OATS, BARLEY, AND RYE 139 



The seed should be treated in order to prevent 

 smut. Some careless farmers lose nearly half their 

 crop on account of smut. There, are two treatments 

 to prevent smut. One is to soak the seed for ten 

 miniites in a solution of one pint of formaldehyde 

 and thirty-six gallons of water. Another is to soak 

 the seed for ten minutes in hot water at a tem- 

 l)erature of 133° Fahr. The last is called the hot 

 water treatment. 



Testing Oats. It is well to test the seed oats to 

 see if they will sprout well. If samples of the seed 

 are put in a tester and placed in a room with a 

 temperature of 70^ to 80° the oats should sprout 

 well in about three days. Out of a hundred seeds 

 ninety-five should sprout. If a smaller number 

 sprouts more seed should be sown per acre. By 

 selecting seed carefully and cleaning and treating 

 it every spring the crop will grow better every year. 



A Thirsty Crop. Oats need a great deal of mois- 

 ture, more, we are told, than any other of our big 

 crops. For every pound of dry matter in the crop 

 the soil needs about five hundred pounds of water. 

 Where does all this moisture go? Some of it evap- 

 orates from the ground and passes off into the air, 

 but most of it goes into the oat plant carrying food 

 with it. The plant gives off the moisture it does 

 not use through its leaves. This passing of mois- 

 ture througli tlie leaves is called transpiration. 



Early Sowing. Fields intended for oats should 

 have the soil stirred as early in the spring as teams 



