CHAP. in. OATS. 947 



seed can be got into the ground the better ; the quantit}' per acre, if 

 sown alone and drilled, is from two to six bushels, according to the 

 variety used. 



This crop prefers a rich soil, and is much less liable to suffer from 

 over-manuring than is barley. For this reason it is often advisable to 

 sow oats on laud off which a heavy crop of roots has been fed. The 

 cultivation of the seed bed need not be quite so thorough as for barley, 

 as the crop is more robust in its growth. The grain should not be 

 allowed to become absolutely ripe before the crop is cut, as it will 

 continue to feed from the straw, and less grain will shell out. Oats 

 require to stand in the field for a long time after cutting or they will 

 heat in the stack, owing to the moisture which is retained in the straw. 

 Oat straw makes valuable fodder, especially if not cut too late. 



Comparing oats and wheat together, M. de Vilmorin points out that 

 although the selling price of wheat is higher than that of oats, the 

 last-named grain may leave more profit to the cultivator than the first, 

 for its saleable value covers at least the cost of production. The 

 explanation of this is found in the physiological and cultural charac- 

 teristics of oats, owing to which the cost of production is reduced 

 below that of wheat. As a general rule, oats sown in spring do not 

 occupy the earth more than from four to five months, and they 

 succeed more easily than wheat, which occupies the land from the 

 beginning of winter. Afterwards, through the abundance and strength 

 of their roots, oats extract from the soil more rapidly and completely 

 the elements necessary to growth and to the formation of the grain. 

 One of their characteristics, most important and useful, is that of 

 being able to grow with profit in ground much less mellowed by 

 cultivation and atmospheric action than that which wheat requires. 

 Earth in a sour condition, and containing a large quantity of organic 

 matter in a state of incomplete decay, will give a fine crop of oats, 

 whilst wheat grown under like conditions would be weak in the straw 

 and would only produce inferior grain. 



The husks of oats are of the same texture as the leaves, constituting 

 a true forage, rich in nitrogenous matter, but not in starch, whilst the 

 kernel, composed principally of starch, approaches the nutritive value 

 of other farinaceous grain. Oats constitute a complex food, with 

 properties varying in a considerable measure according to the relative 

 preponderance of the farinaceous kernel on the one hand and the 

 nitrogenous husk on the other. This variability in the proportion of 

 kernel and husk depends in a great measure on the cultivation and 

 the ripening of the crop, but each variety has its particular tendency 

 to produce a grain in which husk or kernel predominates. 



Oats sown in cool and rich ground should not be the early kinds, 

 with weak straw, as these will surely fail, or, in any case, give a feeble 

 return. If, on the contrary, the earth is hot and dry, late varieties of 

 large yielding properties should be avoided, as they wither upon the 

 stalk, probably before earing, but certainly before maturing their 

 grain. From the point of view of the richness of the ground, and of 

 the length of time of vegetation which is necessary for a plant to 



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