268 CHAPTER XV 



Unless the soil is deep and fertile and has a good water- 

 holding capacity, dry land winter sown oats are not likely to 

 succeed except for grazing purposes. Sometimes on productive 

 soil, with sufficient early spring rains, the crop, after being 

 grazed off in winter, will shoot up again and be ready for har- 

 vesting in November and December. On the highveld of the 

 Transvaal, where rust is not very prevalent, oats are sown on 

 dry lands in August and September with a fair amount of suc- 

 cess. 



Rate of Seeding. — This is governed by the stooling char- 

 acteristics of the variety, time of the year when sow^n, whether 

 drilled or broadcasted, soil conditions and the purpose for which 

 the crop is grown. For grain production under irrigation, 50 

 to 70 pounds is sufficient ; without irrigation, 40 to 50 pounds 

 is required. Thicker seeding may be employed on very pro- 

 ductive soils, when sown late, when the crop is to be used for 

 pasturage or for hay, and when broadcasted. 



The depth of planting and the subsequent treatment of the 

 crop as regards after cultivation and irrigation is identical with 

 that of wheat. 



Oats and barley are often sown in mixtures in Canada, 

 where the mixed grain harvested is ground and fed to stock. 

 An early variety of oats and a late variety of barley is required 

 in order to get the maturity of the two crops to synchronise. In 

 this way, since the oat has a more extensive and deeper rootinc" 

 system than the barley, a larger total yield is obtained than if 

 the same acreage were divided and sown separately to barley 

 and oats. 



In the South-West Cape oats, vetches or field peas are 

 often sown together, the vetches, or field peas, being supported 

 by the oats. This is often grazed off or cut for hay, giving a 

 nutritious hay ; moreover, the soil productiveness is not so 

 quickly exhausted as would be the case were the oats sown 

 alone. A few pounds of rape is sometimes sown with the oats. 

 The rape makes very little growth while the oats are growing, 

 but when the oat crop is harvested the rape furnishes a good 

 growth for sheep pasture. 



Harvesting.— For forage, the crop should be cut when 

 the upper tips of the panicles have turned white and when the 

 plants are changing from a dark green to a yellowish appear- 

 ance. At this, the soft dough stage, the hay is more palatable 

 and most nutritious. 



A general mistake in the Union is to cut oats for forage 

 purposes when much too mature. 



