CHAPTER XVI 

 OATS, BAELEY, AND RYE 



Climate and Soil for Oats. Oats thrive best in a 

 cool, moist soil. The best corn regions are too hot 

 for the largest yields. When oats are grown in the 

 warm regions of the corn belt the seed should be 

 sown very early in the spring so that the grain may 

 develop in the cooler weather. The best oat states 

 are too far north for a good corn yield. Oats will 

 grow well on a poorer soil than com. When oats 

 are raised on land that is very rich they grow too 

 much to straw and too little to grain and are likely 

 to lodge and blow flat in a storm. 



Oats or Corn. In the corn belt oats are not so 

 profitable as com. The cost of growing the two crops 

 is about the same but oats yield fewer bushels per 

 acre and bring a lower price. When the price of 

 oats is as low as thirty-five cents per bushel there 

 is no profit in the crop. Still the wise farmer con- 

 tinues to grow oats on good corn land because it 

 is bad practice to raise corn on the same field year 

 after year. In the rotation of crops oats fit in well. 



Preparing Seed. Seed oats should be plump and 

 lieavy and free from weed seeds and dirt. To re- 

 move this extra matter the oats are put through a 

 fanning mill. In many places the crop can bo 

 increased one-fifth by carefully choosing the seed. 



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