388 On the Dyock Oat. 



the latter weighed 40 lbs * per bushel, and yielded of oatmeal 

 21^ lbs. per bushel. The straw is of excellent quality, well 

 adapted for fodder. This oat takes its name from a Mr. Dyock, 

 who, I believe, first raised the variety in Aberdeenshire. If, 

 after a further test, its good properties be maintained, there is 

 little doubt of its proving a highly valuable acquisition, especially 

 upon the cold and elevated lands of the northern part of the king- 

 dom. ]Mr. Watson, from whom I had my seed, has tried it for 

 several years, and speaks of more abundant returns, and of heavier 

 grain, than I have detailed above. He states that it usually 

 arrives at maturity from 12 to 16 days before potato-oats; and, I 

 believe, the higher the elevation, the greater is the difference in this 

 respect. It is rather small in the grain, but is distinguished from 

 several other early varieties of the oat by the thinness of its husk. 

 I would refer those who are anxious for further mformation to the 

 50th No. of the ' Quarterly Journal of Agriculture,' in which 

 appears Mr. Watson's paper on this oat ; to whom the merit is 

 due of bringing it into more prominent notice, and of directing 

 the attention of cultivators to its valuable properties. 



Hill Top, Kendal. July 4, 1842. 



NOTE. 



This oat may he so valuable for elevated moorland districts that all the 

 information we possess respecting it ought to be laid before the Society. 

 The following account appeared in Ihc 'Transactions of the Highland So- 

 ciety,' t two years ago. — Ph. Pusey. 



"My attention was first directed to this oat in the year 1833, from see- 

 ing a neighbour farmer have a small patch sown with it, which appeared 

 stronjr, and considerably earlier than the other kinds of oats sown in the 

 neighbourhood. On inquiry of the owner I learned that he had increased 

 the kind from a few grains, not exceeding half an ounce in weight. The 

 original raiser was a Mr. Dyock, or Diock, near Aberdeen, who began with a 

 single ear picked from a field, and, by preserving and cultivating it, soon ob- 

 tained a quantity, which was distributed among the farmers in Aberdeen- 



* With regard to the weight of this, it is understated. The potato-oats 

 were sent to the mill, where they were weighed immediately upon being 

 measured into sacks ; whilst the Dyock oats remained in the sack, after 

 being measured, more than three months before they were sent to the 

 mill and weighed, the mouth of the sack being open the whole of the time, 

 and the grain consequently exposed to mice and to loss in moving the sacks, 

 &c. Unfortunately, I did not see it before it was sent ; but, upon question- 

 ing the miller, he says the quantity was much below the alleged measure ; 

 and, according to his estimate, the grain would weigh 45 lbs. per bushel. 

 I am inclined to think this is about the truth ; as my farm- servants, who 

 were much prejudiced against ''the Scotch C077z," admitted its marked supe- 

 riority of weight over the potato-oats, when they placed the sacks in the 

 granary. As, however, I am fearful of advancing any fact in a case like 

 this which cannot be verified, I have retained the lighter weight, though 

 satisfied of its inaccuracy. 



t Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, No. L., p. 372. 



