743 

 OATS. 



Oats, like :i 1 cereals, require a good supply of readily available 

 nitrogenous manure. It is a shallow rooted crop, deriving all its 

 food from near the- surface. It is generally sown in spring in 

 England, requiring a much shorter time for its growth than wheat. 

 For these reasons it requires a more soluble and readily available 

 manure than wheat. Farmyard manure is not considered a suitable 

 manure for oats, as it is too slow and insoluble for the requirements 

 of the qu ck growing crop. If it is intended to use larmyard 

 manure for the crop it should be put in with the previous crop in 

 sufficient quantities to leave plenty for the <at crop. Kven then, to 

 get any good results superphosphates or steamed bonedust with a 

 soluble nitrogenous manure should be sown with the crop, and a 

 top-dressing of either nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia after 

 the crop is well through the ground. It is wonderful the results of 

 the top-dressing with either of these nitrogenous manures on a 

 backward crop. 



Lawes and Gilbert used the same manure in their experiments 

 on the continuous growing of oats on the same land as they used 

 for wheat, with the exception that they used 400 Ibs. of sulphate of 

 ammonia for the oat crop, and 200 Ibs. for the wheat. Stockhardt 

 experimenting with oats found that they greedily absorb nitrogen 

 during nearly the whole of the period of their growth, therefore 

 sulphate of ammonia should prove the better manure than nitrate 

 of soda. The experiments show how several top-dressings of the 

 crop act beneficially. 



BARLEY. 



Barley, like all cereals, requires a liberal supply of nitrogen, 

 although it is scarcely so greedy in this respect as wheat and oats. 

 It is in a great many respects like oats, and in England is generally 

 sown in the spring. It is also a shallow rooted and quick growing 

 crop, drawing its food from the surface soil, necessaiily the manure 

 used must be easily assimilated and within ready access of the 

 roots, as they have to absorb all they require during a very short 

 period of growth. The same remarks in reference to oats apply, 

 also to barley, regarding th~ unsuitableness of farmyard manure, 

 which can only be prolitably used under the same conditions. 



Greater care is required in the manuring of barley than oats, 

 so that the distribution is equal all over the field, in order to obtain 

 a uniform sample, more especially if it is intended for malting 

 purposes. 



Lawes and Gilbert, for the continuous growth of barley on the 

 same land, use the following mixture : 



275 1 s. of nitrate of soda 

 200 ,, sulphate of potash 



100 Ibs. of sulphate of so la 

 100 ,, magnesia 



3^ cwt. of superphosphates. 

 This produced in the twenty-ninth season, on the same plot of land, 



