OKLAHOMA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



57 



XXVI. CONTINUOUS CULTURE OF OATS VERSUS 

 ROTATION 

 H. S. Murphy 



Frr-m the Oklahoma AgricuUural Experiment Station, Stilhvater. 



fn 1916 the Oklahoma Experiment Station started an experi- 

 ment, the object of which was to ascertain what the effect is of 

 the continuous growing of oats on land, and how this compares 

 with oats grown in a rotation. The rotation used consisted of 

 oats.-cowpeas. darso and cotton grown on a common Oklahoma up- 

 land, namely Kirkland loam to silt loam. 



Manurial Applications. For the manure plots, manure was 

 applied once every four years equivalent to that which would have 

 lioen produced if the crops raised had lieen fed to livestock. The 

 crop residues for the residue plots were returned each year. These 

 residues consisted of stravv', forage, or vines grown on tlic particu- 

 hir plots. 



Results. The results of this experiment clearly show that 

 continuous culture is not advisable for the oats crop. Tlie five 

 year average of the highest yielding check plot in the continuous 

 culture is not as high as the average of the lowest check plot where 

 tlie rotation was used, as can be observed in the following table. 



M — Manure; R — Residues. 

 The average of the check plots for the continuous culture of 

 iiats shown in Table 1 is 1266.5 pounds or 39.58 bushels of grain 

 and 1460.2 pounds of strav\^ per acre, while the average of the 

 check plots where the rotation is followed is 1500.7 pounds or 46.89 

 Ijushels of grain and 1804.2 pounds of straw. This is a difference 

 i)f 7.31 bushels of grain and 344 pounds of straw for an average 

 of five years in favor of rotation. This means a great loss to 

 the grain farmer v/ho practices continuous culture of oats. 



