*94 



THE CEREALS IN AMERICA 



and the Missouri Station have been exchanging seed oats yearly, 

 and the results have shown in general that the Missouri grown 

 oats have produced the largest yield of grain, and that the 

 Ontario seed produced grain of the best quality when grown in 

 Ontario.^ 



394. Need of "Water. — It has already been shown that the 

 water requirement of oats may be large. (391) This has been 

 confirmed by King, who reports the water requirement of a 

 pound of dry matter in oats to be 504 pounds; of barley, 464 

 pounds; and of maize, 277 pounds.^ To this must be added 

 the fact that the growth of oats is very rapid and the amount of 

 straw relatively large. The daily demand for water during the 

 period of most rapid growth for each pound of grain produced 

 is high. The amount of water required for irrigating oats in 

 Western States is estimated at about one and three-quarters 

 feet, distributed between May 22 and August 20.^ 



II. SOIL AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 



395. Soil. — The character of the soil upon v/hich oats are 

 sown is of less importance than any other cereal, with the pos- 

 sible exception of buckwheat. Almost any tillable soil brings a 

 fair crop if climatic conditions and cultural methods are suitable. 

 It is on this account, and because oats are liable to lodge on 

 fertile soils, that they are sown on the poorer soils and on soils 

 in the most exhausted state of fertility. The oat does best, 

 however, on relatively moist soils. 



396. Rotation. — The oat appears less influenced by rotation 

 with grass and clover than either wheat or maize. The Indiana 

 Station has grown maize, wheat and oats continuously or in 

 alternation one with another for fifteen years, in comparison 

 with the same crops in rotation with grap.s and clover on 



1 Ont. Agr. Col. and Expt. Farms Rpt. 1903, p. 122. 



2 Physics of Agriculture, p, 139. 



8 U S Dept. of Agr., O. E. S. Bui. iiq. 



