TExLAEsE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONQE” “R; D; LEWIS, DiREcToR, COLLEGE ESTA-non, ETExAs E ' ~ ¢@QPER AT' ¢~ WITHETHE 5- DEPA RTM E~T AG-R 1¢ ~L1r~RE E DIGEST This bulletin reports the development and characteristics 0f Alamo, a new dual- purpose oat variety now available to Texas farmers. This variety was developed cooperatively by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Section of Cereal Crops and Diseases, Field Crops Research Branch, Ag- ricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Because of its high resistance to prevailing races of crown (leaf) and stem rust in Texas, Alamo can be grown in sections of South Texas where heretofore these diseases have prevented the growing of oats for grain. ~ The variety is especially well adapted to spring seeding throughout the northern part of the State. Its early maturity and strong straw make it suitable for use as a compan- ion crop with sweetclover and for direct combining. Alamo has a plump, red seed which is practi-cally f.ree of awns and has a high te.st weight. Alamo is susceptible to Helminthosporium blight; therefore, it should be grown in rotation with non-susceptible crops, and its seed should be treated with Ceresan M or other seed disinfectant. It is less cold resistant than Mustang or Red Rustproof strains, and should not be fall-sown north of approximately the Austin area of Central Texas. CONTENTS Page Digest ............................................................................................................................................................................. .. 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... .. 3 Development ................................................................................................................................................................... .. 3 Yields .............................................................................................................................................................................. .. 4 Agronomic Characteristics ........................................................................................................................................ .. 5 Test Weight ....................................................................................................................................................... .. 5 Maturity ............................................................................................................................................................. .. 5 Winter-hardiness .............................................................................................................................................. __ 5 Reaction to Disease ......................................................................................................................................... __ 5 Growth Characteristics ................................................................................................................................... __ 6 Acknowledgments _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __ 7 IS ONE OF THE MAJOR GRAIN AND FORAGE fof Texas. It is grown on an average of *l acres for grain and 0n an additional reage for forage in the form of Winter i. Most of the acreage is in the central i_ the State (considered from east t0 west) ‘seasons of favorable spring rainfall, large _ are grown in the western part. the main commercial grain producing area * ral Texas, oats may be grown from either 1 spring seeding. Most of the acreage is 3| the fall because winter-type varieties such i“ ed Rustproof strains usually produce high- y,» when sown in the fall. When extensive are winter-killed, a large acreage is l sown in Central Texas. Normally, most of ‘eage in the northwestern part of the State "I -sown. Nortex and other Red Rustproof type , and the new winter-hardy variety, Mus- I upy most of the acreage sown to oats in “vely, agronomist in charge of small grain re- ‘Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, and the _lf Cereal Crops and Diseases, Field Crops Research Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department it lture; and instructor, Texas Agricultural Exper- a tion. Alamo Oats I. M. ATKINS and G. W. RIVERS* Texas. The Red Rustproof strains are late ma- turing and are susceptible to both crown (leaf) and stem rust. Mustang is early maturing but is very sus- ceptible to stem rust. Because these factors are important in determining yields when oats are spring-sown, a variety adapted to spring seeding is needed throughout North Texas. A new variety, which has been named Alamo, is available for spring seeding throughout the northern part of the State and is also adapted to fall seeding in South Texas. This variety is re- sistant to the races of crown and stem rust now prevalent .in Texas. It, however, is susceptible to other races of these diseases. Should they be- come prevalent in Texas, they may cause damage to this variety. Alamo is susceptible to Helmin- thosporium blight, which may cause damage to this variety under some conditions. DEVELOPMENT Alamo was developed from a cross between Victoria-Hajira-Banner, C.I. 4019, an unnamed Canadian strain of oats which is resistant to many races of crown and stem rust, and Fulghum- Victoria, C.I. 3528, a sister strain of the variety Fultex. The cross was made by Dr. H. C. Murphy, AVERAGE YIELDS OF ALAMO AND FIVE COMMERCIAL VARIETIES OF FALL-SOWN OATS AT LOCATIONS IN TEXAS. 1947-52. AND IN THE USDA REGIONAL FALL-SOWN OAT EXPERIMENT, 1950-53 Number Yield of grain. bushels per acre Years Variety g tested Alamo Fultex Frazier Mustang New Nortex Ranger L.S.D.1 ' stations: i r Haven 1 51.6 36.3 31.2 42.2 22.8 25.6 10.6 ‘ e 1 31.3 30.1 22.8 33.2 23.1 27.3 4.9 I o View 1 41.5 37.2 28.3 42.0 34.1 36.8 7.5 e Station 4 65.2 42.6 33.62 59.4 47.0 53.3 9.3 '- River Lab. 1 26.1 21.0 25.2 21.1 28.3 26.6 3.1 - art 1 22.3 23.7 14.6 25.7 20.6 22.5 6.2 3 56.8 49.0 41.2 55.3 45.5 55.8 5.8 fitted average 50.3 38.8 31.7 47.3 37.8 43.3 I ations: '- 5 50.9 49.1 49.12 56.4 57.7 6.4 . gor 1 78.3 77.1 69.6 75.4 87.5 13.6 _ nville 3 53.3 50.5 40.7 54.4 51.5 7.1 I ne 1 14.8 10.1 11.9 10.5 15.4 7.1 u ted average 50.8 48.4 44.9 53.1 54.6 stations: ville 2 82.8 65.0 61.9 99.9 83.5 10.6 _ n 4 51.0 54.8 51.2 73.2 69.9 6.3 I Park 2 66.3 75.0 54.2 74.7 83.3 11.2 1 othe 2 35.0 40.2 30.3 33.3 39.2 8.5 ' 1 7.7 6.9 7.7 5.5 8.8 5.1 ' lo 1 30._6 36_.4 40.3 30.9 31.6 8.8 i ted average 50.9 51.9 45.5 62.1 69.3 'onal nursery: em stations 3 53.5 51.0 52.4 46.33 stations 3 48.8 54.1 68.2 57.7 .» ‘iicant difference at the 5 percent level. ,-ble yield. ustprooi substituted for New Nortex. TABLE 2. AVERAGE YIELDS OF ALAMO AND FOUR COMMERCIAL VARIETIES OF OATS WHEN SPRING-SO EIGHT LOCATIONS, 1947-53 . w Number Yield of grain, bushels per acre Locations years vafielY . V 1°s1ed Alamo Fultex Frazier Mustang New Nortex L.S e Amarillo 2 35.9 31.4 35.22 35.02 29.8 7 a Chillicothe 2 29.5 29.0 26.5 26.6 11.5 ‘ a Iowa Park 2 60.3 59.4 54.3 57.2 38.4 Denton '2 65.3 57.5 53.6 62.4 56.0 - b Greenville 2 78.7 67.8 61.7 57.0 45.4 ll a Comfort 3 34.0 25.1 39.22 27.9 25.3 - 1\ McGregor 1 63.6 60.3 44.8 62.3 45.1 5 a Temple 1 49.3 40.7 40.2 41.9 34.0 9. Weighted average 54.0 46.9 46.1 46.2 36.4 ~ S 1 Least significant difference at the 5 percent level. p 2 Comparable yield. g; senior agronomist in charge of oat improvement work for the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Seed from the first generation plants were sent to Denton and the segregating generations of the cross were grown at that location. The selection, which was named Alamo (selection 73-44-90, C.I. 5371), was made by the senior author in 1944. YIELDS Commercial varieties and new strains of small grain being considered for release to farmers are tested thoroughly throughout Texas to determine their range of adaptation. Alamo has been tested in the fall-sown oat variety tests at most of the cooperating stations and from spring seeding at a selected group of stations in the area where oats TABLE 3. AGRONOMIC DATA FOR ALAMO AND FIVE COMMERCIAL VARIETIES OF OATS AT SEVERAL TEXAS TIONS AND THE USDA REGIONAL NURSERIES, 1947-53 normally may be spring-sown. Alamo also " tested in the other Southern States in the re '1 al fall-sown oat experiment of the U. S. g ment of Agriculture. = The performance of Alamo in comparison five commercial varieties from fall seeding a cations in Texas and in the regional nurse shown in Table 1. The stations are grouped southern, central and northern locations. I from spring seeding at eight stations are :1 in Table 2. A Weighted average for each 1 of stations is given. Least significant differ are given for each location. This figure r sents the smallest difference by which va i may differ in yield at odds of 19 to 1 that difference is real and not due to chance. r Nunfber Variety g Item station _ 5 Years Alamo Fultex Frazier Mustang New Nortex Test weight, pounds per bushel ' Spring-sown, Texas stations 19 31.5 29 1 31.3 28 8 25.8 Fall-sown, Texas stations 30 32.0 30 6 31.5 30 0 28.1 Fall-sown, regional tests 211 32-3 32 1 31 2 27-91 Date headed Spring-sown, Texas stations 18 5-5 5-7 4-30 5-7 5-12 Fall-sown, Texas stations 22 4-7 4-7 4-3 4-9 4-13 Fall-sown, regional tests 42 4-17 4-20 4-22 4-251 Date ripe Spring-sown, Texas stations 15 6-3 6-2 5-30 6-7 6-10 Fall-sown, Texas stations 20 5-15 5-12 5-10 5-13 5-20 Fall-sown, regional tests 17 5-25 5-24 5-28 5-251 Survival in fall-sown tests, percent Texas stations 11 28.5 58.0 54.7 86.6 69.2 Regional tests 35 55.0 72.2 81.6 64.71 Crown (leaf) rust, percent Spring-sown, Texas stations 8 Tr 1.2 55.0 3.8 25.0 Fall-sown, Texas stations 13 0.8 4.2 54.5 2.2 26.2 Stem rust, percent Spring-sown, Texas stations 9 0 30.3 15.8 16.6 25.7 Fall-sown, Texas stations 14 0 26.9 20.3 15.9 19.8 Plant height, inches Spring-sown, Texas stations 7 28.3 26.9 28.4 28.7 27.4 Fall-sown, Texas stations 16 31.2 30.2 32.8 31.6 30.8 Fall-sown, regional tests 28 37.1 35.7 39.8 40.11 Lodging, percent Texas stations 5 11.0 25.6 59.0 25.0 56.4 Regional tests 28 26.9 20.0 43.2 26.61 Estimates of forage value? Regional tests, fall estimate 106 106 104 96 1001 Regional tests, spring estimate 48 118 107 96 1001 1 Data for Appler, a strain of Red Rustproof, substituted for New Nortex as the latter was not included in regional tests.- 2 Visual estimates of forage growth in percent of Red Rustproof as a standard. < 4 AT yults obtained in fall-sown tests at South i a stations and at southern stations in the nal tests show that Alamo equalled or ex- ,» the yield of the commercial varieties with it was compared. This superiority is great- t Winter Haven and College Station. Over ear period at College Station, Alamo aver- ,65.2 bushels per acre, as compared with 42.6 fls for Fultex, 47.0 bushels for New Nortex c533 bushels for Ranger. While the yield of ng was nearly as high as Alamo, Mustang Iother varieties may be damaged seriously seasons by stem rust. During the testing ——- Qd, this occurred only in 1950 When Alamo a ed 82.6 bushels and New Nortex only 34.8 els per acre. gig In the central area, Alamo yielded slightly ' t' than New Nortex and Mustang at Temple 1r ' pproximately the same at the other stations. ,ith the northern stations, Alamo has not 1O_ ed as high as Mustang or New Nortex be- . is g f of severe damage by low temperatures 1n nto . Alamo is less cold resistant than the other ata a ercial varieties shown and 1s not recommend- ven pr fall seeding in this area. mp l, amo is especially well suited to mid-winter C93 . . ing seeding in Texas. In the main commer- Te‘ growing area of North-Central Texas, this ;1es a i» usually occurs from January 15 to Feb- 15. Seeding dates are slightly later in the western part of the State. Table 2 shows . Alamo outyielded present commercial varie- q all locations. At Denton, for a 7-year per- ‘taveraged 65.3 bushels per acre, or 12.3 bush- a ore than New Nortex, the variety now commonly grown. Alamo will provide a actory variety for spring seeding throughout area. AGRQNOMIC CHARACTERISTICS ummarized data on several agronomic char- of Alamo and five commercial varieties of ;are shown in Table 3. These are grouped all and spring-sown Texas tests and fall-sown nal tests. The number of station years I gives the total number of observations for p icular character. [Weight oamo has a plump, red, medium-size kernel 8' predominately awnless and produces grain active appearance and high test weight. In sts from fall seeding, Alamo averaged 32.0 Vs per bushel, Mustang 30.0 pounds and Nortex only 28.1 pounds. From spring l; the advantage of Alamo in test weight en greater. In 19 tests, Alamo averaged pounds, Mustang 28.8 pounds and New 25.8 pounds. The Red Rustproof strains ter maturing, therefore they often are in- by rusts or high temperatures when spring- ' Similar results were obtained in the re- l tests. his Maturity At Texas stations, fall-sown Alamo oats head- ed 2 days earlier than Mustang, 6 days earlier than New N ortex, and ripened 3 days earlier than Mustang and 5 days earlier than New Nortex. When spring-sown, Alamo headed 2 days earlier than Mustang and 7 days earlier than New N or- tex, and carried this same earliness through to maturity. Winter-hardiness Alamo is not sufficiently cold resistant to be seeded safely in the fall north of the Austin area of Central Texas. In 11 tests where winter-killing occurred, Alamo survived an average of 28.5 per- cent as compared with 69.2 percent for New Nor- tex and 86.6 percent for Mustang. In 35 obser- vations in regional tests, Alamo averaged 55.0 percent and Mustang 81.6 percent. Reaction to Diseases During the testing period, Alamo has been resistant to the prevailing races of crown and stem rust in Texas. Greenhouse tests and obser- vations in other growing areas of the United States show that this variety is susceptible to race Alamo oats (right) was not damaged by Figure 1. stem rust, while Fultex (left) was damaged and the seed shriveled. ww. Figure 2. Three plants at the right were damaged by Helminthosporium blight, as contrasted with a normal plant at the left. 213 (101) of crown rust and t0 race 7a of stem rust. In 13 test locations where crown rust notes were taken, Alamo showed an average infection of less than 1.0 percent, whereas New Nortex aver- aged 26.2 percent and Frazier 54.5 percent. Simi- lar percentages were observed in spring seedings. Observations on percentage of stem rust infection were made in 14 tests and Alamo averaged only a trace of infection as compared with 19.8 percent for New Nortex and 20.3 percent for Frazier. Similar observations were recorded in spring-sown tests. Unless new races which can attack Alamo Figure 3. Alamo oats (left) in comparison with New Nortex (right). become established in Texas, this new v should give good protection from losses ca by these diseases. Figure 1 shows the rea of Alamo in comparison with that of Fultex. @200 Alamo is susceptible to Helminthospo. blight, a disease caused by a seed and soil- organism which may attack the plant from seedling stage until near maturity. The r00 p the plant are attacked and destroyed, resulti a reduction in stand, reduced vigor of plants to finally reduced yields and quality of grain. disease is favored by warm, humid weather, h it is more prevalent in South Texas. Becau. the danger of damage by this disease, fa n‘ are warned against seeding Alamo oats on same land repeatedly, whether the crop is ti used for grain or pasture. Seed should be gr carefully and then treated with Ceresan M or or approved seed disinfectant. Rotation of c is important in the control of this disease. ure 2 shows a plant damaged by Helmintho ium blight in comparison with a normal plan ‘ Q7-T‘Q’C$< 049W? ("FV-HQTDO Growth Characteristics Alamo has a strong, stiff straw that en it to stand for direct combining under many. ditions. Observations at a number of statio dicate it usually lodges less than most varie Figure 3 shows a fine plot of Alamo oats at ton in 1953. The early growth habit of Alamo is much? that of true spring-type oats, being rather right in habit and having a broad leaf. Be 1 ‘gép-ninilrl-ainnh-Ak-lh-Jpfigp-f-(“f erect growth habit, it may be damaged by early grazing of livestock. In clipping ft several southern stations, Alamo produced igh yields of forage and, when properly ‘ed, was not damaged by grazing. Because early maturity, it should not be grazed as j the spring as Red Rustproof if a grain to be matured. 3 é erect growth habit of Alamo also lends it- l seeding as a companion with spring-sown l_jlover. Its early maturity also favors the shment of clover. Figure 4 shows a stand tclover growing in a field of Alamo oats. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Q~CDCDwPh~Z"(DD.|D|—1->(D€DD pt experiments in Texas are conducted co- Aively by the Texas Agricultural Experiment p. and the Section of Cereal Crops and Dis- ~Field Crops Research Branch, Agricultural ch Service, U. S. Department of Agricul- ,_ I |"‘ m nowledgment is due the following individ- ‘f: the use of data obtained at their loca- R. A. Hall and Lucas Reyes, Beeville; E. ver and J. W. Collier, Temple; D. I. Dudley, fin; J. R. Quinby, Chillicothe; L. E. Brooks, ‘Park; M. J. Norris, McGregor; and Carl 3nd, Winter Haven; K. B. Porter of the Am- Experiment Station; D. D. iPorter of the ; Cotton Field Station, Greenville; O. E. of the Prairie View A&M College; R. G. mp of the Comfort Seed Growers Associa- {Bill Patton, Lockhart; and to F. A. Coff- C . S. Department of Agriculture, for yields ed in the cooperative regional fall-sown oat v ent. )— e . Figure 4. Alamo oats in which sweetclover has been sown as a companion crop.