Ch. XII.] ON OATS. 177 



purpose of ascertaining the relative qualities of malt made from English 

 and Scotch barley and bigg, it would appear, so fiir as reliance could 

 be placed upon the usual qualities of the different growths, and the 

 accuracy of the process of malting, that a Winchester quarter of each 

 grain, when malted, would produce the following quantities of proof 

 spirits, viz., 



English barley about 214- gallons, 

 Scotch do. do. 19i do. 

 Scotch bigg do. 16^ do. 



From these and other trials of a similar nature, it appeared, that the 

 English barley was about 11 per cent, superior to the Scotch, and full 2 

 per cent, better than Scotch bigg *. The same disparity would probably 

 have been found between the general qualities of Irish and English barleys, 

 and doubtless a like difference would have occurred had the barleys been 

 brewed ; for both in brewing and distilling it is the quantity of saccharine 

 matter contained in the grain which furnishes a criterion for ascertaining its 

 comparative value, and the finest-flavoured ale brewed in Edinburgh is made 

 from Norfolk barley. The climate of Ireland and Scotland is more humid 

 than that of England, and it is apparent, that grain ripened and harvested 

 in the early part of autumn, and under the influence of a hot sun, must be 

 superior to such as may have been harvested, even upon the same farm, three 

 or four weeks later, when the air is damp and the heat less intense. Every 

 farmer knows that this inferiority is frequently occasioned by adverse changes 

 in the weather, and barley suff"ers more than any other grain from the eff'ects 

 of wet: it is, therefore, unnecessary to impress the advantages of an early 

 harvest upon their attention. 



The straw is lighter than that of wheat, and is chiefly used as litter ; for 

 although the awns are sometimes boiled and given to cattle, yet the stem 

 is so deficient in nutriment, that it is seldom employed as fodder. The 

 peculiar operation used for dressing the grain may be found in the chapter 

 on Harvest, under the head of " Hummelling.'' 



Chapter XIII. 



ON OATS. 



The Oat, as if intended by nature to supply the deficiencies occasioned 

 by the climate of the north in the growth of wheat and barley, thrives better 

 in Scotland than in any part of England. It, indeed, appears to be indige- 

 nous to the cold latitudes ; for it is there found in a wild state as a most trou- 

 blesome weed, while it degenerates in the southern countries, and is not 

 reared in the warmer parts of Europe. Of all corn crops it is that which is 

 the most easily produced : it is, therefore, grown upon almost all kinds of 

 ground, but is especially profitable upon fresh land and crude moory soils. 

 Its varieties are quite as numerous as those of any other sort of grain ; and, 

 in like manner, although designated by numberless different names, as pos- 

 sessing some distinct qualities, thev are vet all derived from one parent 

 stock. These may, however, be comprised under the separate heads of the 

 " common feed-oat ;" the " Poland ;" the " Dutch ;" the " Potato ;" and 

 the " Tartarian oat." 



* See the Farmer's Mag. vol. v, pp. 72, 342 ; vol. viii. p. 495. 



N 



