SMALL GRAINS 151 



Oats make one of the best feeds for horses, and when ground 

 are used for other farm stock. Oatmeal in the form of rolled 

 oats forms a good human food. Oat straw is better for stock 

 than the straw of other cereals. 



Soil. — Oats will grow on soils that are rather too poor 

 for wheat, but they thrive best on the richer soils. Heavier 

 crops of grain are produced if the soil is heavy. The crop 

 responds well to good apphcations of fertilizer, if too much 

 nitrogen is not used. Too much nitrogen in the soil produces 

 tall growth and little grain. 



Fig. 84.— a modem grain harvester. All small grains are cut and bound into 



bundles by this machine. Ihe tying part of the machine is one of the greatest 

 inventions of modern times. 



Preparation. — Good plowing and harrowing are advisable 

 before the crop is sown. The lower soil of the seed bed 

 should be well packed down if the plowing is done only a 

 short time before seeding. In some sections the soil is merely 

 stirred with a disc harrow instead of plowing. This custom 

 prevails in the middle West, when oats are sown the next 

 year after corn. A more thorough preparation if the soil 

 is heavy usually gives larger yields. 



Seeding is done in very early spring throughout the 

 Northern States and Canada. In the South oats are started 

 in the fall. The seeding may be either broadcast or with grain 



