56 ELEMENT 8^ OF FARM PRACTICE 



If wheat and oats are both raised, oats should follow wheat. 



Uses. — About two thirds of all oats raised is fed on the 

 farm, mostly to horses. Mixed with other grains they are 

 excellent for dairy cattle and sheep. Oats should be ground 

 if fed to hogs and made into a mash for brood sows. The 

 feeding value of oats is, generally speaking, about the same 

 as of wheat. The straw, however, is better stock feed than 

 wheat straw. 



As oatmeal or in rolled form oats is a staple article of 

 human diet. It is also used in baking and in war time as 

 a partial substitute for wheat flour. 



The by-products of milling are used as stock feed. Oats 

 is sometimes cut green for hay. The straw is best for bed- 

 ding. It is worth about $3.00 a ton for manure. 



Diseases and Insects. — Leaf and stem rust and loose 

 smut are the principal diseases which attack oats. They 

 have effects similar to those they have on wheat. To avoid 

 rust early varieties should be planted on fairly fertile soil, 

 well-drained, if drainage is necessary. For smut, seed 

 should be treated with formaldehyde. 



The hull of oats serves as a protection against insects. 

 The principal enemies are army worm, chinch bug, green 

 bug, grain aphis, and grasshopper. Grain weevils may at- 

 tack oats in storage. Tight bins and fumigation are the 

 remedies. 



Questions: 



1. Why might it be that oats are less carefully graded than wheat? 



2. What difference is there in the cost of producing oats and wheat? 

 Comparing average cost of production and selling price, which is more 

 profitable to raise? 



3. Why should oats be placed after corn in a rotation? 



4. How can damage from disease and insects be prevented? 

 Arithmetic: 



1. When oats increased in price from 43.7c. to 66.9c. a bushel, 

 what per cent of increase was it? 



2. When it cost $14.08 an acre to produce oats, at how much 

 would oats have to sell to make 25 bushels an acre unprofitable? 



3. If a bushel of oats makes 3 pecks of breakfast food, how much 

 does a dealer get for it if he sells 6 pints for 12c.? 



BARLEY 



Barley is not grown in nearly so large quantities as oats 

 or wheat. Russia is the chief barley-producing country. 



