The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-20

Ereatment of Oats TA.at Have Survived
 the w1nter.
 "A large proportion of the fall-sown { red rust-proof oats were winter killed during February. At Auburn the losses Ware greater where the sowing was done after November 1, than where the sowing was earlier. Oats in depressed drills or below the level of the sur face were not greatly injured, and even in drills filled to the surface a satisfactory stand survived. Most of the broadcast oats suffered a loss of from 25 to 80 per cent. The question for decision this week is whether it will pay to retain the 90 to 50 per cent. of a stand or to blow under. the sur vfving oats and use the land for corn or other crops.
 It is believed that for the production of seed oats 1t will pay to leave the surviving plants, even though they con- stitute not more than 40 per cent of . stand. Indeed, 1t might even pay in the long run to save a field of oats hav- ing even a poorer stand than this The plants that endured the winter while most of their comrades succumbed to cold have shown a degree of hardness that well merits preservation and prop agation. In some cases the survival may have been due to favorable loca- ton. for example. one plant may have grown in a depression or been protect ~4ed by ridge or stone on the north or by trash. However. in many cases, the survival has doubtless been due to a quality of hardness peculiar to the in- dividual plant. Such plants as these will doubtless have a tendency to transmit this quality of hardness and should be made the progenhors of a strain of hardy oats, which is one of the chief needs of the Southern farmer.
 If these surviving plants are worthy of preservation for seed purposes they are also worthy of such liberal treat ment as will make them as productive as possible. In other words 1t may pay to fertilize the remnant more highly than the thin stand would seem to warrant, the aim being to obtain as large an amount as possible of the most valuable strain of oats for seed pur- poses. No other fertilizer is quite equal to nitrate of soda for applica- ton to oats at this late date. It should be applied during March, but can be advantageously applied up to within fifty days of the time of harvest. Next to nitrate of soda, which Is not always easily obtainable in the smaller mar kets. Is an application of stable ma nure. It may pay to put more manure on oats than the stand. would seem to Justify with the expectation of being partly repaid in a greatly increased crop of seed oats and with the further expectation of obtaining additional ben- eft from the manure by planting corn or sorghum after the oats are cut.
 As so often stated before in these columns. there will probably be next fall a scarcity of first-class seed oats, not only because of the severe winter Just past. but also because of the recent invasion by the boil weevil of that part of Texas from which our seed oats in the past have largely been drawn It behooves the thoughtful farmer to pro- vide now for a good supply of home raised, and therefore safe, seed oats for next fall planting. On the station farm oats that have been continuously fall planted for several years have stood the winter better than a strain which for several years has been planted after Christmas. For hardi- ness towards cold, I could give decided preference to seed obtained from sur vfving plants of last falls sowing as compared with oats sown since Christ mas. Let us not forget that oats grown in Alabama have no superior for sowing in Alabama
 J, F. DuRrar