224 CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



of the Carses of Gowrie and Stirling above described, are 

 those met with in the Wealds of Kent, Surrey, and of 

 Sussex, the Gault of Cambridge and Huntingdon, and all 

 the varieties of clay the dread of many a farmer known 

 as the London or Plastic clays, unfitted for the production 

 of barley, it is very desirable to have oats grown upon them ; 

 but this is difficult to be done in some of them; if at- 

 tempted, it is at the best a precarious and uncertain crop, 

 although, in some of the better class, oats could be grown 

 if properly drained. Even the most tenacious of these 

 bricky clays could be rendered more fitted for the oat crop 

 by properly draining, liming, and carefully working them. 

 As already stated, red clover should precede the crop, the 

 land being ploughed early in winter or late in autumn, so 

 that the atmospheric influences may be allowed to operate 

 as long as possible in order to mellow and pulverize the 

 soil. 



24. What are sometimes called '''vegetable manure soils," 

 that is, deep alluvial soils rich in vegetable matter, are 

 " peculiarly adapted to the production of oats," that is, of 

 course, when passed under a proper regime of culture. 

 Indeed, where the climate is peculiarly cold or wet, oats 

 is the only cereal crop that can be successfully cultivated 

 on such soils. Soils of this character possess the property 

 of capillary attraction in a high degree, so that when tho- 

 roughly drained, or when the season is warm, the moisture 

 they retain is quite sufficient to supply the crop during the 

 period of dry weather; on the other hand, they can stand 

 long-continued rains better than clay soils, which get under 

 such circumstances what is called " soured," and if dry 

 weather succeeds, cracked and baked. The Fens of Eng- 

 land have long been famous for the productive crops of 

 oats, and are cited by Mr. Haxton as an evidence that a 

 " certain degree of depth and dampness in the soil," even 

 in districts not climatically suited to the crop, compensates 

 for their higher temperature and for the lack of atmospheric 

 moisture. There can be no doubt that this point of cli- 

 matic influence upon the productiveness of the oat crop is 



