Eradication of the Wild Oat. 189 



oats to start in the early spring. Then plow 

 the land in order to bury the myriads of 

 oats that have, germinated. The ground 

 should be at once harrowed to encourage 

 the germination of the oats in the upper 

 section of the soil. When another crop 

 has started the disk should again be run 

 over the land. It should then be sown to 

 millet or barley during the first half of 

 June. These crops should be cut before any 

 stray wild oats that may have survived 

 have produced seed. The ground should 

 then be at once plowed again to bring up 

 the lower section of the furrow slice, which 

 will contain seeds. The next year the same 

 process should be followed. But few wild 

 oats will then remain in the soil. If a cul- 

 tivated crop, as corn, follows, the wild oats 

 should be all destroyed. 



4. Seed the land to alfalfa. One of the 

 most effective ways to eradicate wild oats 

 is to seed the land to alfalfa. The fre- 

 quency of the cutting of the alfalfa crop 

 will prevent any of tlie oats from maturing 

 seed. If the alfalfa is harvested for sev- 

 eral successive years, the seeds of the wild 

 oats remaining in the soil will lose their 

 germinating power. The two methods last 



