66 



and disproportionate duty on the malt made from bear, 

 compared to that made from barley. 



3. Oats. 



There is no species of grain that succeeds better in 

 Scotland than the oat, and some farmers have given up 

 sowing barley, as it never comes within two or three 

 bolls per acre of oats, as the straw of it is much inferior, 

 either for feeding live stock, or for producing manure, 

 and as the sale of it is uncertain. Oats are also preferred, 

 in some cases even to wheat, as it has been found that 

 sowing oats after grass, is more advantageous than sow- 

 ing wheat, however profitable that^article may be *. Oats 

 also are a better crop after pease, than even after grass f- 



It is well known, that various sorts of oats are culti- 

 vated in Scotland, as the Dutch, the Blainsley, &c. In 

 sheltered situations, and in rich soils, the variety called 

 the Potato Oat is to be preferred ; but in exposed fields, 

 Mr Brodie of Garvald greatly prefers the red oats. They 

 unite the advantages of earliness, good grain, and a 

 power of resisting the wind, equal to any other ; and by 

 growing them, farmers are enabled to cultivate higher 

 grounds, than otherwise they could venture to do, with 

 every prospect of reaping the fruits of their labour. 



winter, and tw ce ploughed before sowing, with a sprinkling 

 of dung. It is very seldom more than ten weeks on the 

 ground in favourable situations, and barley never less than 

 fourteen* 



* Remarks by Mr Trotter of Newton in Linlithgowshire. 



f Remark by Mr Charles Alexander, Easterhaprew near 

 Peebles. It is proper to observe, that when a fit-Id is fallow- 

 ed, any mossy part of it should be sewn with oats instead of 

 wheat. 



