212 SMALL GRAINS 



crop is sown in the fall in the South, and both winter and spring 

 varieties are used in some regions. The yield of spring oats largely 

 depends upon the earliness of planting. Drilling is usually pre- 

 ferred to broadcast sowing. It is not an uncommon practice to 

 sow the oat crop without previously plowing the field. After corn 

 or other cultivated crop the field may be disked and a crop of oats 

 grown with fairly good returns (Fig. 156). In livestock farming 

 of the northern states and Canada oats are commonly mixed with 

 Canada field peas or with barley or with spring vetch. The yields 

 of grain are much improved by the mixing (see Figs. 93 and 94 

 in Chapter on Rotations). 



FIG. 156. Shocks of oats when well capped may remain in the field until thrashing time. 

 (Productive Farm Crops.) 



BARLEY 



This crop has been grown by man since the early Egyptian 

 ages. The world's crop at present is about one-third as great as 

 the wheat crop. Between six and seven million acres are annually 

 devoted to barley growing in the United States. The average 

 yield is about twenty-five bushels per acre. California and Min- 

 nesota each produce about one-fifth of the crop. Barley is much 

 grown in Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota. 



The best soil is well-drained loam. Light rich loams are well 

 suited for barley growing. Because of its ability to endure the 

 so-called alkali conditions of semi-arid regions, it is grown on such 

 soil more than other small grains after irrigation is introduced. 



