OTHER CEREALS 89 



largely sown without plowing the ground. The crop is usu- 

 ally sown on corn stubble ground, in which case the land is 

 disked and harrowed and the oats drilled. On prairie farms 

 most of the crop is sown with broadcast seeders and the 

 grain covered by disking and harrowing. However, land 

 which has been plowed and carefully prepared will usually 

 bring larger results than land not so carefully prepared. 



Seeding. — Farmers try to sow their oats as early in spring 

 as possible. There are two reasons for this : one is to get the 

 work out of the way and the other is that oats do better when 

 sown in the cool and moist part of the growing season. South 

 of the latitude of the Ohio River a great deal of oats is sown 

 in autumn. In the north the cold winter freezes the autumn- 

 sown oats and kills them. Seed of the best quality only should 

 be sown. It should be run through a fanning mill and all the 

 light grain winnowed out. Experiments by Professor Zavitz, 

 of Ontario Agricultural College, show that plump, heavy seed 

 will give a larger yield than common seed. The amount 

 of seed sown per acre varies a great deal. It depends upon 

 the soil and the method of sowing. On rich land not so 

 much seed need be sown as on poor land, because plants will 

 be stronger and stool out more. When sown with broadcast 

 seeders more seed should be used than when the seed is 

 drilled. Two and one-half bushels per acre is an average 

 sowing. Many farmers sow two bushels per acre, while 

 others sow much more. It is said that as much as seven and 

 one-half bushels per acre are sown in Scotland.* Heavy 

 seeding generally gives best results. Oats should not be 

 covered too deeply; about one inch deep is best when the 

 land is in good condition. 



* Bailey's Cyclopedia of Agriculture. 



