MORE TRIALS OF OATS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2579, 19 August 1903, Page 9

MORE TRIALS OF OATS.

Gi iwers of oats in the colonies wilt do well to beai in mind steadily and permanently the following dictum of the .Scottish Farmer : — "Xorth, south, cast, and west in the United Kingdom experiments have been .made to test the merits of the new and old varieties of oats, and ihe results are uniform only in demonstrating that there is no such thing as a best oat. There may be such a thing as a be.«t oat for a given, soil and climate, 'but beyond that it is impossible to go." This pronouncement was suggested by an incisive

scrutiny of experiments with varieties of oats carried out during the past year in various districts in Scotland and the North of Ireland, and a comparison of the results' with those shown by similar trials conducted by the authorities of the Yorkshire Agricultural College, Leeds. The results of the trials of the college experimental plots. Garforth, unlike the majority of those in Scotland and the North of Ireland, are strongly in favour of the new varieties. At Garforth all were sown on the Bth April at a rate in every instance of four bushels per acre. Fourteen varieties were under review. Tartar King and Storm King were easily first in ripening. They were cut on Ist September. Eight days later came Sandy, Potato, Hamilton, Longhoughton, the Canadian Banner, Pioneer (black), Waverley, Abundance, Newmarket, and Black Tartarian, and of these Waverley, Abundance, and Newmarket were slightly lodged." The latest were Golden Giant (yellow Canadian) and the famous GoldSnder. Tartar King gave the best yield of grain— viz., 78 bushels per acre. Storm King gave the best yield of saleable grain — viz., 74 bushels per acre, and only three bushels less overhead than. Tartar King. Waverley,- Abundance, and Newmarket gave very similar resnlts in saleable grain, the respective figures being 62, 61£, and 60 bushels per acre. The Banner came seventh in the order -of producer of saleable grain, but fourth in the order of total yield of grain. The gross was 72 'bushels, and the amount of saleable grain 55£ bushels. The poorest yields in grain are placed at the credit of Potato, HamiLton, and Sandy, the respective figures being 55J, s&£, and 49£ bushels per acre. The report on the quality of the oats says that among white oats Storm King was the best-selling oat, with Tartar King a good second. The latter has probably the larger percent-age of meal. Next- come Abundance and Newmarket ; and last, Waverley and Banner.

The Yorkshire tests confirm the Kilmarnock in so far as the relation between straw and grain is concerned. . Sandy, which stands last for grain, is first for straw; and Golden- Giant, which stands ninth for grain, is second for straw. Waverley gives the best result, taking both grain and straw as one. It stands third for both. Potato is fourth, and Hamilton fifth for straw. The worst results in this test are found in the case of Storm King, Newmarket, Pioneer, and Tartar King. The best results in natmal weight per bushel are given by Potato and Hamilton, the figures being 39£lb in the case of each. Tartar runs them close, being only ilb less. Sandy, Newmarket, and Banner stand together, their common figure being 381b. This most instructive report is published in extenso in Bulletin No. 29 of the Yorkshire College, Leeds.