OAT RUST 



95 



Rotation. Oats should be grown in a three- or four-year 

 rotation and follow corn, peas, potatoes, or root crops. 

 It is best to seed down to clover and timothy so as to have 

 a hay crop following the oat crop. When oats are grown 

 continuously on the same field, depletion of the soil soon 

 follows. 



Diseases. Smut and rust are the two principal diseases 

 affecting oats, and often a fourth to a half of the entire 



Fig. 49. Shocking oats. 



crop is ruined by these diseases. Rust may be controlled 

 by practicing a strict rotation of crops and by sowing the 

 early maturing varieties early in the season. 



Oat Rust. Oats are more likely to rust on river bottoms 

 or on low rich soils where the drainage is not good. Near 

 lakes and rivers where the country is subject to fogs the 

 development of the rust spores is greatly facilitated. The 



