390 On the Dyoch Oat. 



field of late laiul, potato, Flemish, Friesland, and Dyock's oats; but the 

 October storm blasted all excepting the latter, which were reaped. The 

 concurrinfy opinion of all farmers who have sown this oat is, that its straw 

 makes fully as good fodder as the straw of the potato-oat ; cattle eat it 

 well, and thrive on it. The average altitude of the farm on which the fore- 

 going trials were made is about 400 feet above the level of the sea, and lies 

 inland. The soil is partly a black loam, incumbent on rock or stiff clay, 

 and partly thin soil of grey or faint-brown colour on a till bottom. I have 

 generally, though not invariably, sown Dyock's oats on land broken up from 

 lea, in the usual broad-cast manner by hand, at the rate of nearly G bushels 

 to the acre, and harrowed in the seed in the ordinary way. The kind of 

 land most adapted to its growth I conceive to be a soft friable soil. Whe- 

 ther deep or shallow, my experiments on clay were the least successful ; 

 neither do I think it fit for a hot, sandy soil. It grows fast, requires to be 

 thick sown, and cut before appearing fully ripened. The straw grows as 

 long as any of the other kinds of oats grown beside it. The average length 

 I have grown it would be from 3 feet 4 inches to 3 feet 9 inches ; but, in 

 1838 and 1839, some of it was 4i feet and upwards. The weather this har- 

 vest has been so unpropitious that fair trials of the grain could scarcely be 

 made by thrashing a small quantity. Part of these crops was cut on the 

 9th of September, at which date no other oats were matured in the neigh- 

 bourhood. The yield of meal, where trials have been made of this year's 

 crop, has been greater from Dyock's oat than from any other kind which 

 has come under the writer's notice. The most valuable characteristic of 

 this oat is its early maturation, being about fourteen days earlier than po- 

 tato-oats in all late soils. It is, therefore, well adapted for lands which 

 have a tendency to lateness; and will, I trust, under proper management, 

 prove of great benefit to the high-lying and late districts of Scotland. Since 

 1 836 the merits of this oat have been fairly tested. It has been tried in ten 

 parishes in the county of Forfar, in several of which the crops are usually 

 late, and it has always come to maturity from twelve to sixteen days before 

 potato-oats. In the upper parts of the parishes of Tannadice, Cortachy, and 

 Lintrathen, it has been cultivated with success during the three last years, 

 which it is well known have been more than usually late. In proof of its 

 earliness, and consequent adaptation of the grain for late farms, I can ap- 

 peal to the testimony of respectable gentlemen who have got seed-corn 

 from my farm for their late lands. David Craik, Esq., of Auchnacree, got 

 9 quarters of the improved Dyock oat last year: the crop was all cut before 

 the 11th of October ; his other oat-crops on Auchnacree were uncut, and 

 consequently were blasted by the hurricane which then happened. David 

 Black, Esq., Broomfield, has got it for Glenogil for several years back. 

 Mr. Stewart Wyllie, Kinrue, by Cortachy, got 2 quarters in the spring of 

 1838, which produced upwards of 12 quarters: no other oats on his farm 

 were fit for seed that year. Mr. Francis Bailhe, Dalgetty farm, near 

 Brechin, got 2 quarters in 1838 ; his return was 19 quarters 5 bushels. 

 Mr. Webster, Blackball, Menmuir, has also been a successful cultivator of 

 this oat, and has had abundant returns.* Mr. Fenton, Purgavie, also suc- 

 ceeded well with seed of this oat, which he obtained from this neighbour- 

 hood. I remark, in conclusion, that there is no other stock of this oat in 

 this country than what was raised from the few grains already mentioned ; 

 and if this kind, which appears to me to be a variety either of the potato or 

 Zealand oat, is found worthy the attention of agriculturists, the merit of 

 fostering it is due to Mr. James Davidson." 



* Since writing the above I have a certified return of 75 bushels per acre from a 

 field of newly brokeu-up old lea this season. 



