270 OF CROPS USUALLY CULTIVATED. 



than when the potatoe-oat is cultivated. The dun oat, it 

 is said, stands the weather better, the straw being firm and 

 hard ; and it is less apt to shake during the harvest. The 

 produce in meal is considerable, varying from 15J, to even 

 19 pecks of meal per boll of corn, according to the season. 

 Church's oats are recommended for ripening early, ten days 

 or a fortnight sooner than the potatoe-oats. They are sown 

 at the rate of about 6 Winchester bushels per acre, have 

 yielded from 60 to 80 Winchester bushels per English acre, 

 and in some instances even more. It would be very im- 

 portant to raise a species of oats without a bosom-pickle, as 

 the grain would then be more equal in point of size and 

 quality, and less liable to shake ; and it is said, that a large 

 plump oat of that sort is to be found in Lincolnshire.* 



4. Peas. For some years past, peas have been a preca- 

 rious crop in Scotland, principally owing to the continual 

 i-ains in the month of August, which kept the peas constant- 

 ly in a growing state, in consequence of which the pods did 

 not fill till the frost came on. Had there been dry weather 

 in the months of July and August, the crops would proba- 

 bly have been abundant.f It is contended, however, that 

 even in drier climates, a crop of peas will not succeed, if 

 gown on the same land, above once in ten years. 



Some farmers, who find that clean peas will not answer, 

 sow peas and beans mixed, with a hand-drill, the rows at 

 twenty-seven inches distance, so as to admit the horse and 

 the hand-hoe at discretion. Mr Hope of Fenton finds. 



Mr John Shirreff informs me, that the potatoe-oat, when first in- 

 troduced, was of that description, and might have been preserved so, by 

 accurate selection, and separate culture. By the same means it might 

 fee restored to that state. 



t Observations by Mr Neil Ballingal, in Fife. 



