CHAPTER XXII 

 HARVESTING AND UTILIZING THE OAT CROP 



A VERY high percentage of the oat crop that would grade No. 1 or 

 No. 2 oats when it reaches maturity, is damaged one to three grades 

 by careless harvesting methods and handling before it reaches market. 

 In fact, practically all damage comes after harvest, and principally 

 either in the shock or stack (Fig. 58). 



Time of Cutting. The wheat crop usually continues to gain in 

 weight up to the time it is dead ripe, but oats seem to give maximum 

 yield when cut in the dough stage. With fully ripe oats there is 

 often some actual loss, due to shattering. Also, oats cut slightly 

 green usually have a better color, being lighter with a slightly green 

 tinge. The half green straw is more palatable as feed, an important 

 item on many farms. 



The above advantages are partly offset by the slower curing of 

 the greener straw and consequent increased danger from damage 

 while in shock or stack. 



Methods of Harvesting. Oats are usually cut with a self 

 binder. Perhaps the best grade of oats is secured by the old method 

 before binders were used. The oats could be cut rather green and 

 left in loose gavels for a few hours before binding. This would be 

 impracticable nowadays. The bundles 'should be rather small and 

 bound low enough to leave the head part loose. 



Oats are sometimes cut with the header or combined harvester in 

 the Far West, but the custom is not nearly so common as with wheat. 



Shocking Oats. In good curing weather, bound oats may be 

 set at once into compact round shocks with one or two cap sheaves. 

 In damp weather, part green oats must be handled with skill to 

 secure grain and straw free from must or mold. The bundles may 

 be set up at once in long shocks, two by two. A day later the 

 bundles can be reset into a compact round shock, and capped with 

 two bundles (Fig. 59). Sometimes it is advisable to allow green 

 oats to lie on the ground one day and then set into round shocks, 

 though the shock will never " set " so well when straw is half cured. 



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