180 BHITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XIII. 



given of it ; and a distinguished agriculturist, wlio is a member of the High- 

 land Society, states that, on trying it in the same field with the potato-oat, it 

 was found later in ripening, and decidedly inferior both in quality and pro- 

 duce. When examined before the Society, it was found neither so large 

 nor plump as the original species, and the weight of both was — 

 Of the Hopetoun Oat, 45j lbs, per imperial bushel ; 

 Of the Potato Oat, 48 lbs. ditto*. 



It is, however, evident that all may not have been equally successful in their 

 experiments, and the trials have fully established the value of the stock, by 

 whatever name it may be distinguished, provided it be sown upon good 

 Rtronor land. One great disadvantage attending the Hopetoun arises, however, 

 from the lateness of its ripening ; which appears to be further established by 

 a communication from the land steward of Mr. Dun, of Duntocher, in Dum- 

 bartonshire, who states that it was sown in 1832 and 1833, with a very 

 prolific and early oat from Berwickshire ; that the difference was not mate- 

 rial in the first year, either as to grain or straw, but the Hopetoun was 

 rather tlie latest ; in the second it was considerably bulkier and stronger, 

 but still proved about a week later. 



Among the numerous different sorts which are grown, we understand 

 that a skinless oat has been lately brought from a remote district of China, 

 which possesses the extraordinary advantages of being not only free of 

 husk, but of containing far more farinaceous matter than any of the known 

 kinds, while its produce has amounted to 26 barrels of 14 stone each, to the 

 Irish acre. It was, also, not sown until the 4th of May, 1830, and was 

 reaped early in August f. 



The species more peculiarly adapted to poor soils are the Tartarian, the 

 Hack, and the naked oat, or Pilcorn and Pilcz, all of which are hardy and 

 generally prolific : of these the Tartarian is the only sort that may be consi- 

 dered as a distinct kind ; the others being only varieties of the common 

 field oat. It is good horse-corn, and has been known to produce as much 

 as 80 bushels to the acre ; but its strong reedy straw renders it of but little 

 value as fodder. The black oat is a profitable species on exhausted lands 

 or wet and starved clays, and on upland soils, well managed, good samples 

 weigh about 41 lbs. per bushel : it is also much used for green food when 

 sown with tares. The naked oat, or, as it is not uncommonly termed, 

 " Pilcorn," from the corolla being detached from the seed, as in the case of 

 wheat, is thought to be not improbably the only surviving branch of our 

 primitive corn, if not the only bread corn of our remoter ancestors ; but its 

 onlv recommendation is its hardiness in producing a moderate crop where 

 no other grain can be expected to grow|. 



Tlie •' Pilez," as it is provincially called in Cornwall, to the western 

 parts of which its culture seems to be confined, is probably a variety of the 

 Pilcorn, as it grows something like the oat, but the straw is much finer, 

 and almost as good as hay. The grain is small, being only about the size 

 of a shelled oat, but weighs as heavy as wheat per bushel, and is excellent 

 for feeding poultiy and pigs. It is generally the farewell crop on ground 

 that has been exhausted by preceding crops of potatoes, wheat, and 

 oats §. 



-•• Prize Ess. and Trans, of the Highland Soc, N. S., vol. ii. p. 33G, and vol. iii. 

 p. 48. 



i New Farmer's Mag. for Au<^ist, 1832. No. XI. 



t Seethe Report of Novthumberland. 3rd edit., p. 84. Burroughs on White Crops, 

 p. 32 : and the Surveys of South Wales, vol. i, p. 47-1; and North \Vales, p. 1G6. 



§ Survey of Cornwall, p. 60. 



