Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1909-06-22

raise oats more because they have to
than because they think there is any
money in it. If handled rightly, how
ever. oats can be made money crop
One Of the most important points in
oat growing is the selection Of seed
that is adapted to the locality. Oats
are a cool weather crop. The hot
midsummer weather of the corn belt
is one Of the chief factors causing low
oat yields. When the hot weather
strikes the oats they blight and rust
badly. Many times they crinkle down
and do not fill well.
Advantage Of EARLY Varieties.
The only way this can be avoided in
the corn belt is to SOW early varieties.
These ripen before the hottest weather
comes and escape many of the trou-
.bles that affect later oats. Early va
rieties are much less susceptible to
rust than late ones are. The selection
of rust proof varieties is the only way
of combating this disease, since, un-
like smut, it cannot be prevented by
Treating the seed.
u lhC AoWo SAPCA AluChS
station show nine bushels more to the
acre in favor of early varieties. The
average Of twelve years experiments
mt the Nebraska station gave the early
oats fourteen bushels to the acre ad-
vantage. In good oat years-that is.
those with cool SUMMERTIME differ
ence is not SO marked. In such sea
sons the late oats yielded seven bush.
els to the acre less than the early
while the medium oats yielded little
more. In bad oat years-and in the
corn belt four years out of five are bad
from the oats standpoint-the early va
rieties yielded twenty-one bushels to
the acre more than the late and thir-
teen bushels more than the medium.
The medium varieties are more con.
venient, as they do not crowd In on
haying and corn blowing like the early
ones do. The use of improved hayine
machinery is shortening the time re
quired for putting up the hay crop
however. The advantage of early oats
In yield will in most cases more thar
make up for the disadvantage Of hav
ling the work crowded during the firsi
half of July.
| Early oats have another advantage
In that they give the clover a bet
ter chance. Where the oats are no
got off the ground until the last o.
July and dry weather follows, as 1
SO often does. the clover makes littlt
growth and Is often killed out entire
ly With the adoption Of systematic
rotation clover will nearly always b.
seeded with oats. SO that this is poin
that cannot be ignored.
1t is not advisable to ship In oat
from distance to seed the entir
field. Often you can get good earl.
seed from neighbor at little NOR
than market price. If there are n
(. early oats in your community you cal
send away for a few bushels Of new
variety and plant them in corner Q
the field by themselves. If they Civ
good satisfaction enough seed can
saved from them to seed the entir
field the next season. In the norther
part of the United States and In Car
ada, where the summers are cool. lat
varieties can be profitably grown.
such localities they give a create
yield and a larger. plumper oat.
Preparing tho Seed.
, After the seed has been procured til
next step is to get it into shape
, SOW. This means liberal use of tt
flaming mill large per cent Of tt
oats sown are shoveled from the bi
directly into the seeder. Most farm
frs who do fan their oats simply ru
them through once to blow out tt
2 sticks and dirt and sieve out the wee
seed. 1t pays well to run the. GA
: through the mill two Or three. tim,
: to blow out all the liCat seed. tt
4 work can be done in winter WHIT
y there Is little else to do. The lig]
9 bats that ale blown out are just ,
t good for feed as the others. and tt
4 heavy ones that are left are worth Sc
+ eral times us much for seed In e
t periments carried on to show the cor
o paratiye value of light and heavy GA
n the light seed yielded forty bus
g els to the acre. the medium fifty
y and the heavy sixty-two. The diffe
II ence may not be this great every tin
9 but it will always be great enough
8 pay well for the labor Of fannir
a There is an objection to using Il
# heavy oats for seed in that they tel
IS to become little later each year. IT
a can be avoided by introducing sor
9 new seed of an early variety eve
. few years. Directions for breedi
seed oats will be given In article Z.
After the oats are cleaned and gra
r. ed they should be treated for SIN,