OF CROPS USUALLY CULTIVATFD. 269 



as the straw of it is much inferior, either for feeding live 

 stock, or for producing manure, and as the sale of it is un- 

 certain. Oats also are preferred, in some cases, even to 

 wheat, as it has been found that sowing oats after grass, is 

 more advantageous than sowing wheat, however profitable 

 that article may be.* Oats also are a better crop after peas, 

 than even after grass. -j- 



It is well known that various sorts of oats are cultivated 

 in Scotland. Mr Thomson of Bewlie greatly prefers the 

 potatoe-oat. Either after turnips, or after clover ley in 

 good condition, there is almost a certainty of having a good 

 crop of that sort; they ripen and fill very well, even when 

 lodged, being strong in the straw, and they sell at 3 s. per 

 boll, (Teviotdale measure), higher than other oats. They 

 will grow very well even in high inland situations, and cold 

 climates, and if cut down in time, there is little risk of their 

 shaking. In exposed and elevated situations, however, 

 Mr Brodie of Garvald greatly prefers the red oat. They 

 unite the advantages of earliness, good grain, and a power 

 of resisting the wind, superior to any other ; and by grow- 

 ing them, farmers are enabled to cultivate higher grounds, 

 than otherwise they could venture to do, with every pros- 

 pect of reaping the fruits of their labour. The only objec- 

 tion to them is, that they give very little straw, though it 

 is of a fine quality. By some, the dun oat is strongly re- 

 commended, sometimes producing 12 bolls per Scotch acre. 

 The straw is very bulky, and the grain is less apt to lodge 



of oats per Scotch acre, or 72 bushels per English acre, on a field of 17 

 acres, though two of these acres had never before been under crop. 



* Remarks by Mr Trotter of Newton, in Linlithgowshire. 



\ Remark by Mr Charles Alexander, Easterhaprew, near Peebles. It 

 is proper to observe, that when a field is fallowed, any mossy part of it 

 should be sown with oats instead of wheat. 



