plat he found that
the yield was So bushels per acre. He
believes that the average farmer can. by
his seed, increase his yield at
least Is per cent This would. he con-
cludes, mean a gain of perhaps s50,000,O00
on the American crop.
The department OF agriculture has been
IN the INTRODUCTION OF new Va
rieties of oats from Europe. One Of them
is THE 60-day variety. which is supposed
to reach maturity in that length Of time.
The Swedish select and the Tobsk are
two other varieties which have demon
strated their great advantage over many
of the home varieties. Smut is the worst
enemy of the oat crop. and the plant
disease experts estimate the loss caused
by it at S6,500.0o0 year. 1t Is also Sc
rious disease of wheat, the annual dam
age bill being placed at $14,O00,ooo These
experts estimate that plant disease as
whole cost the people of the United
States hundreds of millions of dollars.
=
The department of agriculture is not
very enthusiastic friend of King Oats as
a profitable crop. Prof. W. ]. Spillman.
agriculturist in charge of farm manage
ment investigations. notes in a recent
report to the secretary, that oats acre
age shows a tendency to fall on in many
states.