SUGGESTIONS ON GROWING 
CERTIFIED OATS 
By R. S. ENTZMINGER 
On a two thousand mile trip through 
the southeastern states as far west as the 
Mississippi and Arkansas delta as the 
harvesting of oats was in full swing, I 
was amazed that so many otherwise beau- 
tiful fields of grain were unsightly because 
of the appearance of volunteer plants of 
rye, wheat, Johnson grass, vetch, and two 
of the noxious grasses—chess and darnel 
—commonly called “cheat.” 
Many states have organized crop im- 
provement associations which certify 
varieties and crops that meet their re- 
quirements of varietal purity, freeness 
from mixture such as those named above, 

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This black oat and a similar white oat are very winter 
hardy and persist where many other varieties are winter 
killed. They are a source of much trouble in growing pure 
seed oats, but grow tall and can be easily seen and removed 
from fields with little effort or expense. 

and these certified seed sell more readily 
and command a higher price than uncer- 
tified seed of the same variety. 
Some growers of approved varieties 
have had their crops refused certification ; 
when a little precaution and a few hours 
of extra work would have corrected the 
trouble in most cases. 
There are some basic principles which 
go far toward helping the conscientious 
planter to produce the kind of seed that 
can be readily certified. We are therefore 
offering some suggestions and information 
to our customers and friends with the 
hope that they will be helpful in the grow- 
ing of their crops of oats and other small 
grain, especially if it is to be approved 
for certification. These are somewhat the 
same methods we use in maintaining the 
purity of our pedigreed strains while in- 
creasing them over a period of four or 
five years before they are offered for sale. 
1. Plant your oats or wheat on land you know 
to be free of noxious weeds, foreign seed or 
volunteer grain. 
2. Never plant on land which was planted to 
grain the previous year. Intensive cultivation of 
row crops such as beans or peas planted on stubble 
will not prevent seed from germinating and 
showing up as volunteer plants if the land is 
seeded to grain the following season. Also, low 
lands planted to row crops are usually infested 
with noxious weeds and should not be planted 
in oats for certification. 
3. Never scatter rough stable manure or com- 
post on fields you expect to plant to any of the 
small grain. Seed will go through work stock 
or grazing animals and come up as volunteers 
in such fields. 
4. Be sure every seed is removed from the grain 
drill before going into the field to plant. A hand- 
ful of seed left in a grain drill will spoil the 
appearance of an entire plot of grain. 
5. In all sections where small grains are grown 
seed will be scattered by birds or others means 
to the adjoining fields in that vicinity, and volun- 
teer plants will result. Volunteer plants are those 
which were not planted by the grain drill and 
appear at random BETWEEN THE GRAIN 
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