CHAPTER XXI 

 CULTURE OF OATS 



THE oat crop is grown by comparatively simple cultural methods 

 It is apparently less particular in the kind of soil or preparation than 

 most crops, except buckwheat. Ordinarily, it does not respond as 

 quickly to fertilizers or manures or thorough soil preparation as other 

 cereals, and hence is grown by less intensive methods. 



Climatic Requirements. Oats require a rather humid climate. 

 It requires more water to grow oats than other of the common grain 

 crops. For example, farmers find that an oat stubble is always 

 much drier to plow, after harvest, than a wheat or barley stubble. 



Importance of Water. By growing crops in barrels or large 

 cans, it is possible to determine how much water is required by dif- 

 ferent crops to produce one pound of dry weight. Results of two ex- 

 periments are here cited, one by King in Wisconsin and the other by 

 Briggs and Shantz in eastern Colorado : 



Water Required in Proportion to Dry Matter Produced 



Not only must the supply of soil moisture be large but a rather 

 cool summer, favoring slow ripening, gives best results. Wheat will 

 do well in hotter and drier summer weather than oats. 



This explains why early oats often do so well in the Com Belt. 

 Ripening early in July they will escape more of the hot, dry weather 

 of midsummer than later oats. It is also one reason why oats, rela- 

 tive to wheat, are so much more important in northern and north- 

 eastern United States and eastern Canada, while wheat has a distinct 

 advantage where summers are hot and dry. 



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