OATS. 



some attention must be paid to the 

 preparation of the soil and to free it 

 from weeds ; for to sow oats on a foul 

 wheat or barley stubble slightly turned 

 in by the plough, as is sometimes done, 

 is the reverse of good husbandry. 



" The best oats are raised in Scot- 

 land and in Friesland, and in both 

 countries the land is carefully culti- 

 vated. In Scotland, oats are gener- 

 ally sown on a grass layer which has 

 been in that state for some years, and 

 sometimes on old pastures which are 

 broken up for the purpose. The crops 

 exceed in bulk and weight of grain 

 all that the most sanguine person, un- 

 acquainted with the system, would 

 expect, and in many seasons, not fa- . 

 vourable for the wheat crop, oats are 1 

 much more profitable. Wherever 

 the land is not of a good quality, and 

 wheat is apt to fail, oats are a much 

 safer crop, especially in retentive 

 soils, as rye is on poor sands. 



" When oats are sown after tur- 

 nips, cabbages, or any other green 

 crop, the land .should be well plough- 

 ed, if the green crop was not con- 

 sumed on the spot, and a moderate 

 supply of manure will be well repaid 

 by the increased produce. A heavy 

 loam is best suited for oats : they re- 

 quire a certain degree of moisture, 

 and a deep soil is very favourable to 

 their growth. On land which has 

 been trenched, or where the subsoil 

 plough has been used, after careful 

 draining, if required, oats will thrive 

 wonderfully without requiring so rich 

 a soil as barley or wheat. The roots 

 are hardier, and have a stronger ve- 

 getative power. When once they 

 have struck deep into the soil, a good 

 crop, according to the quality of the 

 land, may be relied on. 



" When oats are sown after artifi- 

 cial grasses, the land is seldom 

 ploughed more than once, and the 

 seed is sown on the fresh mould 

 which has been turned up ; but, un- 

 less the land be very free from weeds, 

 it would be better to plough the sward 

 with a shallow furrow early in au- 

 tumn. Before winter the scarifier 

 would break the rotten sward, which 

 might then be buried deep by another 



ploughing. The land would be ready 

 for sowing early in spring, which is 

 a great advantage, both as to the 

 quality of the oat crop and the earli- 

 er harvest, especially in those dis- 

 tricts where the latter part of the au- 

 tumn is apt to be stormy and rainy. 

 The land thus treated would be clean, 

 and the fallow, which is often resorted 

 to of necessity after a crop of oats, 

 might be dispensed with, as the 

 weeds have been destroyed and bu- 

 ried deep. 



" When oats are sown on light land 

 after turnips, it may be ploughed with 

 as shallow a furrosv as will turn in 

 the surface : the preparation for tur- 

 nips will have sufficiently moved the 

 soil. On poor, moist land, oats are 

 more profitalile than barley. Clover 

 and grass seeds may be sown among 

 them with equal advantage, as they 

 will seldom grow so high as to be laid 

 and smother the young clover ; and 

 barley is very apt to fail on land sub- 

 ject to retain the water. 



" In sowing oats, more seed is oft- 

 en used than of any other grain, be- 

 cause, although the plants tiller where 

 they have room, the straw of the sec- 

 ond shoots is weaker, and the grain 

 is not ripe so soon as that of the 

 principal stem ; but when the plants 

 rise close and thick, there are no til- 

 lers, the main stem is stronger, and 

 the corn is more plump and equal. 

 Six bushels of oats are often sown on 

 an acre ; but if they are drilled, four 

 bushels are sufficient ; and when dib- 

 bled, which is sometimes the case in 

 Norfolk and Suffolk, much less seed 

 is used. A good preparation of the 

 land is of more consequence than a 

 superabundance of seed. 



" In a field where oats are sown 

 broad-cast, and covered by the har- 

 rows, many seeds remain exposed 

 I to the depredation of birds, which 

 soon find them out at a time of the 

 year when food is scarce. When the 

 seed is sown and ploughed in, the 

 same object is attained ; but as the 

 furrow must be shallow, in order that 

 the seed may not be buried too deep, 

 the land must have been ploughed 

 before to a considerable depth : in ci- 



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