Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1919-07-15
The Creation Of q New Oat.
WORK INVOLVED IN MAKING A WORLD
FAMOUS ONE.

Few people realize what the making oi
better oat required in way of men and
time. An idea of what Names now
most famous oat required in its making
may be gained by reading the story OF
| its origin.
Back in 1909 when the Maine Agricul.
tural Experiment Station began It's oat
testing and breeding at Highmoor Farm
there were grown in test plots some IL
commercial varieties. In 1910 there
were selected from these varieties 460
heads Of oats from individual plants.
The seed from each of these plants was
tagged, numbered, and stored away sep
arately. Books with cross reference
system even more intricate than the
bookkeeping system of big commercial
house, had to be made to record accu-
rately how each selection was made and
from whence it came so that II it should
be desirable any selection could be re-
peated. When planting time came the
seed from each single head OF these 400
selections was planted in q single row;
each row was headed by stake with a
distinguishing number. This number
given to the row the first year the plant
is grown in q row test follows the strain
as long as It is grown. The oat that has
proven the best one yet developed by
this Station was In It's first year (1910) in
the oat garden in row $40, hence the
name Maine $40. Frequent notes on the
habit of growth, Stiffness OF straw, tend
ency to lodge and other characteristics
were made and recorded. When it came
to the harvest each row was harvested
separately, the yield of grain and straw
weighed, examined and recorded.
In the winter careful laboratory study
of the grain of each of these selections
was made to determine the characteris-
tics of the grain; thickness Of hull, shat
tering of the head, etc. From these data
1873 separate selections of grain which
showed superior merit were made, each
character being carefully balanced with
the others. These 1SS selections were
planted in 1911 and the same accurate
recording was made of each Of the selec-
tions. The same careful study and &C
curate judgment was required to select
from these 1873 lines the best 80 lines OF
oats which were thought suitable to pre-
serve for further test.
In 1911 another step was made in the
testing of these selections. This year
they were grown on larger scale as seed
sufficient to plant In 10000 acre plots
had been produced. The records for
these plots were more elaborate than for
the single rows and corresponding care
and Judgment was exercised in the fur
ther selection. From these 10000 acre
plots grown in competition tests in 1911,
81 selections of the best were made for
planting In 1912. Sufficient seed was OBJ
tanned from the crop of 1911 80 that In
1912 the size of the plots were increased
from 10000 to 1-40 of an acre. The
larger plots naturally increased the labor
of recording, harvesting, threshing, and
laboratory study of grain to make fur
ther selections possible. In 1913 the
selections were cut down to 81 plots
coming from 81 of the original heads
that made up the 400 plants. In 1914
the selections were again IN lao acre
plots. The selections made from these
were -. In 1915 these II selections
were grown in lao acre plots, each selec.
tion being grown competitiveiy IN +
plots each. From this long line OF tests
Maine $40 was evolved. In the subse-
quent years this has proved superior Tor
Maine conditions to 80 commercial vari-
eties from all parts of the United States:
Before the Maine Station was satisfied
with this oat, 6 years OF careful pain
stalking labor was consumed. Three
more years were required to produce
seed In quantities. So 8 years were ex-
pended in the making of this World
Famous Oat, Maine $40. For this may
be advisedly called World Famous Oat
for it is now grown in far distant States
such as Oregon and Washington.
While the creation and development
of the oat itself is of high Importance
the accumulation of the large amount OF
growing data from 1t and its non-success-
ful competitors are of real value In as
certaining the laws which underlie in
heritance and transmission OF characters.
And from the standpoint of the Station
this Is necessary fundamental work, the
results of which make it possible to con-
tinue to study the problems OF oat
breeding with increasing surety. All OF
these records that bear on the produc-
tien of one good oat point out the way
to the production of a still better one.
Another Maine Station. oat 357 Is
thought In one county of the State to be
superior to $40. But, all In all, in our
judgment $40 is the best of the II other
exceedingly good oats thus far produced
at Highmoor Farm. But this does not
mean that 1t is the best that we hope to
obtain. By crossing and selecting we
hope to materially improve upon
Maine $40. In point Of fact We have
now growing in the oat garden oats that
are more promising in the row test stage
than was Maine $40 at similar stage In
it's history. D. WOODS, Director.