140 OUR FARM CROPS. 



Berlie. There are two varieties of this oat the English 

 and the Scotch differing in their appearance and in the 

 quality. The English delights in good rich soils. The 

 Scotch is better adapted for light than for heavy soils. It 

 is very prolific, and rarely sheds its seed. The grain is of 

 excellent quality and meals well. The straw is long and 

 very tender, and is probably preferred to all the other 

 varieties for fodder. This oat is largely cultivated in the 

 districts north of the Tay. 



Dun (Common). Grain long and well filled ; skin thin 

 and dark-coloured; panicles large and spreading; straw 

 very long and not apt to lodge. It is somewhat late at 

 harvest, but is well adapted for light elevated soils ; and 

 is largely grown in the high districts of the Lothians on 

 the Lammermuirs and Pentlands. 



Dun (Winter). This variety is better known in the 

 south than in the north, as this is the " Winter Oat" now 

 so commonly cultivated in the southern and midland 

 counties of England, where it is frequently fed down by 

 sheep in the early spring, and then allowed to stand for 

 seed. It is sufficiently hardy to pass our winters without 

 injury, and then produces a finer sample and a larger 

 return than when sown as a spring crop. The straw is 

 shorter and stouter than the common Dun Oat ; the grain 

 is also shorter and of the same darkish hue. Where it has 

 been tried in Scotland the reports are equally favourable. 



Friesland, or Dutch Was formerly largely cultivated 

 in Perthshire and the neighbouring counties. It, however, 

 has gradually been replaced by superior varieties. It had 

 the reputation of being early, hardy, and a good cropper, 

 but unequal and uncertain at harvest, with straw parti- 

 cularly tough and pliable, well suited for making ropes 

 for stacking. 



Barbachlaw is a variety in general estimation in the 

 higher districts of the Lothians and the south for its 



