TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIQN R. D. LEWIS, Director. College Station. Texas elin 7.28 0am», 1950 MUSTANG OATS I. M. ATKINS f: C t‘ ° t ' I f l d N N t (r' ht) ‘etie . P, ompara lve wm er survlva ew or ex 1g van s 1.‘ 4," A a. M. course 0F TEXAS ' in cooperation with the UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE The TEXAS AGRICULTURAL AND IVIECHANICAL CQLLEGE SYSTEM '4),~' GIBB GILCHRIST. Chancellor [Blank Page in Original Bulletin] Digest This bulletin reports the development and characteristics 0f Mustang, a new winter-hardy oat. variety which is now available to Texas farmers. This new variety was developed cooperatively by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Division of Cereal Crops and Diseases, Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and Agricultural Engineering, U. S. Department of Agriculture. While the major portion of the development and testing was done at the Denton station, workers at eight other locations throughout the oat- growing sections of Texas cooperated in the work. Results obtained with this variety in the Southern regional oat experiments also are reported. Winterkilling is an important hazard of pro- duction of fall-sown oats in Texas, often causing the loss of several thousand acres. The planting of Mustang, which is approximately 25 percent more winter-hardy than the present commercial varieties of oats, should aid in reducing this loss. Because of its resistance to crown (leaf) rust and its winter-hardiness, Mustang will fit well into the agriculture of the State, being suitable for grain production in Central and North Texas; and for winter pasture in South Texas. '23-1050-7M-L1 80 CONTENTS Digest Introduction . . . . . . . . . . Development . . . . Yields Winter-hardiness . Disease Resistance . o Growth Characteristics Acknowledgments . . . . BULLETIN 728 OCTOBER 1950 Malian; add I. M. ATKINS* ATS ARE SOWN for grain each year on about 1,200,000 acres in Texas. An additional large acreage is sown for Winter pasture in the southern part of the State. Most of the acreage sown for grain is in the Central Texas Blacklands and Rolling Plains. Variable weather conditions of these areas ne- cessitate the growing of oat varieties that are able to withstand wide extremes in temperature and rainfall. Although the winters are usually relatively mild, rapid fluctuations in temperature oft- en occur. Oats growing throughout the winter months are often killed by these cold snaps at temperatures they would survive if they were cold hardened. The ideal oat variety for the State would be one that could be grown in North Texas for grain production and in South Texas for winter pasture. Red Rustproof has been the standard type of oat grown in Texas since its introduction about 1875. Probably few other types of oats have been so widely grown for so long a time. However, the Red Rustproof strains are subject to winterkilling and are often seriously damaged by crown (leaf) and stem rust, especially when grown in South Texas for winter pasture. As a result of breeding work over a period of years, a new variety named Mustang, is now available. This new variety is more winter-hardy and more disease-resistant than most varieties now grown in Texas. Development Mustang was developed from a cross between Fulwin, one of the most winter-hardy varieties known, and a selection from a cross of Lee and Victoria. This Lee x Victoria selection was not named nor distributed. Fulwin is very susceptible to crown (leaf) and stem rust and, therefore, poorly adapted to Texas conditions. The cross from which Mustang was selected was made by F. A. Cofiman, senior agronomist in oat investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and Agricultural Engineering, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Early generations of the cross were *Agronomist, in charge of small grains, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Division of Cereal Crops and Diseases, Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and Agricultural Engineering, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 6 I BULLETIN 728, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION grown at the USDA Agricultural Research Administration cell, ter at Beltsville, Md. '» A number of F5 (fifth generation) lines were sent to Dentd, Texas, in the fall of 1942 for trial. The selection, which la a was named Mustang, was one of only a few that survived t, winter of 1943, one of the most severe’ and unusual seasons x record at Denton. S0 promising was the new strain that selections Were made immediately and the bulk lot of seed ' creased and placed in all Texas variety tests the followi; season. a Yields Mustang oats have been grown at Denton in replicated yie trials 6 years from fall-seeding and 7 years from spring-seedin The variety has been included in replicated trials from 1 to years at other substations in the State and has been included ' the Southern cooperative fall-sown oat experiment since 194 Yields are shown in Table 1. 4 Table 1. Average yields of Mustang and five commercial varieties 0f oat at several Texas substations, 1944-50 ‘ Variety N Yield of grain, bushels per acre o. ' Item years i New tested Mustang Fulwin Nortex Frazier Fultex Fall sown at: Denton . . . . . . . .. 7 59.7 41.0 54.0 34.3 47.7 Greenville . . . . . . . 5 57.4 41.4 57.7 22.0 42.2 Iowa Park . . . . .. 5 79.0 65.1 78.8 63.2 75.1 Chillicothe . . . . . . 7 61.6 57.0 63.7 49.2 70.7 Stephenville. . . . . 3 64.8 37.6 59.7 42.2 39.7 Temple . . . . . . . .. 4 57.5 . . . . . . .. 47.2 39.0 53.0 Comfort . . . . . . .. 2 50.9 0.2 39.0 29.4 42.1 _ College Station. . 5 56.2 . . . . . . . . 44.1 . . . . . . 53.5 Average . . . . . . . . . . .. 60.9 . . . . . . .. 55.5 . . . . . . .. 53.0 Regional test. . 3 62.3 . . . . . . .. 63.21 . . . . . . . . 55.7 Spring-sown : Denton . . . . . . . .. 7 51.6 30.8 46.2 45.6 48.9 1Appler Rustproof substituted. At the Denton station, Mustang has outyielded its winter~ hardy parent, Fulwin, by a Wide margin. This is largely due to Mustang’s resistance to crown (leaf) rust. It has outyieldemi’; New Nortex, the most extensively-grown commercial variety, in Texas, from both fall and spring seedings At other Central Texas locations, Mustang has outyieldedj New Nortex and most other commercial varieties. The greater resistance of Mustang to low temperature and to crown rust? MUSTANG OATS 7 has been an important factor in this superior yield at these locations. The yields at Greenville do not reflect the full ad- vantage of the winter-hardiness of Mustang because, in 1947, it survived to produce a good yield when all other varieties were killed. However, birds destroyed the crop, so no data were obtained on yields. At the Iowa Park and Chillicothe stations in the Rolling Plains area, Mustang has produced average yields slightly below Fultex, New Nortex and Stanton. Winterkilling has not been a factor at these locations during the testing period as plants remained in a hardened condition. Seasonal conditions also were favorable for very high yields and, in the Southwest under such conditions, no varieties have yet been found equal to the Red Rustproof strains. Winter-hardiness Mustang is outstanding in cold resistance under Texas con- ditions. It ‘survived a most unusual series of temperatures in 1943, the year it was selected. Previous fall growth was well- developed and the crop, well-hardened. Starting with a tempera- ture of 76° F. on January 16, the temperature dropped rapidly to 4°‘ F. on January 19. Below freezing temperatures continued for 2 days and were followed by record maximum temperatures for January of 87°, 89° and 87°» on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th, respectively. These high temperatures were ‘followed by a second “norther” and a temperature of 16° F. on January 27. A third severe freeze, with a low of 5° F. occurred on March 3. Figure 1. Only 30 percent of the New Nortex plants (left) survived the winter of 1946-47 at Denton. Mustang (right) showed an av- erage survival of 82 percent. l tang produced an average yield of 50.2 bushels per acre if r 8 BULLETIN 728, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION These combined freezes killed all except the most cold-resist 1 varieties. The parent strain of Mustang survived to appro j mately 50 percent stand and recovered to yield 46.8 bushe per acre. ‘“ Over a 7-year period, 1944-50, in which winterkilling occurrp in 5 of the 7 years at Denton, Mustang survived 85.8 percen as compared with" 83.0 percent for its Fulwin parent, 57.2 pe cent for New Nortex, 53.6 percent for Frazier, 51.2 percent Fultex and 70.4 percent for Stanton. Similar observations ~s winter-hardiness were recorded at Greenville, Stephenville a f. Temple, where Mustang has demonstrated repeatedly that a will often survive when other varieties are killed by lo_ temperatures. r Figure 1 shows a plot of Mustang and of New Nortex 0a: at Denton in 1947, when the average survival of Mustan was 82 percent and that of New Nortex was 30 percent. " Disease Resistance Crown (leaf) and stem rusts have been major limiting f‘ tors in oat production in Texas for many years and are of tentially dangerous every year. The average observed percen ages of crown and stem rusts on several varieties of oats a Denton for 7 seasons are given in Table 2. z Table 2. Average percentage 0f rust infection of oats from fall and spr’: seeding at Denton, 1944-50 . Crown rust Stem rust Variety , Fall-sown Spring-sown Fall-sown Spring-so " hr Percent rust . Mustang . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7 26 Fulwin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 55 4 21 New Nortex . . . . . . . . . 8 32 9 31 Fultex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T 3 8 34 Frazier . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 67 8 16 Stanton . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 10 8 38 Mustang is not resistant to stem rust but it appears to J no more susceptible than the varieties commonly grown A Texas. The crown rust resistance of Mustang is outstanding A compared with Fulwin. This resistance is largely responsi for Mustang’s greater yielding ability. Mustang is shown I Figure 2 growing beside Fulwin at Denton in 1945 when M ‘ the severely-rusted Fulwin yielded only 2.6 bushels per acre; The crown (leaf) rust resistance of Mustang should be ‘ particular value when it is used for winter pasture in S0 _ MUSTANG OATS . Figure 2. Crown (leaf) rust damaged Fulwin oats, at the left, so severely at Denton in 1945 that the yield was only 2.6 bushels per acre. Mustang, at the right, which is resistant to crown rust, yielded 50.2 bushels per acre in the same test. exas, as it will aid in checking the development of early rust pidemics and the lost of forage by rust. Helminthosporium blight is a relatively new disease which, f: the more humid sections of Texas, has caused serious losses " oats derived from Victoria hybrids. The disease is both ed and soil-borne and becomes especially serious when sus- ptible varieties are grown repeatedly on the same land. The isease causes reduced stands, rotting of the roots of surviving lants, reddish brown tinge to the leaves, lodging of plants and ,duced yields. When sown in infested soil in special disease tests, Mustang a as shown more tolerance to the Helminthosporium blight than lost varieties related to Victoria, the crown-rust resistant a rent. However, to guard against losses from this disease, p14 owers should rotate Mustang oats with other crops, and treat g planting seed with a mercurial dust such as Ceresan M r New Improved Ceresan. Seed treatment is also recommended p; control smut. Growth Characteristics Mustang appears to possess growth characteristics which ake 1t of special value for forage production in Texas. In ‘l; 10 BULLETIN 728, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION North Texas, its early growth habit is prostrate, similar to tha; of winter wheat. This slow, early development probably is a’ sociated with its resistance to low temperatures. Starting £ mid-Winter, it grows more rapidly than many varieties and pr" duces abundant forage in late winter and early spring. It w. been especially valuable for pasture during this period in thy Rolling Plains. Observations and limited clipping tests in South Texas i dicate that Mustang grows more vigorously and produces mo 3 forage throughout the winter than do the Red Rustproof strain, These characteristics make Mustang well suited to Texas con ditions as seed produced in the main small-grain section of the State may be used in South Texas for seeding for Wint} pasture. The grain of Mustang is gray, rather slender and of mediu length. It is usually awnless, but weak aWns may be found j some grains. The 6-year average test Weight of Mustang, F A and New Nortex was 31.2, 32.8 and 29.8 pounds per bushel respectively. 5.. c-F m Acknowledgments Oat and other small-grain experiments‘ in Texas are conduc . ed by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Di‘ vision of Cereal Crops and Diseases, Bureau of Plant Industry Soils and Agricultural Engineering, U. S. Department o Agriculture. . Acknowledgment is due the following individuals for per; mission to use data obtained at their locations: E. S. McFadde and George W. Rivers of the Department of Agronomy, Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station; J. R. John‘ ston, E. N. Stiver, J. R. Quinby, L. E. Brooks and W. E. McCul lough of the Temple, Chillicothe, Iowa Park and Stephenvill stations; D. R. Hooton, U. S. Cotton Field Station, Greenville K. D. Portor, Amarillo Conservation Experiment Station, Am‘; rillo; R. G. Holekamp, Comfort Seed Growers Association, Com fort; and F. A. Coffman, U. S. Department of Agriculture, f0 ~ yields recorded in the cooperative fall-sown oat experiment. "*