486 



OATS 



OATS 



Yield op Corn by Continents. 



Yield of Wheat by Continents. 



It will be seen that in the number of bushels 

 oats exceeds both corn and wheat ; but it is really 

 less than either when the total number of pounds 

 is considered. The average annual yield of oats for 

 the world at large from 1900-1904, inclusive, has 

 been 3,499,866,000 bushels. While the yield per 

 acre is high, the value per acre is less than that 

 of any other of our common grains. 



The average yield of oats per acre varies in the 

 different oat-growing regions of the world, as will 

 be seen by the following table, also taken from the 

 1904 Yearbook of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture : 



Average Yield of Oats in Certain Countries, in 



a, Winchester bushels. 



While the yields here given are not strictly com- 

 parable, part of them being given in Winchester 

 bushels and part in bushels of thirty-two pounds, 

 it is still evident that the yields are greater in 

 Germany and the United Kingdom, with their moist 

 climates and intensive farming methods, than in 

 this country. Europe produces the greatest quan- 

 tity of grain in proportion to the area covered, with 



North America second. The production is increas- 

 ing more rapidly in North America than in Europe, 

 and as our agriculture becomes more intensive we 

 will undoubtedly exceed the yields of Europe. 



Of the history of oats in the United States a 

 writer in the International Encyclopedia says : 

 "Oats have been cultivated in America ever since 

 the advent of the first white settlers. They were 

 sown with other cereals by Gosnold on the Eliza- 

 beth islands in 1602; were introduced into Massa- 

 chusetts bay, 1629, and their cultivation has since 

 extended to every state in the Union." While this 

 statement is literally true and oats are raised in 



every state in the 

 Bushels Per Acre, 1894-1903. Union, the greater 



bulk of the crop is 

 raised in the north- 

 central states. 

 Eleven states now 

 produce four-fifths 

 of the oats grown 

 in the United States, 

 and all except New 

 York and Penn- 

 sylvania are in 

 the north - central 

 group. These states 

 in order of produc- 

 tion in 1905 were 

 Iowa, Illinois, Wis- 

 consin, Minnesota, 

 Nebraska, Indiana, 

 New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Ohio and 

 Michigan. 



The average yield in 1905 was thirty-four 

 bushels per acre. Of the great oat-producing 

 states, Wisconsin leads in yield per acre with 

 39 bushels, and North Dakota is second with 38.9 

 bushels. Jowa showed an average of 35 bushels 

 and Illinois 35.5 bushels per acre, the states with 



&, Bushels of 32 pounds. 



