Bs BULLETIN 1481, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
West Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and those south- 
ward, grow approximately 5,000,000 acres of oats annually. From 
12 to 15 per cent of the total oat acreage for the United States is 
grown in these States. Government estimates are not made on the 
fall-sown oat acreage in the South, but such information as is ayail- 
able indicates that roughly from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 acres of fall- 
sown oats are grown in the area outlined. Approximately half of 
the total southern oat acreage is fallsown. In the Carolinas, Georgia, 
Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana the fall-sown acreage usually is 
ereater than that sown in spring, whereas in Virginia, Tennessee, 
Arkansas, and Texas the spring-sown acreage predominates. 
When fall-sown oats are injured severely by winterkilling, the ratio 
between the harvested spring-sown and fall-sown acreages is some- 
times greatly altered. Likewise, immediately following such seasons 
there usually is a slump in the fall-sown acreage. This is shown by 
the data of Table 1, being estimated! acreages for Georgia, one of 
the leading fall-sown oat States, covering the years 1923 to 1926, 
inclusive. 2s 
TaBLE 1.—Estimated acreages and average yields for Georgia of harvested spring- 
sown and fall-sown oats and the percentage of the total represented by each during 
stated years 
Acreage harvested ! Percentage of total pe age yield 
harvested acreage ushels) 
Year harvested 
Spring Fall Total Spring Fall Spring Fall 
sown sown sown sown sown sown 
NOI Ss 2 See ese fae See See ee 109,410 | 411,590 |} 521,000 21 79 11.5 20.0 
LO 24 2 2 = Sa ee eee ae 192, 500 82,500 | 275, 000 70 30 16 0 19.0 
LOD Dee eee ees Re eee 123, 900 | 289,100 | 413, 000 30 70 12.5 18. 0 
1 No estimates on acreage sown are available. 
The data in Table 1 show that in 1923 when winterkilling did not 
materially reduce stands the harvested oat acreage in Georgia con- 
sisted of about one-fifth spring sown and four-fifths fall sown. This 
is the usual ratio under normal conditions. The figures for 1924 
show the reduction in total harvested acreage and the relatively 
sreat increase in spring-sown acreage resulting from the severe 
winterkilling of the fall-sown crop which occurred during the winter 
of 1923-24. The reaction following the losses of the winter of 1923-24 
persisted into the following year, as shown by the decreased fall-sown 
acreage and the still slightly increased spring-sown acreage of 1925. 
Table 1 also shows the low average acre yield of oats in the South. 
This is one of the factors which has limited southern oat production. 
During the seven-year period from 1914 to 1920, inclusive, the aver- 
age acre yield of oats in the South was about 23 bushels, as compared 
with a little over 33 bushels for the entire United States. The 
encouraging feature is the increase in production which the data of 
Table 1 also show is possible from growing fall-sown oats. The 
wider use of better adapted and more hardy strains of fall-sown oats, 
together with better cultural practices, will make it possible to 
increase yields still further. 
1 These data were supplied by V. C. Childs, agricultural statistician of the Georgia Cooperative Crop 
Reporting Service. 
