104 CULTIVATION OF PLANTS. 



The diseases of barley are not so numerous or fatal as those 

 of wheat. It is attacked by the larvae of certain flies. It is 

 also subject to smut, though in a partial degree. 



4. OATS. 



THE oat is of the genus Jlvena. It is the natural inhabitant 

 of cold latitudes; it indeed appears to be indigenous to those 

 latitudes, for it is there found in a wild state as a most trouble- 

 some weed, while it degenerates in the warmer parts of the 

 temperate zone, and in lower latitudes disappears from culti- 

 vation. 



Professor Low enumerates five species: 1. The brittle 

 pointed oat. 2. The short oat. 3. The common oat. 4. 

 Tartarian oat. 5. Naked oat. Of the species that have been 

 mentioned, greatly the most important is the common oat. Of 

 this species there are innumerable sorts, produced by the effects 

 of climate, soil and cultivation. These may be conveniently 

 divided into three classes the black, the dun or grey, and the 

 white. 



Among the numerous sorts grown in this country, is one of 

 recent introduction the skinless oat from a remote district 

 in China. It possesses the extraordinary advantages of being 

 not only free from husk, but of containing far more farinaceous 

 matter than any of the known kinds; of course it is heavier. 



This sort was introduced into England, from whence we de- 

 rived our supply, in 1830, sown on the 4th of May of that 

 year, and reaped early in August. The produce amounted to 

 twenty-six barrels of fourteen stone each* to the Irish acre. 

 In this country it has produced from thirty to sixty-eight 

 bushels the acre, but it exhibits a tendency to degenerate. 



To cultivate oats successfully, good tillage and skilful hus- 

 bandry are no less necessary than in the culture of other crops. 

 It is an erroneous notion, though entertained by many, that 

 this crop may be cultivated to advantage, on poor soils, with- 

 out manure, and with slight culture.! The ground ought to be 

 well stirred up, pulverized, and in good condition. 



It is universally admitted that oats, to insure a plentiful crop, 

 should be sowed as early in the spring as the weather and the 

 state of the ground will permit. There is no danger, if the 

 ground be in proper order, of sowing them too early. When 

 oats are sown after corn, which is the general practice, the 



* A stone is fourteen pounds. f Genesee Farmer, vol. vi. page 84. 



