Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-16
Some Things You Want to Know
King of Grain Crops.

reference to oats in the literature Of China,
India, or any other part Of southern Asia.
Some think It originated in Persia, or
Mesopotamia, where It was found growing
as a volunteer crop on the banks Of the
Euphrates. II is not mentioned in the
Bible, though barley and wheat are.
Though the word corn is seldom used
as meaning oats. Il is applied to nearly
all Of the other grain crops OF the world.
An America 1t means maize, to the Scotch
1t means oats. to the Englishman wheat,
and to the Scandinavian a corn field"
means a field Of rye. Corn is a word
that applied to all grain crops, but it Is
used usually by a people to designate their
principal crop. The Englishman would no
more think OF calling maize corn than the
American would. think Of speaking of wheat
as corn. When the Savior spoke of the
corn of wheat He meant the same that
we mean by a head Of wheat" and the
Englishman by ar ear OF wheat"
To Scotland the world owes its first ac-
quaintance with oats as a food for the
human race. In generations gone by thou
sands OF people lived for years with oats
and milk as the principal article 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 Scotch
that England is famous for its horses and
Scotland for its men.
The tables of the worlds production Of
oats and other grains reveal some wonder
fully 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. Reckon
ms on the basis OF population 1t will be
found that one-fiIth of the human race
grows four-fifths of the cereal crops Of the
world. Europe and North America grow
1910 Co., 900 bushels that represent a normal
world crop of gathered grain; OF which
crop oats constitute nearly "a per cent. 1t
Is difficult for the human mind to conceive
the immensely of this yield of grain. 1t
would fill q bin a mile long and a mile
wide, with q height of about 4S0 feet, or 100
average city blocks piled over 400 feet high.
There are some seventy 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 Prof. cavity 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 he
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 fifty-elght
bushels per acre. He believes that the
average farmer can, by selecting his seed,
increase his yield at least Is per cent. This
would, he concludes, mean a gain of per-
haps $50. 900, 900 on the American crop.
The Department of Agriculture has been
interested in the introduction Of new varie-
ties of oats from Europe. One of them IL
the sixty-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 demonstrated
their great advantage over many of the
home varieties. Smut is the worst enemy
of the oat crop, and the plant disease ex-
perts estimate the loss caused by 1t at
&6I500,00o a year. 1t is also a serious disease
of wheat, the annual damage bill being
placed at $14, 100000. These experts estimate
that plant diseases as a whole cost the
people of the United States hundreds OF
millions of dollars.
The Department or Agriculture is not a
very enthusiastic friend Of king oats as a
profitable crop. Prof. w. ]. Spillman,
agriculturist in charge OF farm management
Investigations, notes in a recent report to
the secretary, that oats acreage shows q
tendency to fall off In many states.
FREDEGTo j. HAsKIN.
Tomorrow-SoCIAh sCIEMTIsTS' MEET
ING.