23 EXPERiMENxa ON OATS. [Appcudix^ 



they were cut, when I was much satisfied with No. 2 ; the straw appeared to me 

 as stiff and shinmg, and the ear as well filled, as if it had been grown upon stiff 

 loam, and 1 consider the same dressings applied to grain crops upon moss, will ith- 

 sure a good crop of loell-JiUed oais. No. 7 was nearly as good, but the want of the 

 bones being dissolved was a drawback. However, I consider the two merit 

 the expense of another trial." 



No. 



Top-dressing per pole (imperial). 



Nothing. 



Bones dissolved in sulphuric acid and nitrate of soda | lb, 



Sulphate of soda ^ lb., bone dust \ peck. 



Potash 1 lb., lime and bone dust ^ peck. 



Chloride of calcium 1 lb., bones J peck. 



Lime, potash, and chloride of calcium, \ lb. each. 



Potash and lime, nitrate, and bones, \ lb. each. 



Character of the Soil. — Moss 4 feet to clay. No. 3 the best crop and heaviest 

 grain (not thrashed). Nos. 3, 4, and 5 not so good as No. 2, but all much 

 better than Nos. 1 or G. No. 6 the worst — not better than No. 1. No. 7 very 

 good — next to No. 2. 



Remarks. — These experiments of Mr. Fleming on moss oats may be con- 

 sidered as affording another illustration of the benefits which are yet to accrue 

 to practical agriculture from the suggestions of natural science. It is well known 

 to those who have directed their attention to the reclaiming of peat lands, that 

 the crops of oats raised on such land yield abundance of straw, but that the ear 

 is small and badly filled. It is also well known that claying such lands is an al- 

 most unfailing remedy for this defect in the ear, as well as for the less important 

 one which is also observed in the straw. My friend, Mr. Alexander, of South 

 Bar, a neighbour of Mr. Fleming, and, like him, extensively engaged in the im- 

 provement of peat lands, finding, as most other persons have, that in some lo- 

 calities the claying of his land was very expensive,* conceived the idea that 

 some chemical application might be made to this soil, which would supply 

 what the defective oat plants required, and thus supersede the necessity of 

 clmilng. He was pleased to communicate this opinion to me — stating the de- 

 fect in the crop, and asking a chemical remedy. Looking chiefly to what was 

 evidently requii-ed by the ear, I suggested a trial of various mixtures, in all of 

 which, — from an idea that phosphates, among other substances, might be ne- 

 cessary to complete the ear, — bone-dust formed a necessary part. The result of 

 these suggestions is seen in the above experiments of Mr. Fleming. They have 

 been varied and improved upon, as Mr. Fleming's united chemical knowledge 

 and practical skill enabled him to do, and as first results on a new field of re- 

 search, Nos. 2 and 7 may be considered as highly encouraging, if not, indeed, 

 eminently successful. - Too much confidence, however, must not be placed on 

 the effects observed in one or two instances ; yet I hope those above stated are 

 such as will induce others to repeat the experiments with equal care, in order 

 that another year, affording us more numerous results, may enable us to base 

 our conclusions upon a larger experience. 



6. — Experiments upon Oats top-dressed with Sulphate arid Nitrate of Soda (Jmcer 

 end of Barn Park.) 

 " The first was sown on the 1 1th May, viz., 3 ridges with sulphate of soda, 

 at the rate of 1 ^ cwt. per acre. This was examined from time to time, but there 



* Mr. Garden, of Glenae House, near Dumfries, a gentleman to whom, though personally 

 unknown, I am indebted for many valuable communications, informs me that, In improving 

 his porous peat lands, he has found it necessary to lay on a coaling of clay six inc'ics thick, 

 at an expense of £\b an acre. A coating of two or three inches on tkeir peat, he says, sinks 

 down, and in a few years descends beyond the reach of the plough, and hence it^is mora 

 economical to lay on at once an entire soil of six inches, 



