476 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



If the seed is sown broadcast it should be covered by a shallow 

 disking or thorough harrowing. Usually, if the field has been 

 double-disked and harrowed and is in good condition before seed- 

 ing, harrowing twice will cover the seed sufficiently. At best, how- 

 ever, it is impossible in broadcast seeding to cover all the seed to the 

 same depth ; some seed is left on the surface and does not germinate 

 at all, while a small portion is covered so deep that its germination 

 is considerably delayed. 



Cultivation. On loose soil rolling can sometimes be done to 

 advantage after the seed is sown. The Wisconsin station found that 

 the temperature of rolled soils was higher than that of soils not 

 rolled. For this reason germination and early growth can some- 

 times be hastened by rolling. On soils which are inclined to pack 

 and bake the roller should be used with caution, as its use is likely 

 to increase this tendency. A light harrowing after rolling, to break 

 the crust and hold the soil moisture is beneficial. 



On land which has been plowed in the spring or which for 

 some other reason is loose and open the use of the roller or the sub- 

 surface packer may sometimes increase the yield of oats. At the 

 Canadian Experimental Farm at Lacombe, Alberta, on a soil of 

 loose texture containing considerable humus, the use of the packer 

 after seeding increased the yield in 1908 and 1909 from 69.45 

 bushels for the unpacked to 83.36 bushels for the packed plats. In 



1908 one variety was grown, using three rates of seeding, while in 



1909 two varieties, each at two rates of seeding, were grown. 

 Cultivation of small grain with the harrow or weeder is seldom 



practiced, but experiments indicate that this work can often be done 

 to advantage, particularly in regions of light rainfall. This culti- 

 vation usually takes the form of two or three harrowings with the 

 spike-tooth harrow or weeder. If the harrow is used, the teeth 

 should be set rather slanting, so as not to pull out the young grain. 

 Cultivation with the harrow is sometimes of advantage on very 

 weedy ground, even where the rainfall is ample, as the weeds are 

 readily killed when small. The harrow should be used, however, 

 only on drilled fields and only after the young grain is well rooted. 

 Harrowing at intervals of a week, beginning about three weeks 

 after the grain is sown and continuing until it -begins to make 

 stems, is an efficient method of checking weed growth and con- 

 serving moisture for the oat crop. If grass or clover seed is sown 

 with the grain no cultivation should be given. 



Irrigation. Oats require rather more water for their best 

 development than wheat, though there is great difference in the 

 varieties of both grains in this respect. It is also generally believed 

 that oats require more water than barley, though some experiments 

 indicate the contrary. Irrigation of oats is practiced to a consider- 

 able extent in the Rocky Mountain and North Pacific States, par- 

 ticularly in Montana, Idaho, and Utah. The water is ordinarily 

 applied at two irrigations, though three or four are frequently 

 given. When two applications are made the first is usually just 

 before heading begins, while the second and much heavier one ia 



