OAT HAY HARVESTED AT DIFFERENT STAGES 

 OF MATURITY. 



J. M. Bartlett, 



It is quite a common practice with many farmers to harvest 

 oats before the grain is mature and cure them for coarse fodder. 

 This is a very desirable plan to follow at times when the hay 

 crop is short, or in localities where the land is badly infested with 

 noxious weeds like the Canada thistle or wild mustard, both of 

 which should be cut before they seed. 



The oat plant, however, is not an ideal one for making hay. 

 The stalks are hollow, coarse and hard, and unless dried very 

 quickly in a bright sun they become bleached, even when cut 

 green, so that they look little better than straw. To cure the 

 crop in its best condition and retain its bright green color and 

 palatability, it should be dried in a bright sun for a few hours, 

 with liberal use of the hay tedder when there is a heavy growth ; 

 then raked together and the curing completed in the windrow 

 or cock, with as little exposure to moisture as possible. If the 

 weather is unfavorable, as is frequently the case during the lat- 

 ter part of July or first of August when oats are mature enough 

 to cut for hay, they are very liable to be seriously injured and 

 rendered unpalatable. They have not proved a good crop for 

 ensiling, not keeping nearly as well as corn or many other 

 crops, therefore the silo cannot be offered as a means of curing 

 in bad weather. Oats, however, when not sown too thickly, have 

 an advantage over other plants, which make more desirable hay, 

 of being a fairly good catch crop for seeding to grass, as they 

 mature early enough to allow the young grass to get a good start 

 in the fall, and for this reason are desirable on the farm. 



It is quite well known, and there is considerable experimental 

 data showing that most plants like the grasses, clovers, etc., usu- 

 ally grown for hay are at their best to harvest when in bloom, but 



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