The Bulletin. 21 



of a furrow about four inches below the surface and covered shallow. 

 The furrows may be run any desired distance apart. If one could 

 conceive of each hoe on an ordinary hoe drill opening furrows as 

 deep and as wide as those opened by an ordinary ''bull-tongue" plow 

 the open-furrow method could be readily understood. This method 

 insures against freezing, and the same result can generally be secured 

 by seeding early in the fall with an ordinary hoe drill and leaving 

 the drill rows open. 



The amount of seed to be used in sowing varies from one and a half 

 to four bushels per acre. As a rule, the richer the land, the heavier 

 the seeding may be. 



Oats may be grown in a variety of rotations. This general rule 

 must always be kept in mind, however, that whatever rotation is prac- 

 ticed, ample provision must be made for the incorporation of organic 

 matter in the soil. Some rotation, therefore, that includes catch crops 

 and winter cover crops to be plowed under for soil improvement will 

 prove best in the end especially in localities where the lands are in a 

 run-down condition. 



FERTILIZATION 



The fertilization for wheat will generally suit the oat crop though 

 the amount may be somewhat reduced. From 200 to 400 pounds of 

 some high grade fertilizer on fall sown oats followed by a top dressing 

 of nitrate of soda in the spring will generally be found satisfactory. 



VARIETIES 



There are two great classes of oats, namely : the spreading, or open 

 panicled, and the side, or closed panicled. Each of these classes has 

 a large number of varieties. 



SHORT DESCRIPTION OF VARIETIES TESTED IN 1911 



Hood's Mammoth, Danish Island, White Tartar King, and the 

 Washington all have large stems, broad leaves, and white grains with 

 medium beards. All but the Washington have closed panicles. All 

 are rank growers and produce an abundance of forage when cut for 

 hay. 



The Burt, Eed Rust Proof, Virginia Gray, 100 Bushel, Bancroft, 

 Apler, and Culberson have medium to small stems, under ordinary 

 conditions, medium sized leaves, and wide open panicles. The Burt, 

 Apler, and the Red Rust Proof have red grains; the Bancroft has light 

 yellow; the Virginia Gray has gray; while the Culberson and the 100 

 Bushel have light colored or white grains. All have rather formidable 

 beards. 



COMMENTS ON VARIETIES TESTED 



Table No. VII shows the results of the variety tests of oats at the 

 Iredell test farm in 1911. Apler and 100 Bushel gave the highest 

 yield here while Hood's Mammouth and White Tartar King, Danish 

 Island and Washington, the four leading fodder varieties, made the 

 lowest yields. (Table No. VII.) 



