CHAPTER XVIII 
THE SMALL GRAINS 
Oats. An Important Crop.—More than half of the 
oats produced in the United States is grown in six 
states; Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wis¬ 
consin, and Nebraska. The farmers of these states 
raise spring oats. Oklahoma and Texas are the leading 
oat producing states of the South. 
The soils that are best adopted for corn will grow 
the best crop of oats. Loam and clay soils hold mois¬ 
ture longer and provide enough plant food to produce 
an abundant crop. Oats have a slightly wider range of 
latitude than corn. The spring varieties are very resist¬ 
ant to frost, being grown farther north, while the winter 
oats will grow well in the South. More water is required 
to produce a bushel of dry oats than to grow the same 
weight of wheat or corn. Soil that is too rich produces 
a very rank growth of the plant and causes falling of 
the grain before ripening. 
Oats should not be grown under conditions very unlike 
those in which the seed was grown. Perhaps our winter 
oats are some strain of the Winter Turf or Red Rust¬ 
proof varieties. Some of the Red Rustproof oats are 
grown as spring oats. Northern white oats and black 
oats are usually sown in the spring. 
Rotation With Other Crops.—The greater part of 
the oat crop of the United States is sown upon the 
stubble of the corn crop of the previous season. This 
saves the expense of plowing. When desired, clover, 
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