946 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK x. 



any crop, and many growers wisely prefer to take a crop of wheat 

 previously to the barley on land which has carried a root crop fed off 

 by sheep, and is, therefore, in a very rich condition ; by such means 

 unevenly fed patches are corrected, and too rank growth of barley is 

 prevented. Unfortunatety, only a limited portion of the crop can be 

 grown in this order, owing to the fact that the roots cannot be fed off 

 in time for the wheat to be sown at the proper season. The points 

 to keep in mind are that the land should be broken up as early as 

 possible, and that it should be perfectly drained ; that the manuring 

 should be uniform throughout the field ; that the seeding should be 

 commenced early, but that it is better to wait a short time rather than 

 to sow when the land is not in good condition, for a perfectly mellow 

 tilth is required ; that it should be harvested with special care, and 

 stacked so that stained portions of the crop are not put into the rick 

 with barley of good quality ; and that the making up of the sample 

 should be done with the greatest care. 



Barley requires thicker seeding than wheat, and from ten to fourteen 

 pecks are generall}" used, although advocates for thinner seeding may 

 occasionally be met with. When the crop is not grown for malting 

 purposes less care is required, but as it is possible that every field may 

 grow a sample fit for malting, it seems unwise to withhold skill and 

 attention when it is remembered that a malting sample may be worth 

 twice as much as a feeding sample. 



Comparing barley with wheat, it has been experimentally proved at 

 Rothamsted that the requirements of barley within the soil, and the sus- 

 ceptibility of this cereal to the external influences of season, are very 

 similar to those of its near ally, wheat ; but there are nevertheless dis- 

 tinctions of result, dependent on differences in the habits of the plants, 

 and accordingly in the conditions of their cultivation. Wheat is, as a rule, 

 sown in the autumn, in a heavier and closer soil, and has four or five 

 months in which to distribute its roots arid get possession of a wide 

 range of soil and subsoil, before barley is sown. Barley is, sown in a 

 lighter surface soil, and, with its shorter period for root development, 

 relies in a much greater degree on the stores within the surface soil. 

 Hence it is more susceptible to exhaustion of surface soil as to its 

 nitrogenous, and especially as to its mineral supplies ; and in the 

 common practice of agriculture it is found to be more benefited by 

 direct mineral manures, especially phosphatic manures, than is wheat 

 when sown under equivalent soil conditions. The exhaustion induced 

 by both crops is, however, characteristically that of available nitrogen ; 

 and when, under the ordinary conditions of manuring and cropping, 

 artificial manuring is still required, nitrogenous manures are, as a rule, 

 requisite for both crops, and for the spring-sown one, barley, super- 

 phosphate also. 



OATS (Avena sativa), of which there are many varieties, thrive best, 

 as all crops do, on good soils, but are not unproductive on those of 

 inferior quality. The proper season for sowing them is from the 

 beginning of March to the commencement of May, but the earlier the 



