Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-04-22
The Cultivation OF oats

The earlier oats are got into the ground,
the better, provided the soil is in suita-
bic condition for the seed. A late crop
of oats is never good, especially in warm
climate, because the intense heat ripens
the straw before the grain has been well
filled. Oats deteriorate rapidly in the
United States, and on this account, the
seed should be frequently renewed by i'm
portation from Europe, or by selection
and propagation. Nearly all the celebra-
ted varieties of the oat plant have been
derived from single plant of
each sort, selected by some intelligent
observer, and propagated from. In
this way the Potato Dat, the Hope
town, the Cumberland Early, ETC., of Great
Britain, and the Norwa and Surprise, of
the United States, have been originated.
Every farmer may improve his oats by Sc
lecting the finest plants at harvest time,
and propagating from them until he OBJ
tains seed enough for his wants. OF
course the shape, size and weight of the
grain, are matters of primary Importance.
The land for oats should be well plowed
and carefully narrowed and rolled, in
order to pulverize the soil, and prepare it
to resist heat and retain moisture. From
four to eight bushels of common salt per
acre, spread few days before the seed is
sown, and lightly narrowed in, have been
found valuable manure for oats. Salt
supplies soda, chlorine and magnesia, re-
tains moisture, acts as a solvent on other
ingredients of the soil, strengthens the
straw and increases the size of the grain.
The opinion is prevalent among farmers
that oats exhaust the soil on which they
are grown, but this is not really the case,
the facts being that the soil is generally
nearly exhausted by other crops before
oats are sown in it. The form of the
roots of the oat plant causes the soil to
collect in clods or Jumps, which are after
wards broken with difficulty, and unless
they are thoroughly pulvcrized, the crop
that succeeds oats will no doubt be injuri-
ously affected by them. After crop OF
oats has been grown in field, the soil
should be well pulverized by blowing,
narrowing and rolling, before another
crop of any kind SIS sown il it. In some
places oats are favorite crop for sowing
on plowcd sod, and as a preparation fol
them, the land is plowed five or six inche:
deep; the furrow slices resting on each
other at an angle of about 45 degrees
form drills for the seed, which is covered
by narrowing, first lengthwise, and ther
across the burrows, until the whole sur
face is mellowed and well prepared fol
furnishing plant-food. Imperfect pulver
ization of the soil is one of the causes oil
light yield or partial failure of the oa
crop in some places. Comprising thu
soil with the roller, after the harrow, will
have very beneficial effect, as by thi,
means Jumps will be pulverized and {
level surface made for the reaper. Flint
soil, moderately compressed, resists heat
retains moisture and affords suitable nour
ishment to the fibrOus roots of ccrea
| plants.
| Soils which have been for a long tim
in tillage, especially when they are i'm
poverished by repeated crops of cereals
are liable {" be overrun with weeds, sucl
as the wild mustard (siyldpGs drUcnsiS
and the wild radish (rdphdaotS rdphdn
iStT1tna.) A French writer in the AnndI
de = Agriculture, who has been success
Il
from farm completely overrun by them
gives the following rules for freeing tn
soil from these pests:
l. 'Plow very deep, so as to give a
the seeds within reach of the pillow, faci
ties for terminating.
2. ''Harrow the ground till every clio
is broken, for the seeds arc often retaine
in clods, and only terminate when thes
are disentegrated by rain, etc, or by art
fetal means.
| 8. Cultivate two hood crops bcfol
grain is sown, and do not allow sing
plant of mustard to go TO seed.
''For third crop, grow oats drilled I
| a sufficient distance to admit of hOein
between the rows.
"By using these means, and not allow
ing a single plant to seed, the worst fiGlC
may he cleared in three or four years.
J is important that the first blowing shouI
be deeper than any succeeding one, as Il
: | soil frequently contains the seeds to
, great depth, which will terminate who
: ! brought near the surface"
of course there is but little use in e.
dcavOring 10 clear land from weeds,
their seeds are sown with grain. Ag
! cultural seeds of every kind should
, thoroughly cleanscd before they are sow
! Light grains should be taken out with
2 separator or tanning mill. Oats degene
ale 50 fast in the Northwestern States til
! it is necessary TO change the seed Fl
: qucntly, and to SOW none but the heavie
| and plumpest grains. Awns or 'tail
7 are sure sign of deterioration.
| The quantity of seed per acre should
, regulated according TO circumstances.
] clean, rich soil one and one-half bushe
e evenly distributed, will be enough.
: soils in which the crop viii have to co
S tend for existence with host of weed
3 three bushels or even more, may beneede
G Some varieties of cats have a large graf
: others are comparatively small and CO
v tain much larger number of grains
c the bushel than the former. These thin
!; | should be taken into account when {