90 AGRICULTURE 



grain binder, the header, the mowing machine, and the 

 combined harvester and thrasher. By far the greater part 

 of our oats crop is cut with the binder. 



The best time for cutting oats is just as they are pass- 

 ing out of the hard-dough stage of ripening. On account 

 of the fact that they shatter rather easily when ripe, it may 

 be necessary, especially if the acreage is large, to begin 

 when the grain is passing out of the milk stage. Cutting 

 too early leaves the grain slightly lighter and of a greenish 

 color. 



The best method of shocking oats depends on the ripe- 

 ness of the crop when harvested. If the oats are in the 

 hard-dough stage when cut, they should be shocked in well 

 built, round shocks. If the grain is green and the straw 

 heavy or full of weeds, the long shock is better, since it 

 allows freer curing. Either type of shock should be capped, 

 except in regions where the winds are usually strong enough 

 to blow a cap sheaf off, in which case it takes damage from 

 lying on the ground. 



Thrashing. Oats may be thrashed from the shock, 

 or stacked and thrashed any time during the fall. A some- 

 what better grade of oats is obtained by stacking and allow- 

 ing the oats to "go through the sweat" before thrashing. 

 The straw is also worth more for feed when the oats have 

 cured in the stack. 



The custom followed by careless farmers of leaving 

 grain standing for weeks in the shock exposed to the 

 weather while waiting for the thrashing machine can not 

 be too strongly condemned. A period of hot wet weather 

 is almost certain to start the oats to molding, or sprouting 

 in the shock. On the other hand, if the weather is very 

 dry, the oats shatter, and many bushels are lost in handling. 

 If the thrashing machine can not be secured as soon as the 

 oats have dried sufficiently to thrash, they should be stacked 



