The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1917-09-26
SOW WINTER WHEAT

the more than usual need for grow
ing at home all the feed that stock
will require, liberal acreage should
be sown to winter oats this fall
wherever that crop is adapted, says
the United States Department of
Agriculture. While many farmers
had a disastrous experience with
oats last winter, when a large part
of the crop was destroyed by the
February freeze.sa expedition of that
occurrence this year is not very
probable. Oats are generally rec
ognized as being Ordinarily the best
grain crop for fall sowing in the
South, as it usually yields better
than other grains, natures early
and both the grain and the straw
may be fed to live stock. In fact,
it is a very general practice in many
sections either to cut oats for hay
or to feed them in the. bundle to
work stock, thus providing both
grain and roughage,
The scarcity and high price of
seed oats this fall due to the short
crop last spring, make it desirable
to use special precautions. to get a
good stand with as little seed as pos
sible. AS less seed is needed when
the seed is sown early on well pre-
pared land, attention to these points
will pay we'll. Oats usually do best
after cultivated crop, such as corn
or cotton. %'If these crops have been
kept free from weeds, it is best not
to pillow the land but to make a
fine mellow seed bed 2 or inches
deep with the disk, spring tooth, or
spike-tooth harrow. The disk har-
row is the best of these tools for
this purpose, though the spike tooth
or smoothing harrow should be used
the last time over the field to break
clods left by the disk and to leave
the surface fine and smooth for the
seed. A good seed bed may also be
made with the disk harrow on land
from which crop of cowpeas or
soy bean hay has been removed
Flowing is not usually advisable un-
less the land Is very hard and weedy,
as ii leaves the ground so loose that
it dies out readily. If the field must
be plowed, the work should be done
at least two weeks before seeding
time and the land then disked or
dragged thoroughly to firm it,
a. 20 Fertilization.
II the land is rich or if it has
been heavily fortified for the pre-
ceeding crop, no further fertilization
is necessary On most soils, how
ever, the addition of 100 to 200
pounds of acid phosphate or some
other form of phosphate fertilizer
before or at seeding time is bene
gen are usually applied to best adj
vantage about the time growth
starts in, the spring.
Varieties Recommended.
In the Gulf States, Georgia, ard
the carolinas, the best oat to grow
is the Red Rustproof or some of its
various forms, as Appler, Bancroft,
Cook, Hundred Bushel or Patterson.
The Fulghum, very popular va
riety in many sections. is quite sim
iliar to,Red Rustproof, but has the
advantage of ripening 10 days to
two weeks earlier. In Arkansas,
Tennessee, and Virginia the Win
ter Turf is the best variety to sow
in the fall, as it is harder than Red
Rustproof and Fulghum.
Seeding Dates.
Winter oats should be }sown in
Tennessee and Virginia from Sep
TENDER Is to- October Is, according
to the locality, ms the Carolina
and in the northern portions OF the
other Southern States SOW from
October l to November l, and the
Gulf States SOW from October Is to
November Is. The farther north or
the higher the elevation at which
the seed is to he sown, the earlier
should be the date of seeding.
Sowing Suggestions.
The grain drill is the best meth
cd of sowing oats. If one is not
available, the seed may be sown
with an ordinary cotton or corn
planter or a one-horse drill Sow
ing broadcast and plowinp or disk
ing in requires more seed and is a
poor and uncertain method The
usual rate of seeding is 21a to 5
bushels. but this may be reduced to
2 bushels if the seed is drilled early
on we'll prepared land The seed
should be sown only deep enough to
be sure that it is covered with moist
soil, for deeper seeding delays germ
ination and early growth. Sowing
1 to 11A inches, deep is usually suf-
flcient.