296 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



to affect the stalks and grain if put into the ground late in the season. While bright straw 

 and a heavy berry will usually result from early sowing, those sown late are almost always 

 light and of poor quality. 



Oats may be sown broadcast or with a drill, some preferring one method and others the 

 other, each having their respective advantages, but we believe the drill is more generally pre 

 ferred on large farms where this crop is extensively cultivated. &quot;Where the sowing is broadcast 

 a seed-sower should be used, as it distributes the grain more uniformly and much more rapidly 

 than the old laborious practice of hand-sowing. Seed sown with a drill are covered at a 

 more uniform depth, which can be regulated at will, and where they will come in contact 

 with the moist earth, which will cause a quicker germination ; consequently they will come up 

 sooner and much more evenly than when sown broadcast, and there is no danger of any ir 

 regularity from skipping or lapping spaces, if the wind blows during the operation of getting 

 the seed into the ground ; therefore, a heavier crop per acre is generally the result of the 

 use of the drill. There is also more opportunity for the circulation of air among the plants, 

 besides less liability of lodgirfg. When sown broadcast, the seed should be lightly harrowed 

 in, and whatever the method of sowing, the field should be rolled, unless the land is quite 

 wet and inclined to bake or harden; this presses the soil upon the seed and causes it to germ 

 inate more quickly. 



In some portions of the South, oats are sown in the fall, like winter wheat, which 

 gives them an early start in the spring. There is also a winter variety that is cultivated 

 quite successfully in latitudes as high as the mountainous portions of Tennessee, and by 

 repeated efforts in acclimatizing and hybridizing, we doubt not that a winter variety 

 will yet be produced that can be successfully cultivated considerably farther north. The 

 quantity of seed sown varies from one to four bushels per acre. When the sowing is early, 

 about two bushels per acre, for most soils, is a fair quantity. If the sowing be rather late or 

 the soil poor, three or four bushels may be required. The richer the soil and the more early 

 the sowing, the less the quantity of seed, as a general rule. English authorities speak of some 

 times sowing six or more bushels per acre, but this is quite beyond the average rate. As we 

 have previously stated, for most soils, we believe two bushels will produce a larger crop, with 

 the grain of better quality, than filling the soil with a surplus of seed, which must result in 

 crowded stalks and small heads of grain, with inferior sized kernels. 



The seed should always be well cleansed by running it through a fanning-mill, or, what 

 is better, a sieve of such size as to sift out all the inferior and small kernels, as well as all 

 seeds of weeds, &c., leaving only the largest and best grain for the sowing. Oats and all 

 other kinds of small grain are benefited by after cultivation. When sown in drills, a wheat 

 hoe is very beneficial for this purpose, or, if such a machine is not available, a light harrowing 

 when the plants are from four to six inches high is generally followed with good results. 

 Upon smooth land, the Thomas Harrow is very good for this purpose, but if the land be 

 rough and full of corn stubble or other similar obstructions, there would be danger of tear 

 ing out and destroying many of the plants by this process. 



Greater vigor and productiveness is secured to oats, as to wheat and most other crops, by 

 occasionally changing the seed, although we do not think it necessary to make such a change 

 very often. Many of the best agricultural writers in England assert that in making this 

 change it should always, if possible, be from an earlier climate and better soil; others assert 

 with equal confidence, that while this is true respecting high-lying lands which represent 

 poorer soil and a colder climate, yet with a good soil and fair climate the best results are 

 obtained with seed from a later locality. We are inclined to the latter opinion, from our 

 own experience and observation, and believe that new seed-oats should always be brought 

 from a northerly locality, as they are heavier and larger grained than those of a southerly 

 climate. Many farmers carefully cultivate their grain for seed on a small field apart from 



