21 
HINTS ON RAISING FARM CROPS 
Light, immature, shriveled kernels are slow to 
germinate, and sometimes fail to germinate at 
all; a farmer, therefore, loses to the extent 
that he sows these inferior oats. A fanning 
mill will clean out these undesirable seeds, 
and leave nothing but good healthy oats which 
will grow into a vigorous plant. Another im¬ 
portant point to be noticed in this connection, 
is the matter of treating seed oats for smut. 
Smut is a common disease with oats in many 
sections where they are raised, and a great 
annual loss is incurred by farmers every year 
from this disease. This smut, which was brief¬ 
ly mentioned in connection with wheat, is 
caused by a fungus, which attacks the plant 
about ripening time, and replaces the kernels, 
so that the farmer is usually not aware of the 
great loss it causes. The spores of the smut 
spread about ripening time to the other healthy 
kernels, and live unmolested in this stage un¬ 
til these healthy kernels are used for seed the 
next spring. Then the smut begins to grow 
as the kernel sprouts, and sends up fine thread¬ 
like hairs through the stalk of the oat plant, 
and then again replaces the kernels with a 
mass of smut. This calls for treatment every 
year, if the farmer wants to be sure that he 
will be free from this disease. The treatment 
consists of the formaldehyde bath, explained 
in detail under the chapter on wheat. 
Oats are harvested in a manner similar to 
that of wheat and barley. They are cut, when 
ripe, by a grain binder which ties them into 
conveniently sized bundles. They are then 
shocked, as previously described, and allowed 
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