COUNTIES OF EDINBUEGH AND LINLITHGOW. • 21 



to the depth of 6 or 8 inches, generally gives the best results, as 

 the turf is deep enough, and has sufficient time to decay, and act 

 as a fertiliser to the young plants. The surface, too, becomes 

 mellowed by the winter frosts and rains, and a good seed-bed is 

 ensured. The condition of the soil for the oat plant is a deep 

 and well-stirred one, the subsoil being free from stagnant moisture. 

 In habits of growth, oats resemble wheat more than barley, inas- 

 much as the roots, or rootlets, push themselves vertically into 

 the soil rather than laterally near the surface. In the matter of 

 sowing, a part is done with the drill, but it is not always either 

 convenient or expedient to do so. A saving of seed is effected, 

 and where hand-hoeing is practised, it is undoubtedly the best 

 plan. Sown broadcast, about 2^ to 3 bushels of seed per acre 

 are used ; often a great deal more. Indeed, it is a fault that 

 the Scotch farmers have of scattering far too much oats upon 

 the ground. When the seed-time is favourable, and the seed 

 good, the mistake of thick sowing is manifest. Many fields 

 are one-fourth too thickly planted. Four bushels sown by hand, 

 and 2 or 3 by the machine, must be considered as ample. On 

 the early holdings, seeding commences with the advent of ]\Iarch, 

 but towards the hills it is well on to the end of the month, and 

 now and then into April before the crop is entirely got in. Two 

 double turns with the harrows generally suffice to cover the seed, 

 but of late farmers have shown a preference in finishing with the 

 chain harrow. Several varieties of oats are fjrown in both 

 counties. The popular sorts seem to be the Potato, Sandy, 

 Hopetoun, Longfellow, Tartarian, Gray, and Early Angus. On 

 deep soils, manurially rich, the Potato yields well, while upon 

 moderately-conditioned lands the Sandy is a very suitable variety. 

 The Black Tartarian is a prolific cropper when sown upon a deep 

 rich soil, often yielding as much as 7 to 9 quarters j^er acre, 

 weighing 35 to 38 or even 40 lbs. per bushel. A fairly good crop 

 of Potato oats in Edinburgh may be stated at 45 to 50 bushels ; 

 in Linlithgow, 40 to 45 bushels. Certainly these figures are often 

 exceeded, while in many cases they are not reached, so that 

 stating an average yield is at best only a hazardous conjecture. 

 The weight per bushel varies from 40 to 43 lbs., or about 41 lbs. 

 on the average. No cereals benefit more from top-dressing than 

 oats, but since the more extensive use of extraneous feeding stutls 

 lor stock, less top-dressing has been required and given. When 

 found necessary, a mixture, consisting of l^cwt. of guano with 1 

 cwt. of nitrate of soda and 1 cwt. of common salt, has a most salu- 

 tary effect on the crop, particularly if a])]»lied in showery weather. 

 Moreover, the salt acts, to a certain extent, as a specilic against 

 gnib and other insect jjests, so that its virtues fur agricultural 

 purposes can hardly be over-estimated. 



Beans. — A very small breadth is annually devoted to beans. 



