THE OAT CROP. 



THOUGH we thus assign to OATS the third place in our 

 consideration of the "Farm Crops" of the country, still 

 in many districts in the north it takes precedence of 

 barley in the farmer's estimation; and if we cross the 

 border line, and refer to the valuable statistics of Scotland, 

 now unfortunately given up, we at once see the value of 

 the oat crop, by the relative acreage occupied by it and 

 by the other cereals. The last returns (for 1857) show us, 

 that while the three other grain crops wheat, barley, 

 and rye were cultivated to the extent of 449,1.35 acres, 

 the area occupied by oats alone amounted to no less than 

 938,613 acres. 



Like the other cereals, the early history of the oat is 

 enveloped in mystery. It has been so long in cultivation, 

 without any distinct records to guide us to its original 

 country, that it still remains unknown. It has been sug- 

 gested that the cultivated oat originally came from Persia 

 or Mesopotamia, countries to which we are indebted for 

 so many of our cultivated productions. Indeed, Colonel 

 Chesney, in one of his explorations, met with a variety of 

 oat growing wild on the banks of the Euphrates, which 

 would go far to strengthen this belief. Dr. Lindley tells 

 us that although this plant (which he describes 1 ) differs 

 materially from our common oat, still it is not inconceiv- 

 able that it may be either the original state of this kind 

 of corn, or that it may be it in a state of degeneracy, 

 arising from many centuries of neglect. No mention, 

 however, is made of it in the Bible, where we find the 

 other cereals spoken of. It would, therefore, appear 

 doubtful whether it was known to the natives of the East 



1 See Cyclopedia of Agriculture, article " Avena," in which a full description 

 and a drawing of the wild plant is given. 



