OATS 91 



in well-built round stacks so constructed as to turn the 

 rains. 



4. Insect Enemies and Diseases 



Oats are, on the whole, subject to fewer diseases, and 

 the prey of fewer insects than wheat. The crop is, there- 

 fore, less liable to total failure from these causes. 



Insect enemies. Chinch-bugs attack oats, as well as 

 wheat, though they usually do much less damage to oats 

 than to wheat. They can be controlled only as already 

 described in the case of wheat. 



In some seasons the army worm has caused much loss 

 to oats, but usually not over extensive areas. There is 

 no satisfactory method known of controlling its ravages. 

 What is known as the green bug, a grain aphis, is one 

 of the most prominent enemies of oats. Grasshoppers occa- 

 sionally consume the greater part of the crop in relatively 

 small areas. 



Diseases of oats. The chief diseases attacking oats 

 are rusts and smuts. These are of the same general char- 

 acter as the rusts and smuts of wheat, fungous growths 

 feeding on the growing plant. 



The rusts are of two chief types: (1) leaf rust, which 

 is of a reddish-brown color, and attacks the leaves, and in 

 some degree the stems, of oats shortly before ripening time ; 

 and (2) stem rust, which is to be recognized as black spots 

 appearing on the stems and leaves of oats just before they 

 ripen. 



Stem rust is less common than leaf rust, but when 

 present is far more injurious to the crop. The rusts are 

 more serious as an enemy of oats in the South than in the 

 North, appearing in the South almost every year, and greatly 

 reducing the yield. Rust is far worse on moist hot sea- 

 sons than on dry seasons. Xo sure cure has been discovered 



