CHAPTER XXV 



OATS HARVESTING, MARKETING, INSECT 

 ENEMIES AND DISEASES 



IN the cotton-belt, oats are usually cut with a grain 

 binder. In special cases, as when the straw is badly lodged 

 or is very short owing to poor soil or dry weather, or when 

 the crop is cut for hay rather than grain, the mower may 

 be used. Small, irregularly shaped areas are best har- 

 vested with a mower or with a cradle. In the grain- 

 producing states of the semi-arid West oats are often 

 harvested with a header or sometimes with a combined 

 harvester and thrasher. 



361. Time of cutting. To produce the best quality 

 of grain, oats should be cut when the grain has passed 

 from the "milk" into the hard "dough" stage. As most 

 varieties of southern oats do not shatter badly, cutting is 

 often deferred until the grain has just past the hard dough 

 stage, at which time the heads have turned yellow. If 

 oats are cut before the hard dough stage, the grain will 

 subsequently shrivel and be of light weight. Even when 

 cut for hay, the grain should be permitted to develop as 

 much as possible without allowing the straw to become 

 tough and hard. 



362. Shocking. If the oats are fairly mature when 

 harvested and do not contain a large amount of green 

 weeds, the bundles should be placed in round shocks 

 of ten or twelve bundles each. Each shock should be 

 covered with two bundles as "caps," or with covers made 



296 



