142 



AGRICULTURE 



If oats are sown early enough in the tail, they form 

 long, strong roots which tend to anchor them. A more 



certain method of pro- 

 tecting them against 

 death from cold con-, 

 sists in planting them, 

 in deep furrows that are, 

 not entirely filled in.. 

 The young. pJants are* 

 safer here because it is- 

 more difficult^ ,for a. 

 plant in a low. place to; 

 be lifted by a freeze, 

 than for one in. a higher, 

 place. In sowing : oats r 

 thus in open, furrows, 

 a one-horse planter is. 

 used, run in, the bottom, 

 of a furrow ma<lewith f 

 a shovel-plow. The. 



Courtesy Cal. Expt. Station j -ii o 



FIG. 91. A POOR SAMPLE OF WHEAT; llls ane to - 2 4 



GRAINS SHRIVELED inches apart. 



Improvement of seed. Large seeds generally produce- 

 larger crops than do light seeds (Figs. 90, 91). Both wheat 

 and oats can be greatly improved by selecting the best 

 plants and sowing their seed in a small seed-plot. Any 

 improvement once made is apt to be permanent, because 

 wheat and oats do not cross with inferior kinds. On any 

 farm where oats or wheat mature large, plump grains, it 

 is better to use home-grown seeds than those from other 



