Book VI. 



OATS. 



761 



4695. The varieties of oats are more numerous than of the other grains, and some 

 of them very distinctly marked. The principal are as follow : 



4696. The white oat or common oat ifig. 556 a ) in most ge- 

 neral cultivation both in England and Scotland, and known 

 by its white husk and kernel. 



4697. The black oat, known by its black husk ; cultivate<l on 

 poor soils, in the north of England. 



4698. The red oat, knov/n by its brownish red husk, thinner 

 and more flexible stem, and firmly attached grains. It is 

 early, suffers little from winds, meals well, and suits windy 

 situations and late climates. It is understood to have been 

 originated in Peebleshire, on the estate of Magbie-hill, by 

 wliich name it is sometimes known. 



4699. The Poland oat, known by its thick white husk, 

 awnlcss chaff, solitary grains, short white kernel, and short 

 stiff straw. It requires a dry warm soil, but is very prolific. 



4700. The Frlezland or Dutch ont, has plump thin-skinned 

 grains, mostly double, and the large one sometimes awned. 

 It has longer straw than the Poland, but in other respects 

 resembles it. 



4701. 7%(?poteto^oa^haslarge, plump, rather thick-skinned VnJ 

 grains, double and treble, with longer straw than either of the \^ 

 two last sorts. It is almost the only oat now raised on land ^ 

 in a good state of cultivation in the'north of England and south 

 of Scotland, and usually brings a higher price in the London 

 market than any other variety. It was discovered growing in 

 a field of potatoes in Cumberland, in 1788, and from the pro- 

 duce of the single stalk which there sprung up by accident, 

 probably from the manure, has been produced the stock now in general cultivation. 



4702. The Siberian or Tatarian oat (h), is considered by some as a distinct species. The grains are thin 

 and small, and turned mostly to one side of the panicle, and the straw is coarse and reedy. It is little 

 cultivated. 



4703. There are various other vaiieties, as Church's oat, the Angus oat, the dun oat, &c., but they are 

 either too local or obsolete to require particular notice. In the oat, as in other plants extensively culti- 

 vated, new varieties will always be taking place of old ones. 



4704. To procure new varieties adopt the mode by selection, by which, as appears 

 above, the potatoe and red oat were brought forward ; or proceed systematically by cross 

 impregnation, as directed for raising new varieties of wheat. Degeneracy, Brown 

 observes, has taken place to a certain extent in the potatoe oat ; but it is presumed that 

 the consequences might be removed with ease, were first principles returned to. To 

 make a selection of the strongest ears, which carried the purest grain, is not a difficult 

 business ; and were this selection attended to by half a dozen farmers in a district, it is 

 obvious, that the breed, or variety, might be preserved pure and uncontaminated. If 

 slovenly farmers were not provided with good seed, it would be their own fault, since, 

 if they would not take the trouble to select and breed for their own use, they might 

 always be provided by those who were either better qualified for making the selection, or 

 were more attentive to the interests of agriculture. (^JBrown.) 



4705. In choosing a sort from among the varieties described, the potatoe and Poland, 

 are the best for lowlands, and the red oat for uplands, and late climates in a state of 

 good cultivation. For inferior soils the white or common oat, and for the poorest of all 

 the black oat may be adopted. 



4706. I'he soil for oats may be any kind whatever, from the stiffest clays to moss or 

 bog, provided it be laid sufficiently dry. The most tenacious clays, and meagre gravels 

 and sands, where scarcely any useful seed-bearing plant, excepting buck-wheat, could 

 be grown, will produce a crop of oats if ploughed at a proper season, and the seed judi- 

 ciously sown and covered. 



4707. The preparation of the soil for oats is less than for any other grain. It is almost 

 always the first crop on newly-broke up lands ; and as it prospers best on a soil not too 

 finely pulverised, it is commonly sown on one earth. In regular rotations, oats are 

 chiefly sown after grass ; sometimes upon land not rich enough for wheat, that had been 

 previously summer-fallowed, or had carried turnips ; often after barley, and rarely after 

 wheat, unless cross-cropping, from particular circumstances, becomes a necessary evil. 

 One ploughing is generally given to the grass-lands, usually in the month of January, 

 so that the benefit of frost may be gained, and the land sufficiently mellowed for receiv- 

 ing the harrow. In some cases, a spring furrow is given when oats succeed wheat or 

 barley, especially when grass-seeds are to accompany the crop. The best oats, both in 

 quantity and quality, are always those which succeed grass ; indeed, no kind of grain 

 seems better qualified by nature for foraging upon grass-land than oats ; as a full crop 

 is usually obtained in the first instance, and the land left in good order for succeeding 

 ones. (Tr. on Rural Affairs.) 



4708. The climate for oats should be cool and moist; when dry and warm, the pani- 

 cles are so dried and contracted, that they cease to convey sufficient nourishment to the 

 ears, which thus never become plump, but thick husked, long awned, and unproductive 

 in meal. This is very often the case with the oats in Scotland in a very dry year, and 

 Very counnon in the south 6i England most vears. 



