•20 HINTS ON RAISING FARM CROPS 
and Romans raised oats as one of their stand¬ 
ard crops. Oats do well on a variety of soils, 
but give the best yield on loamy soils, that 
are fairly moist, as oats draw quite heavily 
an the moisture supply of the soil, especially 
at the time of ripening. Oats do better in a 
cool climate than in a hot one, and are one 
of the first seeds to germinate in the spring. 
For this reason, oats are usually planted as 
soon as possible in the spring, as this gives 
them a good start, permitting them to attain 
their growth before the intense summer heat 
sets in. 
We might mention here the same precau¬ 
tions in regard to the manuring of oat land 
that were given in regard to barley in the 
previous chapter. Ground freshly manured is 
quite liable to cause the oats to lodge, or to 
fall ove» on the ground. Even land that is 
plowed, while no manure is applied the same 
season as oats are sown, often causes the 
oats to lodge. Many farmers prevent lodging 
of oats to a large extent by not plowing their 
oat land, but simply discing it, and then sow¬ 
ing. This gives the oat plants a better bal¬ 
anced ration of the plant food elements. When 
oats are raised on the same land two or more 
years in succession, then the ground had best 
be fall-plowed, and then disced in the spring. 
The choice of seed oats is an important mat¬ 
ter, and'is worthy of the farmer’s attention. 
It will pay him to run his seed oats through 
a fanning mill to clean out the light, immature 
seed, as well as what foreign matter there 
might be present, such as dirt, chaff, etc. 
