154 OUR FARM CROPS. 



Thus we see a difference in yield between Nos. 1 and 4 of 

 12 cwts. of straw, and 13 bushels of grain, which, added 

 to the 3 bushels of seed saved, makes together 16 J bushels 

 per acre in favour of thin sowing. Still, there are many 

 advocates of thick seeding to be met with both in the north 

 and in the south. In the West of England large quantities 

 of seed are still used in some places, though not now perhaps 

 to the extent mentioned in one of the reports to the Board 

 of Agriculture (Survey of Cornwall), when an old farmer, 

 on being asked how much he would recommend for seed, 

 advised " that oats should be always sown out of a cart 

 with a shovel/' 



The methods of sowing are the same as has already 

 been described in speaking of wheat by hand broadcast, 

 and by the drill ; and the relative advantages and disad- 

 vantages of the two methods have also been discussed. 

 The third method, that by the dibble, is never applied 

 to oats, and therefore need not enter into the calcu- 

 lations of relative cost. The general character of oat soils, 

 moist in themselves, and in a moist climate, is very con- 

 ducive to the growth of weeds, and therefore would claim 

 even greater consideration for a mode of sowing which 

 enables the grower to get rid of these, by hoeing at any 

 time he may think necessary, than when the soil, such as 

 that for barley, is of a different character. Old seeds, that 

 have been down for three years, frequently offer some 

 obstruction to the coulters of the drill, unless they have 

 been early and carefully ploughed up, and have become well 

 disintegrated. Beyond the chance of this there is nothing 

 to be said against the practice of drilling, which in all cases 

 should keep the rows at good distances say 9 inches apart. 

 The plants grow all the more strongly, and give a better re- 

 turn both in quality and quantity; and at the same time, the 

 horse hoe may be sent in after the oats are well started, 

 and thus keep them clear of their ever -vigorous com- 



