OATS 



157 



by plowing the land, over that secured by disking, or 

 even entire lack of preparation, is not enough to pay for 

 the extra labor involved. At the Ohio Station an experiment 

 on silt loam soil, extending over a period of four years, re- 

 sulted in higher yields from the practice of disking than from 

 either no preparation 

 or plowing. On some 

 types of soil it is 

 probable that disking 

 would not result in 

 an increased yield 

 sufficient to justify 

 the extra labor, while 

 with other soils, par- 

 ticularly those which 

 are weedy, plowing 

 may be desirable. 

 Oats may either be 

 sown broadcast and 

 covered with a disk 

 or spike toothed 

 harrow, or they may 

 be sown with a grain 

 drill. The latter 

 method is to be rec- 

 ommended, as a more uniform 



Fig. 53. 



Broadcasting oats - 

 way of seeding. 



- the old 



be secured 



stand maj^ 

 and usually a larger yield is obtained. 



Commercial fertilizer and barnyard manure are not 

 usually applied to the oat crop in the corn belt states. 

 Experience has shown that larger returns from the ferti- 

 lizers may usually be obtained if they are applied to some 

 other crop in the rotation. Fertilization of oats fre- 

 quently causes rank growth of straw without a corre- 



