cereals,
some farmers usually plant these crops on their poorest lands. However,
no land is too good to be used for so valuable a crop as oats. Oats
require a great deal of moisture; hence light, sandy soils are not so
well adapted to this crop as are the sandy loams and fine clay loams
with their closer and heavier texture.

If oats are to be planted in the spring, the ground should be broken in
the fall, winter, or early spring so that no delay may occur at
seeding-time. But to have a thoroughly settled, compact seed-bed the
breaking of the land should be done at least a month before the seeding,
and it will help greatly to run over the land with a disk harrow
immediately after the breaking.

[Illustration: FIG. 206. OATS
Common oats at left; side oats at right]

Oats may be planted by scattering them broadcast or by means of a drill.
The drill is better, because the grains are more uniformly distributed
and the depth of planting is better regulated. The seeds should be
covered from one and a half to two inches deep. In a very dry season
three inches may not be too deep. The amount of seed needed to the acre
varies considerably, but generally the seeding is from two to three
bushels an acre. On poor lands two bushels will be a fair average
seeding; on good lands as much as three bushels should be used.

[Illustration: FIG. 207. HARVESTING OATS]

This crop fits in well, over wide areas, with various rotations. As the
purpose of all rotation is to keep the soil productive, oats should
alternate every few years with one of the nitrogen-gathering crops. In
the South, cowpeas, soy beans, clovers, and vetches may be used in this
rotation. In the North and West the clovers mixed with timothy hay make
a useful combination for this purpose.

Spring-sowed oats, since they have a short growing season, need their
nitrogenous plant food in a form which can be quickly used. To supply
this nitrogen a top-dressing of nitrate of soda or sulphate of lime is
helpful. The plant can gather its food quickly from either of these
two. As fall-sowed oats have of course a longer growing season, the
nitrogen can be supplied by well-rotted manure, blood, tankage, or
fish-scrap. Use barnyard manure carefully. Do not apply too much just
before seeding, and use only thoroughly rotted manure. It is always
desirable to have a bountiful supply of humus in land on which oats are
to be planted.

The time of harvesting will vary with the use wh