CHAPTER XXIV 



OATS CLIMATE, SOILS, TILLAGE PRACTICES, 



AND USES 



CONDITIONS are less favorable for the successful produc- 

 tion of oats in the cotton-belt than in more northern sec- 

 tions. This fact renders it of paramount importance \that 

 the southern oat-grower give special attention to the proper 

 selection of soils and fertilizers for oats, as well as to the 

 best time and manner of seeding. 



347. Climate. For best results with oats the climate 

 needs to be both cool and moist. They grow to perfection 

 under climatic conditions too cool for best results with 

 wheat, barley, or corn. Throughout the greater part of 

 the cotton-belt moisture conditions are quite favorable 

 to oat production, the relatively low average yield of this 

 region being partially the result of the high mean tem- 

 perature during the oat-growing season. This high mean 

 temperature is the chief factor limiting the number of 

 varieties of oats that can be produced with success in the 

 cotton-belt. It is also thought that this same factor is 

 primarily responsible for the relatively poor quality of 

 southern oats in comparison with the quality of oats pro- 

 duced in the North. On good soils southern varieties will 

 grow large but they are less compact and the grains are 

 less plump and somewhat lighter than northern oats. 



348. Soils. Oats are more often sown on poor soil 

 than any other cereal. The principal reasons for this are: 

 (1) the oat is a strong feeder and a fair crop can be pro- 



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