18 SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



Extensive experiments in the cotton-belt have proved that, 

 on an average, drilling affords a larger crop than broadcast sow- 

 ing. The Illinois Experiment Station found the smaller yield 

 with broadcast oats to be due in part to the more uneven and 

 generally shallower depth at which the seed were placed in broad- 

 cast sowing. 



In countries where it is customary to sow red clover with the 

 small grains, it has been noticed that the clover is thriftier and 

 less injured by hot weather when the rows made by the grain 

 drill extend north and south rather than east and west. 



21. The open-furrow method of drilling oats. This 

 consists in sowing the seed, not with a two-horse grain 

 drill, but with a one-horse planter, which deposits the seed 

 in the bottom of a deep furrow or trench previously opened 

 by a large shovel plow. The seeds are barely covered by 

 the small amount of soil which falls into the trench as the 

 planter passes along. Therefore, the plants grow from 

 the bottom of a rather deep furrow which remains unfilled 

 throughout the winter. Here they are somewhat protected 

 from cold and greatly protected from heaving, since the soil 

 and the plants in the bottom of a furrow are not easily 

 lifted by alternate freezing and thawing. 



These deep furrows are 18 to 24 inches apart. Fertil- 

 izer is drilled in with the seed. 



An incidental advantage of the open-furrow method is the 

 fact that it permits thorough harrowing in early spring. This 

 affords all the usual advantages of cultivation and partially 

 fills the open furrows so as to make easier the operation of the 

 binder or mower. 



At the Alabama and Georgia Experiment Stations, this method 

 has given larger yields than were secured from broadcast sowing, 

 besides almost complete protection from winter-killing. How- 

 ever, this method is not adapted to very stiff or poorly drained 



