Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1865-04-27

grown often leads to sowing them where
Justice is neither done to the crop nor the
land There are several ways in which
this is often done. One is sometimes
practiced on some of the best farms, where
wheat is made the leading crop, and is
partly owing to the opinion that oats are a
very exhausting crop, and consequently
injurious to land that is principally intend
ed for wheat. In such cases oats are only
sown on some of the poorest, out-of-the-
way portions of the farm, and where, from
the limited amount of land devoted to the
crop, they are sown very frequently and
often several years in succession, ON the
same field This, of course, will not give
very good crops, and often they Will be
quite poor, while at the same time the et-
feet on rather poor land without manure,
or frequent seeding down, as is generally
the case. of course cannot be favorable
1t is also a very bad practice to SOW oats
year after year on the same field, until the
land is so badly run down as to hardly give
half crop. Of course this practice is in
furious to the land and SO it would be to
grow wheat or barley in the same way
In fact there can be little doubt that either
of these crops grown the same length of
time on one field, would injure the land
more than oats, while undoubtedly they
would fail to yield paying crops much
sooner than oats.
But while growing oats year after year
on the same field is a very bad practice, it
by no means follows that they cannot be
grown to good advantage in rotation
where corn and clover occupy prominent
place, and where they are not sown oftener
than once in from four to six years. In
such rotation oats should always be sown
after corn, or some other hoed crop, when,
if the land is in anything like good condi-
tion, they are sure to give heavy CROP
In this way, in common seasons, my usual
average is over so bushels to the acre ; and
instead of oats grown in this way injuring
the land, it is constantly improving and
the crop increasing. And this is the case,
although | have never applied any manure
directly to the crop though when the pre-
vious crop of corn is manured, OF course
the succeeding crop of oats is benefited
by it. | also find that oats is the most pro-
ftable sown crop | can raise after hoed
crops and | always want to sow such
land, so it may be seeded to clover. And
then oats do better when sown after we'll
tended hoed crop, having brighter, strong
er straw, which makes them much less liza
BILE to lodge, or get down so as to injure
the crop. They are also less liable to rust,
though if sown very late, they are some
times injured Like all other crops, they
are the surest and best when sown in good
season.
But oats are much more apt to rust when
| On
posed, as is usually the case, of mixture
of timothy June and wire grasses, oats
make a slow and feeble growth in the fore
part of the season but in the summer,
when the sod begins to rot, and the roots
of the oats begin to take hold of it, the
crop comes forward much faster, but makes
kind Of a squashy growth of very soft,
timber straw, that get down easily, and is
very liable to rust. Hence good crop of
oats is scarcely ever raised on such sod
in this section. A good clover sod will do
much better but is usually wanted for
wheat or corn, and undoubtedly is more
profitable for these crops.
After various trials in growing different
crops after oats, have become we'll salts
fled that it is decidedly best for me to seed
clover with oats | not only find clover
the most profitable of any crop l can raise
after oats, but it gives, in good clover
sod, the best preparation can have for the
succeeding crop of wheat or corn. also
find it much better to be satisfied with two
grain crops in succession, than to try to
grow a crop of wheat after oats True
fair crop of wheat is sometimes grown af-
tor oats when the land is we'll manured-
But this course requires an amount Of ma
nure by manuring for corn, and then again
in two years for wheat, or twice in rota-
ton of some five years, that is more than
| am able to make while | am satisfied
that can improve my land much easier,
cheaper and faster, and raise much better
crops of wheat, by seeding to clover with
oats, and getting good clover sod to turn
under for wheat. And then, by thus seed
ing down with oats, and then again with
wheat, | can raise and have more clover
hay to feed to make manure.