638 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



most perplexing problems with which the corn belt farmer has to deal, 

 and we will discuss the various methods briefly. 



The first thing toward enabling farmers to get the most out of the oats 

 crop is to persuade the grain dealers to buy oats on their merits instead 

 of by an arbitrary standard. There is very little inducement for the farmer 

 to improve the quality of his oats if the grain dealers at the stations pay 

 the same price for oats that weigh thirty-two pounds that they pay for 

 oats weighing twenty-four pounds per bushel. The farmer says, "What's 

 the use of my trying to produce oats of a fine quality if I get no greater 

 price for them than the farmer who gives the subject no special atten- 

 tion? We have known dealers in a year when oats ran from twenty- 

 four to thirty-two pounds to fix twenty-eight pounds as the standard and 

 pay the same price for the extremes. This is the same foolish policy, 

 ruinous to all concerned, that was followed by the country stores before 

 the advent of the creamery, when they paid the "same old price" for 

 grease that they did for farmers' butter fit to grace the table of royalty. 

 It is the same policy as was followed by the early buyers of cattle who 

 paid a uniform price for yearlings without any special reference to weight 

 or quality. 



There are several methods by which the quality and quantity of oats 

 can be very materially increased in the corn belt states. Just which one 

 of them fS the best is not yet certainly known. There is one method, 

 however, which can always be followed to great advantage, and that is to 

 separate the heavy oats in any sample from the light, and then sow only 

 the very best, always treating them for smut. Not more than two-thirds 

 of the ordinary sample of oats is fit for seed. The smaller seed should be 

 sieved out, and the lighter seed, irrespective of size, blown out, for the 

 simple reason that these will produce weak and very likely immature 

 plants, and thus deteriorate the quality without increasing the quantity. 



One method worthy of more extensive trial than it has been given 

 that of procuring seed from the oats country proper, that is, the latitude 

 of Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and North Dakota. The basis of the 

 theory is that in these sections, on account of the climate, oats secure 

 their highest development; and that if oats are brought down to a less 

 favorable climate they will retain their vitality for two or three years, 

 of course giving an increased yield and of better quality. We would like 

 very much if those who have tried this method would give us an accurate 

 report of the results. 



Another method is to secure oats from countries of similar climate, on 

 the theory that having been grown for a very long period in that climate 

 they have adapted themselves to it, and hence will give a greater yield 

 than varieties that must become acclimated before they can produce the 

 best results. As illustrations of this method we might cite the introduc- 

 tion of the Kherson oats into western Kansas and Nebraska, and the good 

 results which have followed from their introduction into the more humid 

 climates of Iowa and Illinois. Similar results have followed from the in- 

 troduction of Turkish Red wheat, Manshury barley, Turkestan alfalfa and 

 various fruits from the more northerly sections of the fruit belt in Europe. 

 We believe that the introduction of such varieties, followed by careful 

 selection, will lead to a very considerable increase of oats in the corn belt. 



