Milford chronicle., 1909-07-16

els to the acre, the medium ffty-four
and the heavy sixty-two. The differ
ence may not be this great every time.
but it will always be great enough to
pay well for the labor Of tanning.
There is an objection to using the
heavy oats for seed in that they tend
to become little later each year. This
can be avoided by introducing some
new seed Of an early variety every
few years. Directions for breeding
seed oats will be given in article Z.
After the oats are cleaned and grad
ed they should be treated for smut
Smut is a black fungus that grows
/ from a tiny spore that lodges beneath
the hull when the oat is in bloom and
the kernel open. When the hull closes
the spore is held inside until the next
season, when it sprouts and sends
thread up through the stem to the
head. There the smut grows, produc-
ing a black mass where the head
should be. Often as many as 10 per
cent of the heads will be affected in
this way. These black heads are not
easily noticed. so that the damage is
usually underestimated.
The simplest method Of treatment is
to spread the oats out on a tight hOOr
and sprinkle them with a solution Of
one pound of formalin to forty gallons
Of water. This amount is sufficient
for forty bushels of oats. Shovel the
oats over two or three times until they
are thoroughly wet, and then pile them
up and cover them with blankets or
sacks. The fumes from the formalin
will penetrate beneath the hull and
kill the smut spores. In the morning
the oats should be spread out again
and shoveled over occasionally until
dry. They can be sOwed wet, but in
that case the seeder should be set to
SOW about bushel to the acre more,
as they do not run through as readily.
This work should be done on warm
day, as freezing while the oats are wet
will injure the termination. This treat
ment costs only about a cent a bushel
and is very effective.
Preparing the Seed Bed.
One of the most neglected points in
oat culture is the preparation Of the
seed bed Oats do better on a rather
firm seed bed. II the field was in corn
the year previous it will not be neces- /
sary to plow unless the ground is very
hard 1t should be disked thoroughly,
however. to cut up the stalks and pull
verize the upper two or three inches. |
1t will usually be profitable to let the |
disk "lap half" as this does away
with ridges and leaves the land in 4
better shape. One narrowing after the |
disking leaves the ground in splendid |
shape to receive the seed.
Methods Of Seeding.
There are several methods Of seed
ing Of which the end gate seeder is
the worst and the disk drill the best
The two main objects in seeding are
to get the seed in evenly and at ap-
the same depth. The end
gate seeder fultiIls neither Of these re-
quirements. The broadcast seeder scat
ters the seed evenly. but it is covered
no better than with the end gate seed
er since Doth depend upon the DISK Tor
covering The disk drill is more ex-
pensive and does not get over the
ground as rapidly, but it distributes
the seed evenly and puts it at the
same depth. The seed is dropped in
burrows made by the disks and thor
1ughly covered. so that one narrowing
Is all that is necessary after drilling
show a considerable ad
vantage in yield in favor Of the disk
irill.
At the Iowa station the average Of
,our years experiments showed nine
bushels to the acre in favor of drilling
,ver broadcasting. From half a bush :
u to a busheI less seed to the acre is
when a drill is used, as all