148 OUR FARM CROPS. 



them up, and obstruct the free access of air and light to 

 them, than even barley has. 



We have no very correct data to help us to decide upon 

 the best period for sowing oats. Of course, much must 

 always depend upon soil and climate, and, to a certain 

 extent, upon the arrangements of the farm. These latter, 

 however, are largely under our own control; and if we 

 could satisfy ourselves as to the principle of early or late 

 sowing, and get it accepted as a rule, there is no doubt 

 that the oat produce of the country generally would be 

 considerably increased, and our labour arrangements not 

 rendered more difficult. By common consent, however, 

 the oats are everywhere got in before the barley ; there- 

 fore, if Arthur Young's experiment is worth anything, we 

 may fairly assume that the earlier the oats are sown, the 

 better chance of a good crop. The month of March is 

 probably the best month for general sowing ; in warm, 

 early districts, if the land is ready, the latter part of the 

 previous month may be taken advantage of; but nowhere 

 ought the sowing to be delayed beyond the first week in 

 April. Mr. Shaw, of Bogfairn, Aberdeenshire, in his 

 Report of Experiments, 1 says, " In sowing the seed as early 

 in the spring as possible, I have found it, for nineteen 

 years past, profitable in eighteen, for one year of loss in 

 consequence, of a very hard frost injuring the seed." He 

 also speaks of the effects of changing seed, as producing 

 grain weighing 44 Ibs. per bushel, whereas the produce of 

 his own seed required much dressing to come up to 39 Ibs. 

 per bushel. 



The selection of the seed is as important for oats as for 

 wheat, and the same general rules should be observed, 

 viz., that the seed be fully matured that it be of the best 

 quality free from any injury and true to its variety. 

 It is less subject to disease than even barley, and conse- 



1 High. Soc. Trans., 1851, p. 530. 



