472 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



as nitrate of soda, will hasten its growth and result in materially 

 increased yields. 



Liming alone is not likely to increase the yield of oats. On 

 very sour soils or when used in connection with the plowing under 

 of green-manure crops or stable manure, it may have a beneficial 

 effect. Where lime was applied without manure at the Pennsyl- 

 vania station it reduced the yield of oats, but where it was applied 

 in connection with manure it increased the beneficial effect of the 

 manure. This was in a 4-year rotation of corn, oats, wheat, and 

 clover and timothy. The lime was applied at the. rate of 2 tons to 

 the acre previous to planting the corn crop. 



While the application of lime or fertilizers to oats may not be 

 directly profitable, the increased yields from succeeding crops may 

 often more than make up the deficiency. This is particularly true 

 when clover or a grass crop is to follow the oats. 



Rotation. Among the factors which determine the place of 

 the oat crop in the rotation are the effect of the preceding crop on 

 the growth of the oats and the effect of the oats on the following 

 crop. Ordinarily oats are not grown after a grass or clover crop, 

 a cultivated crop being used to subdue the sod. In sections where 

 virgin soil is being brought under cultivation oats are usually grown 

 on "old land," wheat and flax being the crops which are ordinarily 

 grown on sod land if a cultivated crop such as corn or one of the 

 sorghums is not used. When grown on sod land, especially where 

 the sod consists wholly Or in part of clover or alfalfa, oats are in- 

 clined to grow rank and lodge. Where there is less trouble from 

 lodging, as in some of the irrigated sections of the West, oats may 

 follow clover or alfalfa. 



Oats are less influenced by the effect of the preceding crop than 

 are most other grains, so that where wheat, barley, and oats are the 

 main crops and rotation, if one is practiced, is arranged to suit the 

 other grains rather than oats. Where corn or some other cultivated 

 crop is grown, oats usually follow the cultivated crop and are fol- 

 lowed by grass or clover, which are usually sown with the oats. 



A common rotation in Iowa and Illinois, and in the surround- 

 ing States, consists of corn, oats, and grass or clover. Usually 

 this is a 5-year rotation, two crops of corn being grown in suc- 

 cession, followed by oats, with grass and clover seeded with the oats ; 

 the grass is allowed to remain for two years, either as meadow or 

 pasture, and is then plowed up for corn. The rotation is some- 

 times shortened to four years, either two years of corn and one each 

 of oats and grass or one year each of corn and oats and two years of 

 grass. The first of these two rotations is the common one where 

 clover alone is used as the hay crop. Where winter wheat can be 

 grown it is customary to use it as a nurse crop for grass or clover. 

 The common rotation where both oats and winter wheat are grown 

 is corn, oats, winter wheat, and grass or clover for one or more years. 

 In Maine and in some of the other potato-growing sections a com- 

 mon rotation consists of potatoes, oats, and clover, each one year. 

 In the spring-wheat section, if corn is grown the common rotation 



