The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-02-19
Oats.

III oCOIlduu no crop OuJrdnRS oats, IN
fact, it is the chief food of man and beast,
says the Tennessee Farmer. In England
it is the only grain fed to horses.
This should be so in this country, and
would be so if oats were rightly under
stood, but for forty years the oat crop
has been deternating, one enemy and then
another appearing under which the crop
would go down.
THE MOST DEADLY FOE WAS RUST.
A crop would be sown and it grew and
promised magnificent crop to within a
few days of ripeuing, when to the horror
of the owner, rust would strike what was
the pride of the owner and in a day all
was blasted ruin. Fifteen years ago
the Texas rust-proof came in, and
they gave rise to great eXpecta-
tions, and in a few years these eXpecta-
tiOns were in the main realized, they
did not rust and yielded immensely, but
on good land they were weaked strawed
whole fields with a promise of sixty
bushels to the acre would fall down with
the least wind few days before ripen-
ing For this, heavy head and weak
straw, they have been largely abandoned
Then came winter turf oats with a claim
for winter grazing superior TO barley or
rye and an immense yield, these claims, if
sustained by facts, were the acme, all
that could be desired, seed were in demand
and sold high, they were tried, thoroughly
tried under every condition, no man ever
complained of their grazing qualities
for winter pas5urage for this lati-
tude, l think they are with
out rival, nothing grows with
such luxuriance, nothing affording such
a green sward in the coolest winter
stands cold better than rye or barley,
then the yield was good, then you ask,
why were they Abandoned for two rea-
sons: The first, when pastured they
turned to cheat, or chett, whole fields
without a head Of oats in them on ripen-
ing, others not so badly infested. The
second; they grow very tall on ripening,
they are apt to fall. Could these two
qualities be eliminated there is nothing
more to be desired, they would be the
''Ne plus ultra" Let us hope and work
to that end.
There is long list of oat frauds, big
sounding names sold at high prices by
tricksters. Nearly all of US have some
experience on that line, they have all
proven frauds and failures.
My farm has been an experimental sta
tion for twenty-five years, and has seen
many failures in all farm products, some
splendid successes. Ten years ago l sowed
three acres of thin land 10
BURT OATS,
then introduced by our mule traders from
South Alabama. While the straw on
thin, poor land was short, the head was
very long, and the yield, 125 bushels, a
surprise I have continued to expert
ment with these oats, sowing on all sorts
of ground, and at all times, l sowed on
rich ground in the fall after Irish pota-
toes, they were magnificent growth, but
were all winter killed l sowed on
fair land the 10th Of April, they were
ripe in eight weeks, and had to
be cut with a mower, they were a
failure. After all my experience. success
and failure, would say for this latitude
SOW second week in February. two bush
els to an acre, on clover sod turned in the
fall, harrow in with four-horse harrow,
they will then ripen twenty days before
white oats, escaping draught and the
wind storms and rust so disastrous to a
later oat. They are ready to thresh when
the wheat cropis. The yield should be
from forty to eighty bushels on air clover
sod. And as 1 figure, the cost should be
from to IA cents per bushel, rate we
can afford to feed to horses. A rate too
that leaves some profit TO the farmer to
sell when other crops are falling below
cost of production.