THE OAT CROP.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVIII, Issue 111, 13 May 1914, Page 2

THE OAT CROP.

.■; * • TAi-pnwT\ntptj' TO TPiPTiTiPTIc} ! IMFOIIIA^C£i 10 FAUMJIiKb.

A writer in the Auckland Herald says:— The oat crop is one of very great importance to New Zealand farmers. Gats, an the staple food for horses, will j always hold a place of high import- j ance among our farm crops. Besides i being the mainstay for horse feed, 1 they are extensively used for the ■ feeding of cattle, sheep, and pigs, as ■ well as for human consumption. | Therefore crop receives a. good deal of attention among our farming community, and holds an : important position in the rotation of Oats can be used in so many different ways, which makes them all the more ! useful. They a,re extensively grown ; for green feed for stock, and as a j valuable addition to our* rotation they j are a good supplementary to the pastures, which enables the farmer, especially the small holder, to carry , more stock per acre. They are sown-' as a catch crop to come in between to cereals or other crops, and are fed off iby stock in their green state, i This, instead of impoverishing the ' soil, as is usually the case when the crop is allowed to ripen, tends to increase the natural productiveness of the soil. A HARDY CEREAL. The oat is a very hardy, robust plant, and will withstand cold " and severe weather better than any other cereal. In wet districts or where the ! temperature is generally low it has, the capacity £or ripening that other \ cereals do not possess; in fact, the above^-mentioned conditions are more \ favorable to its development, though the oat will thrive under almost any circumstance's. Nevertheless, in hot, dry districts the grain tends to become thick in the husk amd thin and light in the kernel, thus rendering those grown under such conditions less valuable, especially for milling purposes, when a plump sample with a comparatively thin skin, is essential. Besides, when grown on a dry soil in a dry climate, the straw is less nutritious, Avhereas when soil and climate' are both moist the crop yields abundant and more nutritious straw, but with a lower proportion of grain, hence in many parts of the southern districts of South Island the oat yields a larger yield of straw in proportioti to the grain than in the middle and northern parts, the latter yielding a larger percentage of superior grain to the proportion of straw-

CONDITIONS FOR GROWING OATS.

Abundance of* soil moisture is essential •to the proper development of the. oat crop, and it- is especially necessary that the supply of moisture shbukl continue right on until near ; theend of the ripeningseason. Deep ] and thorough, cultivation is one of the principal means of preserving soil moisture. On soils of a light, non-retentive character the surface should never, if possible, be allowed to become caked. The only remedy for this is to harrow the crop after each heavy rain in the spring, until +/he height of the crop prevents this operation being continued further. ■ A deficiency, of moisture injures the • oat crop more than either wheat or barley; therefore, in districts with a low avei'ago rainfall, generally speaking, the latter crops aae to be preferred. Though oats cannot be successfully . grown A on dry, light soils, with a ...ligihib rainfall, they, nevertheless -will not continue to thrive under an-abundant' arid continuous rainfall, neither do they -thrive on wet, un-dr-ained soil, sodden and soured by excess of stagnant water. SOILS FOR OATS. \ The crop will grow on thin and poor soils and on soils overcharged with iron better than any other cereal. Th« oat is very partial to nitrogen, although it will give a f air , crop on soils so deficient in nitrogen as' to /he practically incapable, of producing cropSjOf either wheat or barley. Oats do specially well on land rich in organic matter, and flourish on deep,, loamy soils with a.clay, retentive sut> soil. The finest crops of oats, alike in weight and quality, a.re grown on clay loams, and seed from soils ot, this character is much superior,, to that from lighter soils. Those from the latter contain a much less percentage of kernel to husk, and as the percentage of kernel ranges from 75 to 95 per cent., i^ is apparent that the quality of grain should.be taken, into consideration.. Weight* per bushel has a correspondingly wide range, varying from about 321b to 481b per bushel. The changing of such from one district to another is most ; important, and cannot be too highly recommended; especially is this so when the change- is taken from a colder climate to a warmer one. Oatls, like potatoes, like a complete change, not only "of soil, but also of climate, and will usually handsomely repay the extra cost of-freight occasioned by obtaining' seed from a. distant district. CULTIVATION FOR OATS. The oat, though capable of growing and yielding good crops on light soil, nevertheless responds well to high cultivation and liberal manuring. This crop, as most others, must have in liberal quantities if it is to come to perfection the following three general fertility elements:—Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and. poflash. It frequently occurs, however, that the soil is rich enough in on© or two of these, and in that case it is not necessary to apply all of the three. This is where a little scientific knowledge of the chemical; composition of a soil comes in 'useful, as it«'enables the farmer to manure more profitably. If a liberal application is made of one or more elements the plant must use more of the other elements which are already in the soil, in order to balance ui> its growth. It may result, therefore, thati the addition of one "clement exhausts the soil of some other element. For example, if heavy growth is obtained by the addition of nitrogen, the plant may need to draw Sjt> heavily upon the store of available phosphoric acid as to deplete tihe soil of that material. HOW TO MANURE FOR OATS. To manure profitably and successfully it is essential that that analysis of the crops taken from the land should: be carefully studied and the principal ingredients restored to the soil in some form or other. It is not • always necessary to add these ingredients to the soil at the time of sowing the said! crop as for the immediate use of the drop, but it is nevertheless necessary in order to maintain the fertility of a soil to add certain ingredients (above mentioned) in the ordinary rotation of cropping. It may be that thow is sufficient of certain ingredients-already in the soil to produce the crop growing: thereon, but that in the production of that crop tbe soil will be left so donloti?d of certain elements as to render it almost incapable of producing a full crop until these elements are restored.