oats; and, in general, these early varieties yield less 
per acre than the later oats. Their chief advantage 
is in that they mature early, thus extending the 
harvest season, in case the late varieties are also 
grown. 
The best known of the regular or late season oats 
are Nortex, New Nortex, Hastings, Appler, Bayliss, 
Delta Station Strain, and Ferguson. Experiment 
station tests show little difference in the average 
per-acre yield of these varieties, and there is little 
to choose between them, if they are state-certified 
for purity, germination, and freedom from noxious 
weeds. If seed are not state-certified, I would not 
plant them under any conditions. Uncertified seed 
not only will yield less per acre, but they are almost 
certain to carry bad weed and grass seed that will 
give serious and permanent trouble. 
SOIL PREPARATION FOR OATS 
Here, on sandy loam lands, we first break with a 
tractor-drawn five-disc wheatland plow, then disc 
and section-harrow until the surface is as smooth as 
it is possible to make it. Remember, if a combine 
is to be used in harvesting, that good, efficient work 
cannot be done on rough land. Especially is this so 
if the oats are down at harvest time. On the other 
hand, on smooth land a good combine will get most 
of the oats, even if they are practically flat on the 
ground. By all means see to it that every stump, 
grub or other obstruction is removed in the fall; for 
one small stump hidden in oat field can so wreck a 
combine that the whole oat crop may be lost before 
the machine can be repaired. 
FERTILIZING OATS 
Almost any fairly well-drained land will make good 
oats, if well fertilized. On Delta soils, no super- 
phosphate need be used, and this is probably true 
on hill lands in cotton the year before and well fer- 
tilized with superphosphate. With these exceptions, 
superphosphate will probably pay on oats under 
most conditions. It should be used at planting time, 
with a liberal application of nitrogen in late winter 
or early spring. 
On practically all our soils, both hill and Delta, Ex- 
periment Station results show that as much as 382 
pounds nitrogen per acre will pay well. This a- 
mount of nitrogen is supplied by 200 pounds nitrate 
of soda; and, according to most of our Station re- 
sults, nitrate nitrogen is a little more efficient in 
oat production than other forms of nitrogen. 
Here on hills lands, I personally used 48 pounds ni- 
trogen in 1941, with excellent results. However, 
on any of the richer, better soils, even in the hill 
areas, probably 200 pounds nitrate of soda per acre 
is the maximum that should be used. Where a good 
crop of soy beans, cowpeas, crotalaria, or lespedeza 
has been grown the previous year, probably 16 
pounds nitrogen per acre will be sufficient. 
