New Oats for the Southwest

Sporadic epidemics of rust, especially of crown or leaf rust, have reduced the yield of oats in the Southwest for many years. The standard rust-susceptible varieties, such as Fulghum (Kanota), Columbia, Fulton, and Red Rustproof, have suffered heavily, with the result that several so-called poor oat years, including 1945, have been experienced by producers of oats.

To meet this crisis, some new, early, highly productive spring red oat varieties with high resistance to the rusts and smuts have been developed from Fulton X Victoria-Richland and Markton-Fulghum X Victoria-Richland crosses. They were made at Aberdeen, Idaho, in 1935. From these crosses, the new varieties Osage and Neosho were released in Kansas; Ventura, a sister selection of Osage, was released in California in 1945. Osage and Ventura resemble Boone and Vicland in many characteristics of plant and kernel, but they mature a little earlier and have an even shorter straw. Neosho is a red oat with a very stiff straw and resistance to the rusts. It also resists certain races of the oat smuts. Osage, Neosho, and Ventura appear to be well adapted to the climate of Kansas and Southwestern States where red oats are grown.

There they should vitalize oat production in the same way that Boone, Tama, Vicland, and Cedar have in the northern oats areas.

Winter Oats for the South

Less important from the national standpoint, but of great value to the South, are several new disease-resistant varieties developed for fall seeding. These were selected from crosses of Victoria and Bond with standard common and red oat varieties such as Lee, Custis, Fulghum, Fulgrain, and Red Rustproof (Nortex).

Some of the most promising new winter varieties have come from a cross between Lee and Victoria. Lee is a hardy productive high-quality oat, but very susceptible to the rusts and smuts. The varieties developed and distributed from this cross are Letoria and Lelina in North Carolina; Stanton (strains 1, 2, 3, and 4) in South Carolina and other Southern States; Lega, Lelate, Levic, and Leroy in Georgia; Florilee in Florida; and DeSoto in Arkansas. These represent a rather distinct new type of common winter oats. They have less hull and better grain characters than are found in many of the more widely grown Red Rustproof strains, a fact not fully appreciated at first by southern oat growers.

Traveler is a promising new variety resistant to crown rust and smut developed from a Victoria-Custis cross at the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. Custis is a sister selection of Lee and of similar type. The cross was made at Fayetteville, Ark., in 1937, where the strain, later named Traveler, was selected. Traveler is a productive, short, fairly stiff-strawed, winter-resistant oat, bred primarily for grazing and clipping purposes. The variety is somewhat variable in certain plant characters and may need further purification.

Varieties of red oats that resist crown rust and smut, originating from crosses of Victoria and Fulghum-type oats, are Quincy Red (Quincy No. 1), and Fultex. Quincy Red was selected from a cross made in 1930 between Fulghum (Kanota) and Victoria. Selections from this cross were first tested at Ames for resistance to crown rust. Then they were grown at Experiment, Ga., and from there, for a more rigid test, they were sent to the North Florida Agricultural Experiment Station at Quincy, where heavy natural epidemics of crown rust occur almost every year. Quincy Red was so outstanding for yield as well as for resistance to crown rust that it was increased and distributed. Quincy Red resembles the Fulghum parent in general appearance. The grain of Quincy Red is plump and reddish in color and tests as much as 38 pounds to the bushel in favorable seasons. It has made oats a safe crop in northern Florida, where practically no oats were grown before crown-rust-resistant varieties became available. Quincy Red also has spread into the adjoining areas of Georgia and Alabama.

Fultex, a short, stiff-strawed kind, resistant to crown rust and moderately resistant to smut, also was developed from a Fulghum-Victoria cross. The selections giving rise to Fultex were subsequently developed at Substation No. 6, Denton, Tex. Although not a top-notcher in grain quality and yield, Fultex is on the increase in north-central Texas and adjacent States, mainly because of its adaptability to combine harvesting.

Some of the most widely grown southern early red oats with resistance to crown rust and smut have been developed by a commercial seed company from crosses of Victoria with the original Fulgrain, which is resistant only to the oat smuts. Fulgrain originated from a cross between Norton 20-93 (Big Boy) and Navarro, made at Hartsville, S. C., in 1925. Fulgrain was crossed with Victoria to obtain resistance to crown rust. This cross produced Fulgrain (strains 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8) and also Victorgrain, a new varietal type; both varieties were resistant to crown rust and smut. Several strains of Victorgrain have been released for commercial production. Fulgrain is the earliest red oat grown extensively in the South. For this reason, it is usually recommended where earliness is of major importance. Both the Fulgrain and Victorgrain strains have contributed substantially to the agricultural wealth of the South.

Red oat varieties with resistance to crown rust and smut have been originated from a cross made at Arlington, Va., in 1930, between Nortex, a typical Red Rustproof oat, and Victoria. These new varieties include Ranger, Rustler, Rangler, and Carolina Red. Ranger and Rustler were selected and proved at College Station, Tex., and Rangler was developed at Denton, Tex. Carolina Red was released in 1943 by a southern commercial seed company. These varieties are rather typical of the Red Rustproof type. Despite their disease resistance, they have not been significantly better in average yield than the Nortex parent in tests. Ranger and Rustler were distributed to farmers by the Texas station after 1940. Ranger is just being increased for possible farm production.