PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 231 



barley, resembling, indeed, in this respect, the wheat plants. 

 This influences the preparation which it , is desirable to 

 give to the soil upon which the crop is to be grown. Oats 

 are usually taken either after roots, or upon a fresh broken 

 clover lea or turf. When taken after roots, the land is 

 usually ploughed once, and allowed to remain sufficiently 

 long exposed to the atmospheric influences to be mellowed, 

 before the seed is sown. When the crop is taken after 

 clover lea or fresh broken-up turf, the ploughing should 

 be so much the earlier performed, as the turf is hard and 

 tough, so that as long time as possible will be given to 

 the atmospheric influences to mellow and reduce the clods. 

 If the turf is old, the ploughing should, therefore, be done 

 before December at the latest ; a two or three year old 

 clover lea may be left unploughed till a later date than 

 this. It is admitted, however, that whether in the case of 

 old turf, or two or three year old clover lea, an early 

 ploughing is better than a late, for the longer the period 

 under which the clods are exposed to the atmosphere, the 

 more mellow, and therefore the better fitted for the crop 

 the soil is. 



31. In order to get the grass of turf land well turned in, it 

 is advisable to use the skin coulter ; and in addition to 

 the use of this appliance to the plough, the land press 

 roller or wheel maybe used with advantage; the object 

 being not only to bury the grass completely, but to give 

 a solid furrow. Left thus in autumn, the land exposed to 

 the atmosphere and frosts in the winter, gets into the 

 mellow friable condition best suited to the crop ; a seed- 

 bed, in fact, possessing all the necessary characteristics 

 " well charged with vegetable matter, firm beneath, yet 

 easy of penetration for the rooting of the plant, with a 

 surface light and free in its character for the germination 

 of the seed. This firmness of land upon the root must be 

 distinguished from the hardness with which wheat will 

 contend after it has once made a fair growth." Professor 

 Tanner makes pointed reference to the difference between 

 the liking so to speak of wheat and the oat plants for 



