90 AGRICULTURE FOR COMMON SCHOOLS 



Harvesting. — What has been said about the harvesting 

 and threshing of wheat appUes also to oats. Oats should 

 stand in the shock until they are well dried out before being 

 stacked or threshed. 



Varieties. — There are many varieties of oats. All may be 

 classed in two large groups, the spreading oats and the side 

 oats. In the first group the branches of the. oats head spread 

 out in all directions from the central part, while in the second 

 group all the branches seem to be on one side of the head. 

 The spreading varieties are considered better yielders than 

 the side varieties. Black varieties are not generally consid- 

 ered such good yielders as the white. There are some vari- 

 eties which have yellowish hulls. In the southern states the 

 varieties are nearly all reddish-brown or gray. There are 

 varieties which have very loose hulls around the kernel, so 

 that in threshing the kernel is completely hulled out. This 

 kind of oats is called "hulless" and is not a profitable kind 

 to grow. Oat varieties differ a good deal in their time of 

 ripening. As a rule those which ripen medium early are the 

 best yielders. 



Rye. — Rye has been known in the Old World for more 

 than 2,000 years. However, it is not so old as wheat and 

 barley. It originated along the Mediterranean Sea and in 

 Western Asia. It is said still to grow wild in the unsettled 

 parts of those regions. Rye is not so important as the other 

 cereals. The amount raised seems to be decreasing. In this 

 country it is raised partly because of the value of the 

 straw. 



Culture of Rye. — The cultivated plant became known 

 first in North-eastern Europe. Rye is adapted to a wide 

 range of climate and does better than wheat in extremely cold 



