or the Hebrews, as was wheat. Neither the ancient Greeks nor the ancient Romans cultivated them. They were likewise unknown to the ancient Chinese or the people of India.

All evidence points to eastern temperate Europe, and possibly Tartary, in western Asia, as the probable place of their first cultivation. They were cultivated They were cultivated by the prehistoric inhabitants of central Europe, but did not appear, it is believed, until long after wheat and barley. Hence they were less important in the early history of our race than either of the last named crops or rye. When central and northern Europe became civilized the cultivation of oats became vastly more important, becoming in some of the cool, moist climates north the most important cereal used for man's food. In Scotland it occupies one-third the land in cultivated crops, excluding land in pastures and meadows. In Ireland it constitutes one-half of all the grain and green crops.

Practicums.

429. METHOD OF CROSS-FERTILIZATION.-Cross-fertilization in oats may be effected in a manner similar to that of wheat. (196) Remove all spikelets of the panicle which are not to be crossed and remove the upper flower of the remaining spikelet and cross the lower one.

430. PLANT IN THE FIELD.-Each student should be given a printed or typewritten sheet, as indicated below, and requested to describe two or more varieties of oats growing in the field by underscoring the adjective which most nearly applies to the condition found.

1. Height of culm: average of ten culms to tip of outer glume on upper spikelet.

2. Vigor of plant: strong; medium; weak.

4. Depth of furrow below panicle: furrowed; medium; smooth.

13. Beards: long; medium short; straight; twisted.

14. Color of leaves: light green; medium green; dark green.

15. Leaf blade: average length of ten blades

16. Leaf blade: average width of maximum dimensions of ten blades

17. Leaf blade: erect; ascending; drooping.

18. Leaf blade: smooth; rough; downy.

19. Ligule: large; medium; small.

431. MATURE DRIED PLANT IN LABORATORY.-Proceed as in paragraph above. If opportunity to study varieties in the field is lacking, some of the items above may be included here. If only a field practicum is desired, some of the items below may be included above.

1. Length of panicle: average of five panicles from base of lower whorl to tip of flowering glume of upper spikelet

2. Number of whorls: average of five panicles.

3. Number of main branches: average of five panicles 4. Number of spikelets: average of five panicles

5. Variation in length of pedicel: . . . to

6. Number of grains: average of five panicles

7. Number of grains per spikelet

8. Weight of grains: average of five panicles

grains

weight per 100

9. Relative size of lower and upper grains of spikelet: weight of twenty-five

IO.

lower grains

.; weight of twenty-five upper grains

Per cent of kernel: weight of 100 grains

.; weight of 100 kernels

13. Length: twenty-five grains from base to tip of flowering glume

14. Density: weight per bushel obtained by weighing one pint

15. Color of grain: light yellow; yellow; gray; reddish brown; black.

432. SOIL FERtility in RelaTION TO OATS.-Provide each student with ten three-gallon earthen jars, which each may fill with earth

secured from home farm or elsewhere. Make application

Nitrogen may be obtained by applying sixteen grams of dried blood or twelve grams of nitrate of soda; phosphorus by applying twenty-four grams of acid rock phosphate or dissolved boneblack; and potassium by applying four grams of potassium chloride. The fertilizers should be thoroughly mixed with the soil to a depth of six inches.

433. INFLUENCe of Size of Seed on Early StaGES OF PLANT GROWTH.Divide sample of oats into large, medium and small grains. This may be done by hand selection or by means of a nest of sieves. Obtain weight of fifty grains of

On the right, a nest of sieves for cleaning seeds; on the left, sieves with holes of various sizes, forms and positions. For further information see U. S. Dept. of Agr. Yearbook 1894, p. 406.

each and plant under similar conditions either in the field or in the plant house, taking care to cover the seeds a uniform depth. If in pots or trays in pot house, the soil can be removed more easily from the roots.

Note time required for plants to come up and number of plants produced. Obtain average height at end of each week. At end of three or four weeks, depending upon growth, obtain fresh and water-free weight of each lot of seedlings. Make sketches of the more important differences in roots and leaves of the different lots, if any.

434. INFLUENCE OF TREATMENT OF SEED UPON GERMINATION.-Having carefully graded a sufficient quantity of oats, treat fifty grains each of the following ways:

1. Nothing.

2. Immerse in water at 70° F. for four hours.
3. Immerse in water at 70° F. for ten minutes.
4. Immerse in water at 133° F. for ten minutes.

5. Immerse in water at 70° F. for forty hours, and then at 70° F. for five minutes

6. Immerse in one-fourth per cent solution of formalin for thirty minutes.

7. Immerse in one-half per cent solution of formalin for thirty minutes.

8. Sprinkle with No. 6 solution without immersing.

9. Immerse in two per cent solution of copper sulphate for ten minutes. 10. Nothing.

After treatment all lots are to be dried as much as they would need to be in order to be sown in a grain drill. Place in germinator at 70° F. and determine the number of seeds which have germinated at the end of twenty-four hours for five days. (475) Lots of seed may also be grown as in (433).

435. COLLATeral Reading.

The Leading Cereal Crops in Canada. By Wm. Saunders. Experimental Farms Rpt. 1903, pp. 6-33.

Farm Manure. By A. Hebart. E. S. R. V, pp. 139-158.

Origin of Cultivated Plants. By A. De Candolle. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

(1902), pp. 373-376.

XXI.

BARLEY.

I. STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION.

436. Relationships. — Barley (Hordeum sativum Jensen) belongs to the same tribe as wheat and rye, and differs from both in that the spikelets are one-flowered, and in having more than one spikelet at the joint of each rachis.

437. The Plant.—Aside from the spike, the barley plant has much the same appearance and habit of growth as wheat. Usually the culms are not so tall, and are perhaps more variable on account of environment. Wisconsin Station found with several varieties during five years an average of one pound of straw for each pound of grain, there being considerably less straw than is usually obtained with wheat or oats.1 In a comparative trial the proportion of top to root in weight of dry matter was 3.3 to one in barley and 2.2 to one in oats. The indication is that it is more shallow rooted than wheat, maize or oats. Although the roots grow rapidly, they are comparatively feeble and short lived.

438. The Inflorescence. The spikelets are one-flowered, sessile, thus forming a spike. The outer glumes are almost awlshaped, three-eighths inch long with flexible beard one-half to three-fourths inch long. Flowering glume, which with palea is adherent to fruit, is prolonged into a stiff beard six to eight inches long with strongly barbed edges, making barley a disagreeable crop to handle, although the objection to the beards

1 Wis. Rpt. 1903, p. 268.

2 Wis. Rpt. 1892, p. 119.