Oats are an easily grown crop that succeeds in any moderately fertile soil in full sun. They prefer a poor dry soil and tolerate cool moist conditions. Plants are reported to tolerate an annual precipitation of 20 to 180cm, an average annual temperature range of 5 to 26°C, and a pH of 4.5 to 8.6. They thrive on a wide range of soils of ample, but not excessive, fertility. Well-drained neutral soils in regions where annual rainfall is 77cm or more are best. Loam soils are best, especially silt and clay loams. The plants are also reported to tolerate aluminium, disease, frost, fungus, herbicides, hydrogen fluoride, mycobacterium, nematode, rust, SO2, smut, and virus. Oats have a long history of cultivation as a food crop and are believed to be derived chiefly from two species, wild oat and wild red oat . They are widely cultivated for their seed, used as a source of protein, as well as for hay, as winter cover, and are used as a pasture crop in the growing or 'milk' stage. Oats are long-day plants, grown in cool climates in the Old and New World temperate zones, succeeding under variable conditions. Oats usually are not very winter hardy, although winter hardy cvs have been developed. A very hardy plant according to another report, the cultivated oat succeeds as far north as latitude 70°n and is widely cultivated in temperate zones for its edible seed, there are many named varieties. Although lower yielding than wheat , it is able to withstand a wider range of climatic conditions and is therefore more cultivated in cooler and wetter areas. Hot dry weather just before heading causes heads to blast and yields of seed to decrease. Self-pollination is normal, but cross-pollination by wind also occurs. If you wish to save the seed for sowing, each variety should be isolated about 180 metres away from other varieties. Oats grow well with vetch but they inhibit the growth of apricot trees. Oats are in general easily grown plants but, especially when grown on a small scale, the seed is often completely eaten out by birds. Some sort of netting seems to be the best answer on a garden scale.