560 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



PLANTING OATS. 



Oats should be planted as early in the spring as the ground can be 

 put in good condition. As a general rule April or early May plantings 

 give much better results than plantings made towards the middle of 

 May. Planting as late as the middle of May or after usually results 

 in a much lessened stand. Oats make their best growth before the heat 

 of summer; hence, they should be given as early a start as is possible 

 by planting as soon as the ground is warmed up. 



The usual rate of planting is 8 pecks per acre. When planting is 

 somewhat late. 10 pecks give better results, since stooling is not so 

 vigorous. On very heavy clays or soils very high in organic matter, 

 such as muck lands, planting at the rate of 3 bushels or more has been 

 shown to give higher yields. 



CLEANING AND GRADING SEED. 



A good fanning mill cleans out light oats, pin oats, chaff, weed seeds, 

 and dirt. Its use will usually add several bushels to the acre yield — 

 enough to pay for its cost in a short time. In the case of oats, more 

 than other grains, large plump seed shows an increase in production. 



SEED TREATMENT TO PREVENT SMUT. 



A great loss is caused each year in Michigan by the loose smuts of 

 oats. It has been demonstrated that this loss can be controlled suc- 

 cessfully by the formaldehyde treatment. This treatment consists in 

 sprinkling seed oats thoroughly with a solution made in the proportion 

 of one pound (or one pint) of formaldehyde to forty gallons of water. 



The formaldehyde used should be of forty per cent strength and must 

 be fresh. When it is considered that very frequently oat smut causes 

 the loss of ten bushels or more per acre where the seed is not treated, 

 and that the cost of purchasing enough formaldehyde to treat one 

 hundred bushels or more of seed oats har<lly exceeds fl, it is apparent 

 that this treatment is a very cheap i'orm of insuring the oat crop against 

 such loss. All oats planted in Michigan under i)rcsent conditions 

 should be treated with formaldehyde. 



Dr. G. H. Coons of the Botany Department, Michigan Agricultural 

 College, East Lansing, vecommends the following in Extension Bulle- 

 tin No, 13: 



OLD sruixKLiX(; MioTnon. 



Mix one pint of fresh formaldehyde with 40 gallons of water. Clean 

 a place on the barn floor and sprinkle with this solution. Spread the 

 oats in a thin layer (four inches) and sprinkle with the dilute solution 

 of the formaldehyde. Shovel over and ovei- until evei-y kernel is moist. 

 Add layer after layer, sprinkling as before. Two quarts of solution is 

 enough to allow to a bushel. When all the grain is moistened, shovel 

 into a compact heaj), cover two hours with a blanket or canvas, then 

 spread out to dry and air. Do not let the wet grain freeze, mould or 

 sprout. 



The gi'ain may be planted as soon as it is dry enough to run through 

 the drill. Make allowance for the slightly swollen condition when 



