492 



OATS 



OATS 



only the kernels and is less apparent. Both forms 

 can be completely prevented by either the formalde- 

 hyde or the hot-water treatment. The formaldehyde 

 treatment consists in submerging the seed grain for 

 ten minutes in a solution made by using one pint of 

 formaldehyde to thirty-six gallons of water. This 

 amount of solution will treat forty bushels of oats. 

 The hot-water treatment consists in submerging 

 the seed in water at 133° Fahr. for ten minutes. 

 [See under Barley.'] In either case the seed may be 

 put in baskets, gunny sacks or any vessel which 

 will allow the water to penetrate readily. After 

 removing from the solution or water, as the case 

 may be, pour the grain on the threshing floor and 

 allow it partially to dry. Then by opening the 

 drill or seeder sufiiciently to allow for the swelled 

 condition of the grain, it may be sown at the usual 

 rate. 



There are two kinds of rust [See Wheat] which 

 attack the growing oats. One of these is the 

 "crown" or "orange leaf" rust. It affects only the 

 leaves of the plant. The other is known as the 

 "black stem" rust, and this is the one which does 

 serious damage to the growing grain. The rust 

 spores obtain lodgment on the tender stems of the 

 young plants, penetrate to the interior and there 

 produce new spores in quantities so great as to 

 burst the stem-walls and appear in black lines on 

 the surface. It is often very difficult to distinguish 

 between these two varieties of rust, for each has a 

 red and a black stage. Neither in the red or black 

 stage does the "orange leaf" rust do serious 

 damage, nor does the red stage of the "black 

 stem " rust. It is the later or black stage of the 

 "black stem" rust that does especial harm by 

 sapping the life from the stem and preventing the 

 " filling " of the grains. The damage may extend 

 only to a partial prevention of the filling, or a total 

 failure of the crop may result. 



A very moist season furnishes the best condi- 

 tion for the growth and development of the rust 

 spores, and this is the reason why rust is more 

 abundant in such seasons. It also explains why 

 grain in low parts of the field is more seriously 

 affected than is that on the more elevated parts of 

 the same field. 



Only by growing varieties of oats which are 

 rust-resistant or which mature so early that the 

 grain fills before the devastating stage of the rust 

 arrives can the loss from the rust be avoided. 

 Varieties of oats are now obtainable which are 

 practically rust-proof, having shown their power to 

 produce well under the very worst rust conditions. 

 Of the varieties of oats which mature early enough 

 to escape serious damage by rust are the Sixty-Day 

 oat previously mentioned, the Early Burt and the 

 Kherson oats. While none of these is as satis- 

 factory as some of the later varieties where the 

 latter will mature, they will undoubtedly yield 

 good crops every year. With the later-maturing 

 varieties there will probably be an occasional 

 failure to get a crop, due to attacks of rust. 



Insects. — The oat plant is seldom attacked by 

 insects to any appreciable degree except in occa- 

 sional seasons when chinch-bugs, army-worms or 



grasshoppers are abundant. The ravages of the 

 grasshoppers are hard to avoid, but are of so infre- 

 quent occurrence as to be a negligible quantity. 



Both the chinch-bug and the army-worm when 

 once well established do much damage. They start 

 at one side of the field and move across it, leaving 

 devastation behind. A plowed strip of several feet 

 in width, with a deep furrow into which the bugs 

 or worms will fall, will often prevent their reach- 

 ing a neighboring field. This may also be made 

 more eflScient by scattering tar or some insect 

 destroyer in the furrow, the perpendicular side of 

 which should be toward the field to be protected. 

 In extreme cases it would be well to burn one field 

 to save the remainder. [See page 42.] 



The threshed oats are probably less subject to 

 attacks of insects or worms than any other of our 

 grains. This is due to the rather thick, smooth and 

 close-fitting hulls, which seem to ward off all 

 attacks. 



Until recent years oats have been used mostly 

 as a food for animals, horses especially being very 

 fond of them. Large quantities are also fed to 

 sheep and cattle in conjunction with corn. It has 

 been asserted than there is a stimulating principle 

 in the oat which gives to an animal life and 

 energy, such as is produced by no other cereal. Be 

 that as it may, oats remain preeminent as a food 

 for horses. 



In Scotland for many years, and more recently 

 in other parts of the world, including the United 

 States, oats have been used as an article of human 

 food. Their great growth in popularity as a human 

 food undoubtedly explains in a large degree the 

 immense increase in production in the years 1880 

 to 1890, which, according to Hunt, was from four 

 hundred to eight hundred millions of bushels, an 

 increase of 100 per cent. Certainly none of the 

 breakfast foods on the market today is more 

 nourishing or palatable than properly prepared oat 

 products. 



The best grade of oatmeal is made from single 

 oats, with as small a percentage of hull as possible. 

 The plumper and heavier the grain the better will 

 the oatmeal manufacturer be suited, provided the 

 hulls of the grain are thin. The manufacturer will 

 undoubtedly be willing to pay an ■ increased price 

 for oats of this sort, and there is here an oppor- 

 tunity for the farmer who is properly situated, to 

 make a financial gain by catering to the oatmeal 

 trade. 



Marketing and market grades. 



Other things being equal, the best time to market 

 oats is at threshing time. Then the grain may be 

 hauled directly to the market, which saves the 

 extra handling caused by placing oats in the bin. 

 The market price and the condition of the grain 

 when threshed will determine, in a large measure, 

 whether grain is to be sold at that time. 



The price received for the grain will depend on 

 its condition and the use to which it is to be put. 

 To command the best market price any grain must 



