828 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Paut hi. 



dead ripe, which, to a certain extent, lessens the danger to wliich they are exposed from high 

 winds ; and if the sheaves are made small, the danger from shedding after rains is con- 

 siderably lessened, because they are thus sooner ready for the stack. Under every manage- 

 ment, however, a greater quantity of early oats will be lost during the harvest process than 

 of the late ones ; because tlie latter adhere firmly to the straw, and consequently do not drop 

 so easily as the former. {Brown.) In harvesting oats in wet seasons, the practice of 

 gaiting the sheaves (3176.) is generally adopted. In Sweden, in most seasons, the oat 

 crop is dried on frames or poles (704.) ; and in Russia, not only oats, but barley and rye, 

 are kiln-dried in the straw. 



5142. Kiln-drying oats and other corns in the straw has been found necessary, and is very generally 

 practised through the north of Russia, Livonia, Courland, and Lithuania, being the last operation of 

 harvest for preserving all kinds of corns, peas, beans, and buck-wheat. They are dried in the fields as 

 much as can be ; but, when brought home, they are kiln-dried, and are then ready to be either threshed 

 out immediately, or put up in barns, without any danger of either corn or straw becoming musty or 

 rotting. The common practice of the boors is, during winter, to thresh out by degrees, as in this country, 

 iheir oats and barley, in order to have straw fresh for their cattle, such straw being their only provender. 

 The process of kiln-drying by no means prevents the germination of the grain when used for seed, while 

 it not only preserves the grain and straw but improves their taste and salubrity. It enables Russia to 

 export large quantities of rye and wheat, with less risk of damage to the grain than is incurred by other 

 nations of the north of Europe. 



5143. The kiln [fig. 728.) in general 

 and established use throughout Rus- 

 sia, for the purpose of drying corn 

 in the straw, is heated commonly by 

 fires of wood. It is a simple and 

 cheaply erected structure, the walls 

 eight feet high, and fifteen feet square 

 within. At this height there are 

 two strong cross-beams (), to support 

 the small timbers, laid over them as 

 ribs. The corn stands in sheaves 

 above these ribs [b], closely set up, 

 the band ends of the sheaves down, 

 and the corn or grain ends up : the walls then rise above the ribs about five or six feet more, the kiln being 

 closed by a simple ceiling of cross joists at this height, covered with thin turf Any cheap and ordinary 

 roof answers to cover the whole. The fire-place is constructed so as to throw back the ascending spark ; 

 a small porch (c), directly opposite to the fire-place, prevents violent blasts of wind, and covers from rain 

 the fuel and the attendant. About 300 sheaves (twenty-five stooks) of corn are dried at one time. It is 

 put on in the evening, and left on the kiln through the night, after the wood has been burned into char- 

 coal, and the door above the fire-place closed. At one end of the kiln there is frequently an open shed or 

 barn (d), for convenience in bringing corn to, or taking it from, the kiln. 



5144. The produce of oats is generally considered greater and of better quality in the 

 northern than in the southern counties ; and the reasons are obviously that, in the former, 

 more attention is paid to their culture, and the climate is more favourable for the matur- 

 ation of the grain. Ten quarters an acre is reckoned a good crop in the north, but the 

 produce is often twelve and thirteen quarters, and the straw from two to three and a half 

 loads per acre. 



5145. The prodvce of oats in meed amounts to 8 lbs. for 14 lbs. of corn. Sir H. Davy 

 found 100 parts of oats afford 59 parts of starch, six of gluten, and two of saccharine 

 matter. 



^146. The tLse of oats in the north, in Ireland, and in some parts of Yorkshire and 

 Derbyshire, is partly for meal and partly for horse-food. In the south it is almost en- 

 tirely for horse-food, poultry, and groats for gruel. It is occasionally malted and used 

 in distillation. The fine powder which is produced by husking the corn, or making grist, 

 forms the sowens of the Scotch (the flummery of tlie Irish), an agreeable light and whole- 

 some supper dish. 



5147. The diseases of the oat are few. Sometimes it is found attacked by the smut; 

 but the more common injury sustained by oats is from wire-worais, or larvae of insects 

 which generally abound in lands newly broken-up from turf. One of the most certain 

 modes of avoiding these is, by not ploughing the ground, especially if old turf, till 

 immediately before sowing. By this means the insect is turned down, and before it can 

 work its way to the surface (if ever it does) the corn is beyond its reach. In this way 

 gardeners destroy and retard the progress of the gooseberry caterpillar by digging under 

 the bushes ; for it is found that the eggs and larvae of insects, like seeds and bulbs, when 

 buried too deep in the ground, have their progress retarded, or their vital principle 

 destroyed. In late harvests, more especially in the northern parts of the island, the oat 

 is liable to be frosted and rendered unfit for seed before being harvested. There is no 

 remedy for such an accident; but we have shown (4997.) how it may be detected, so as 

 not to disappoint the sower of such grain. (Ena/c of Gard. 466.3.) 



Sect. V. Cereal Grasses cidtivaled in Europe, some of which might be tried in 



Uritain. 



5148. The cereal grasses which the climate of Britain does not readily admit of cultioat- 

 ing, are the maize, Canary corn, millet, and rice. 



