Philip weekly review. [volume] (Philip, Stanley County, S.D.) 1907-1912, 1909-07-13

The average farmer lets his oats
get too ripe before he begins cut
ting. This is a mistake, especial
ly in sections where there is no
difficulty in curing shocked oats.
Don't wait until the crop is dead
ripe; if you do there will be con-
siderable loss of grain before you
get through cutting; besides the
color of the grain will not be SO
good as if you had cut it a little
earlier. No man can cut his en-
tire crop at the exact moment
when best results can be obtained,
but he should aim to cut the bulk
of it when it is in the best condi-
tion for cutting. The first should,
therefore, be on the green order
while the last will be a trifle over
ripe. When the kernels are in
the hard dough state and while
from one-half to three-fourths of
the leaves are still green is the
time to start the binder. There is
little danger of cutting oats too
green. The kernels fill out won
derfully after cutting, continuing
to draw nourishment from the
stems and leaves and, as intimated
before, if cut at this early stage, a
better colored grain will be Sc
cured.
The grain, of course, is much
more important than the straw,
but oat straw cut early has consid-
cradle feeding value, as every
farmer knows. Oat straw Is by
all odds the best straw of all the
small grains. 1t contains l.2 per
cent digestible protein, 1876 per
cent digestible carbohydrates, and
g per cent digestible fat. This is
three times as much protein, two
per cent more of carbohydrates,
and twice as much fat as wheat
straw contains. OF small grain
straws, barley straw comes next in
feeding value to oat straw but it,
tee, is much inferior to wcii cured
oat straw.
The feeding value of oat straw
is we'll worth taking into consider
alton in these days of high priced
feeding products. When oats is
cut on the green order, especially
when the field is somewhat weedy,
care should be taken not to make
the bundles too large as then there
may be trouble in getting the crop
we'll cured. The Importance of q
we'll built shock in this connection
is worth while considering, since
the color of the grain has much to
do with it's market value. A 10
bundle shock, capped with two
bundles, is perhaps the best shock
to build. Many farmers use the
long shocks, believing that the
grain cures better in them. But
this is very doubtful. 1t is Ger
tain that long shocks do not stand
we'll, nor does that method of
shocking permit of protecting the
grain against bleaching. BY 10
bundle shock we mean one built
as follows: Set up a pair of bun
dies to become the center Of the
shock. Then set up another pair
in'the some manner, leaning just u
trihe toward the first pair. On
the other side of the first pair set
up another two bundles, allowing
them to lean very slightly toward
the first pair. This gives long
six-bundle shock. Now put two
bundles on each side of this shock
leaning toward each other. Final
ly put two bundles on top, placing
them in such a manner as to make
them stick to the shock as we'll as
possible. The air will circulate
freely through q shock tf this
kind, the straw and the grain will
cure slowly, yet thoroughly, while
the grain is protected against
bleaching and weathering as much
as possible. Sioux City Farmers
Tribune.
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