HINTS ON RAISING FARM CROPS 19 
a grain binder, and is gathered and set up 
in shocks. The shocks are allowed to cure 
out for about ten days or more, before they 
are piled in stacks. Because a bright yellow 
appearance of barley adds considerable to its 
market value, it is good business to stack the 
barley, as the farmer takes quite a chance 
when he leaves it in the shock until threshing 
time, which is sometimes several months after 
harvesting. There are a few sections of the 
country, however, where there is little danger 
of rain during threshing time; in these locali¬ 
ties shock threshing is a common practice. 
Not much need be said in regard to the in¬ 
sects and diseases of barley, as they are prac¬ 
tically the same which ravage our wheat fields. 
Barley and oats are used in a similar manner 
in the rotation of crops. They usually follow 
a corn crop, and precede a grass crop. Barley' 
has been used in the past quite extensively as 
a nurse crop, as it is less apt to smother the 
grass crop, and is not so severe as other nurse 
crops in extracting moisture from the soil. 
Which is needed by the grass crop, being 
“nursed.” However, we will discuss the value 
of a nurse crop a little more in detail in our 
next chapter under oats. 
OATS 
Oats are widely grown in this country, es¬ 
pecially in the northern part. They are ex¬ 
ceeded in acreage only by wheat and corn in 
the grain class. While not as old a plant as 
barley, still records show that the early Greeks 
