The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-10
sowing oats ON Corn Land-Criticism


Agricultural Editor Morning News:
The following is clipped from your issue
Of Jan. 80. where it is copied without Civ
ing the writer's name:
Sowing Oats in Corn Land.-Farmers Of
ten have land in corn that they wish to
sow oats in, and are puzzled as to the best
plan to adopt to get the oats in, says the
Southern Cultivator. l found the follow
ing plan an excellent one last fall, and
give it for the benefit of brother farmers.
The corn was laid with a big fiat bed,a row
of peas on each side about one foot
from the corn, and the middle plowed out
as deeply as possible. The problem was
how to sow the oats uniformly, break the
land thoroughly, and yet get it level and
cover the corn stalks and pea vines. Us
ing a good double team to siXteen-inch
solid sweep on an adjustable stock fur
rows were opened as deep as the team
could pull the pillow. 1t was found better
to pull up the corn stalks than to cut them
and lay them in the burrows. Put one tur-
row because that was found by expert
ence the besO on the stalks, sowed the
oats followed with four burrows; finished
off with a siX-inch straight shovel, and
narrowed directly across the rows.
The rows were six feet nine inches and
required eight burrows to pillow out. -Four
plows put in four to five acres per day,
and the team that did the opening, har-
rowed the field and finished up in short
time after the blowing was done. Putting
down the stalks cost sixteen cents per
acre. The land Will be greatly benefited
by the deep breaking and turning under
of the vegetable matter.
1t is a good illustration of the art of
telling in an unintelliglble manner, 1t
seems to me. l am but plain sort of far
mer, and / cannot take this in my hand
and go in the field and follow it. Can you
explain it? The writer undertakes to tell
how he prepared his corn land and sowed
it in oats. The old corn stalks stood, on
beds 6 feet inches apart, with a row of
peas on each side of each bed. Now where
did he run the first-solid sweep furrow
In the middle of the old bed, or in the old
water furroW? He says he laid the old
stalks in the furrow and covered them
with one furrow. and then sowed the oats.
Then followed with four burrows. Where
did he put these four burrows, and with
what plows? And then he finished off with
six inch straight shovel. Finished off
what? and how? For one, ] would be glad
to know just what is the best way to get
in oats on my old corn land But l get
no light from this article and l call atten-
ton 10 II as one Of many that we see, that
are not written intelligibly.
j. ii. Alexander.
We agree with our esteemed correspond
ent that the directions given are not as
clear as they might have been made, but
we take it that the old water was first
opened and then the stalks pulled up and
placed in them. Then the middles were
broken by blowing to the stalks. At any
rate that is the way it should be done. We
should much prefer to do this with turn
plow not sowing the grain until after
wards. Covering with smoothing hurrow
and then rolling. Grain cannot be put in
properly without the use of harrow and
roller whether the sowing be made i'm the
fall or in the spring. If our farmers used
these two implements to the extent that
they should we have little doubt that our
product of grain would be increased %
per cent, if not more. In fact it would in
sure success in multitudinous cases where
mere was failure to secure good stand.
The grain grower does not know what he
has missed until he has made proper use
OF roller a season or two. If we were
disposed to harp on any one thing in the
way of an implement it would be the
roller, a tool sadly neglected in the
south as our intelligent correspondent no
doubt has himself observed. In the matter
under observation and criticism the ne
cessary implements are the turn pillow, the
narrow and the roller making land
OF each bed of 6 feet 9 inches, the water
iurroW to come in the old row of stalks. 1t
IS economy in the end to pull the stalks
and lay them in the deep burrows