OATS 181 



Land for wheat is usually plowed, although it is some- 

 times disked. Early plowing for fall-sown wheat is much 

 to be preferred, on account of the control of weeds and 

 conservation of the rainfall. Many experimental tests of 

 drilling and broad-cast sowing have been made. The 

 drilled wheat has almost invariably given better yields. 



The question of depth of planting, and advantages of 

 fall and spring plowing have been discussed under corn. 

 The same principles apply to growing spring wheat. 



OATS 



169. Oats thrive best in a cool, Tnoist climate. >TheV 

 will grow farther north than either corn qr wheat. For 

 both of these reasons, the oat crop of* Europe is much 

 greater than '""that of the United States. Oats will also 

 produce something of a crop on land that is too poor 

 to produce corn or wheat. Oats are usually given the least 

 fertilizer of any crop in the rotation ; not because they 

 do not respond to fertilizers, but because they will grow 

 without them. Too much nitrogen in the soil is likely 

 to make them lodge, hence manure 01 nitrogenous fertili- 

 zers must be used sparingly. 



Many oats are used for the manufacture of oatmeal. 

 They are highly esteemed for horse feed. The average 

 price of oats in New York for ten years has been 1.12 

 cents per pound, while the aVerageprTce 7 of corn has 

 been .96 cents per pound. The grain of oats costs still 

 more. About one-third of oats is hull, which has about 

 the same value as oat straw. If we exclude the hull, the 

 price of the grain in oats has cost about 75 per cent more 



