146 OUR FARM CROPS. 



Good evidence of the importance of these provisions may 

 be seen in the effects following the cultivation of oats 

 on what is termed the " moor-band" soils of peaty and 

 moor districts, for which oats are otherwise generally well 

 adapted. Here the soil is thin, and rests on an indurated, 

 impervious stratum, which in dry weather cuts off the 

 capillary action of moisture from below, and in wet weather 

 acts as a pan for the retention of the rain that falls from 

 above, all of which has to pass off again from the surface. 

 The young oat generally starts away very satisfactorily, 

 and has the appearance of vigorous growth up to about 

 the period when the " shot blade" is formed ; it then begins 

 to droop, assumes a yellow colour, instead of the dark 

 green of health, and all hopes of a crop gradually vanish. 1 

 At this period of growth the plant requires large supplies 

 of food and moisture, and would, if able, send down its 

 roots deep into the soil in search of them. These, however, 

 are obstructed by the "pan" or "band," and are restricted 

 in their range to the thin stratum of soil lying above, 

 which is soon exhausted of its available contents, and its 

 occupants, the oats, suffer accordingly. 



The place oats should occupy in the rotation is neces- 

 sarily determined by the character of the district, as to 

 soil, climate, and cropping, in which they are grown. In 

 the light barley soils (four-course) of the south, they should 

 very rarely appear at all ; where, however, the conditions 

 are at all suitable, they may replace either the barley or 

 the wheat in the rotation, according as circumstances (in- 

 cluding, of course, the markets) may dictate. Mr. Caird, 

 in his English Agriculture, tells us, that on the Sussex 

 Downs oats are grown extensively, the soil being found 

 better suited for them than for barley. He mentions, also, 



1 In Fife, on the south coast, near Auchtermuchty, there is a well-known 

 stiip of land of this character; and it is not an uncommon expression in Scot- 

 lard, where oats are seen suffering in a similar manner, to say "They are 

 gone to Auchtermuchty." 



