On the Cultivation of Oats. 



119 



ing horses with, and has been long cultivated in England for that 

 purpose. In Scotland it is often made into meal, the quality of 

 which is very superior, but millers dislike it on account of the 

 husks which, being black, discolour the meal when not com- 

 pletely separated from it. The weight of the grain per bushel 

 ranges from 35 to 40 lb., but the latter weight is not often attained 

 unless on fine, firm, clay loams, situated in a good climate. 



Dun Oat. — This sort, as its name imports, is of a dun or dark- 

 grey colour, and appears like a hybrid of the old black variety 

 (not the Tartarian) and some of the v\?hite sorts. Cultivation on 

 different soils greatly alters its characteristic colour. On clay, 

 or cold-bottomed soils, it retains its natural colour, but when grown 

 for several years on light dry land, it rapidly becomes white, and 

 greatly deteriorated both in quality and quantity. A clayey or 

 cold soil, therefore, appears to be its proper habitat, and there its 

 cultivation is more successfully pursued than that of the white 

 varieties. A kindred variety known as the winter dun oat is so 

 extremely hardy as to be sown extensively in the west and north- 

 west of France as a winter crop (Lawson), and is found to stand 

 the severest frosts remarkably well. It is also cultivated in some 

 parts of Ireland as a winter crop, and as it ripens early and is 

 ready for being cut before any other kind of grain, it is found ex- 

 tremely valuable on account of the scarcity of oatmeal, too fre- 

 quently experienced in that country towards the end of summer. 

 The common Dun oat is grown extensively in several parts of 

 Scotland, but always as a spring crop ; but in the south of Eng- 

 land it might succeed as a winter-sown crop. It is very prolific, 

 although it usually stands thin on the ground. The grain is of 

 excellent quality, and yields remarkably well in meal, which is 

 of very superior quality, possessing the same flint?/ texture as that 

 of the common and Tartarian varieties. This oat is highly de- 

 serving of the attention of farmers who cultivate cold -bottomed 

 soils. 



Of the 54 varieties of oats described in ' Lawson's Agricul- 

 turist's Manual ' and * Supplements,' those mentioned in this 

 article are by far the most valuable to the farmer. The writer 

 of these remarks dibbled 23 varieties of oats in small lots after 

 lea in the spring of 1848, on a piece of good black land, and the 

 results were very decidedly in favour of those already described. 

 The best crops were obtained from the Sandy Potato and Hope- 

 toun among the earlier varieties, and from the " Late Angus" 

 among the common oats. The Sandy and late Angus gave the 

 greatest bulk, and the straw of both stood remarkably well, 

 although nearly 6 feet long. The latter was 10 days later of 

 being reaped than the former, and even then it was scarcely ripe. 

 Had it been allowed to ripen fully the difference would have been 



