54 ELEMENTS OF FARM PRACTICE 



Manure and Fertilizers. — Manure should be applied to 

 a previous crop for best results for oats. When phosphorus 

 and potassium are lacking, commercial fertilizers may be 

 used. If nitrogen is lacking, a leguminous crop should be 

 plowed under; but commercial fertilizer containing nitro- 

 gen as well as the two other elements mentioned may be 

 used. 



Preparing the Land. — The seed bed should be prepared 

 as early in the spring as possible, and left with a loose mel- 

 low surface well firmed against the subsoil. Disking or 

 harrowing will suffice on land just previously cultivated. 

 Otherwise, fall plowing and spring disking and harrowing 

 produce the best results. 



Seed and Sowing. — It is important to grade oats before 

 sowing and to select only large and plump kernels of uni- 

 form color and free from all impurities. Like wheat, oats 

 may be treated with formaldehyde for smut. 



Oats should be sown early to insure early maturity, as 

 rust is likely to develop and attack the plants with the 

 advent of hot weather. Early oats will mature in from 

 90 to 100 days. 



From two to three bushels of seed should be sown per 

 acre. Within limits thin seeding is likely to produce the 

 most abundant root system. The seed may be sown broad- 

 cast or with a drill. The drill, as with wheat, is likely to 

 produce the best results. The seed should be covered more 

 deeply in loose than in compact soil. From one to two 

 inches is a fair average. 



Harvesting. — The methods of cutting, shocking, stack- 

 ing, threshing and storing oats are hardly different from 

 those described for wheat. If oats are very short, they may 

 be cut, handled, and fed like hay. It is preferable to stack 

 oats, which should not be threshed for two or three weeks 

 afterwards, in order to permit ' 'sweating." They should 

 be threshed then when dry so that the grain will separate 

 well. Oats are more likely to be stored on the farm, as 

 they are fed there. 

 Questions: 



1 Where do oats rank in importance as a crop? 



2. In what respect do soil conditions for oats differ from those 

 for wheat? 



