OAT. 



OAT. 



Mr- P. Sherriff, of Mungo's well, in the way he 

 thus describes. " Having: frequently had occa- 

 sion to pass the gateway of a crop of potato 

 oats, in the summer of 1824,a stalk of remarka- 

 ble height attracted my attention. When the 

 crop was reaped, the" grains supported by this 

 stalk, and those upon a short one proceeding 

 from the same root, were gathered and sown in 

 the following spring. The crop from the grains 

 of the gigantic stalk was again conspicuously 

 tall, and after the crop of 1827 the new variety 

 established its superiority." In some compara- 

 tive trials by Mr. Boswell, " on a good free 

 black soil," the Hopetoun exceeded the potato 

 oat in produce, as, in some experiments by 

 Mr. Forsyth, of Elgin, " on a rich loam," it ex- 

 ceeded the late Angus oat, and in those of Mr. 

 Howden, at Traprain, in East Lothian, it proved 

 superior to the gray Angus, the potato, and the 

 early Angus oats. 



The early Angus oat is well known for its 

 early ripening, and the late Jlngus, says Mr. 

 Sherriflf, is also well known for its fine straw 

 and grain ; and although late in ripening, is the 

 most esteemed species of oat in the early dis- 

 tricts of Scotland, such as East Lothian and 

 M 'layshire. There is a difficulty, however 

 (Mr. Sherriff very justly adds), of ascertaining 

 th .3 merits of different varieties of grain by ex- 

 periment, from the many contingencies affect- 

 ing the results, the most powerful of which is 

 the nature of the season. Some kinds of oats 

 grow rapidly in the early part of the season, 

 and some attain their full height, such as the 

 Polish and Georgian oats, both of which are 

 stunted. Others grow slowly, and are later in 

 arriving at their full height, such as the potato, 

 Flemish, and early Angus oats, which are also 

 short. Others continue to grow through the 

 season, and are still later in arriving at their 

 full height, as the Hopetoun and late Angus 

 oats, which are taller than the others. When 

 the early part of the summer proves wet, and 

 is followed by drought, the Polish and Georgian 

 oats have an advantage over other kinds, as 

 they attain their full height before the drought 

 commences. When the early part of the sum- 

 mer is very dry, and moisture succeeds, the 

 Hopetoun and Angus oats benefit by the mois- 

 ture, while the others mentioned do not. When 

 the season proves wet throughout, and the dif- 

 ferent oats in consequence reach an extreme 

 height, the smaller species have frequently an 

 advantage over the larger in grain produce, in 

 consequence of the straw of the latter becom- 

 ing too luxuriant. 



The Cumberland early oat, so named from 

 being raised from a single head by a Cumber- 

 land gentleman, is of a longish grain, more like 

 the early Angus variety than the .potato ; colour 

 dark and dull. It is as much earlier than the 

 potato oat as the latter is earlier than the 

 Hopetoun, being ripe nearly a fortnight sooner 

 than the Hopetoun. 



Red Oat. There is a peculiar variety of oat 

 (classed with the gray oats), called the red oat, 

 which is a favourite in some districts, and is 

 thus described by the celebrated William Daw- 

 son, of Frogdon, in 1791 : " Happening to be 

 at Linton, in Tweeddale, which is about the 

 highest land kept in cultivation in the south 



of Scotland, I found the farmers complaining 

 much of the loss they had by late harvests, 

 and I asked if they had tried the Dutch oats, 

 which were so much earlier than the common 

 kinds. They told me that they had tried the 

 Dutch oats, but that they had a kind in their 

 own country which were as early as the Dutch, 

 and were superior in several respects ; they 

 were not so apt to shake even as the common 

 oat ; they suited every sort of soil if in good 

 condition, and they yielded well in meal ; that 

 they had been sown in that country for fifty 

 years, but no one knew where they came from. 

 Upon this information I commissioned a boll 

 for a trial, and found them answer so well 

 that I have sown no other sort for several 

 years. They do not produce much straw, but 

 what they do produce is very good. I saw a 

 second crop of these oats upon the same land 

 last year, which was good. I have found that 

 they answer the character given of them at 

 Linton fully. That they answer best upon land 

 in good condition, but that they produce very 

 little straw upon poor land ; yet the produce 

 of corn is not even in these situations inferior 

 to any other oats. These properties give them 

 a great superiority overevery other kind known; 

 in this country, and grown in high situations, 

 and cold climates and soils." They are a kind 

 of oat much relished by horses, who, if used to 

 them, do not readily take to other, even richer 

 kinds. Carters accustomed to them give them 

 a decided preference. 



The Georgian Oat was introduced about the 

 year 1824, but it has not made much progress. 

 In 1826, Mr. Wilson, of Preston, reported the 

 following comparative trials between it and 

 the potato oat (Trans. High. Soc. vol. i. p. 153), 

 upon 2 English acres of equal land. The quan- 

 tity sown upon an acre was 6 bushels, and of 

 the potato 4 bushels. The Georgian was reap- 

 ed 10 days earlier than the potato, but they 

 might have been 14 days. The appearance 

 of the Georgian was by far the most luxuriant 

 during the summer, till the end of July, when 

 the potato shot out considerably longer in the 

 straw. They were carefully cut down, stacked, 

 and thrashed in March, 1826 ; the result was, 

 in 



Stones. 1U. 



Weight of straw of the potato oats per acre - 317 6 

 Weight of straw of the Georgian oats per acre 238 12 



The produce of the potato oats per acre was 

 69 Winchester bushels, and the Georgian 68. 



Stones, fc. 



Weight of meal from 6 bushels of the potato 

 oats -------- 11 5 



Weight of meal from 6 bushels of Georgian 

 oats 10 6 



The Tartarian Oat is cultivated to some ex- 

 tent in England, but much more extensively in 

 some portions of the Continent. "Its fascicle 

 is contracted, and nods to one side, which dis- 

 tinguishes it from the common oat. The co- 

 lour of its corolla is generally dark, but the 

 plant improves by culture in a good soil, losing 

 its awns, and that darkness of colour which ap- 

 pears to distinguish the oat in its less improved 

 state." The breadth of this oat annually culti- 

 vated in England has much increased within 

 the last few years. It is the best description 



855 



