124 



On the Cultivation of Oats. 



ing vegetable matter to feed upon. When land has lain more 

 than four years in grass it is found necessary, when it is broken 

 up, to take two crops of oats in succession in order that the sods 

 may be properly decomposed before sowing a green crop. This 

 does very well on good land^ and the second crop of oats is 

 generally the best of the two, but on inferior soils it should be 

 avoided if possible, as it is a quick method of carrying off all the 

 ready, soluble matter. The sods, or undecomposed turf, can 

 easily be got rid of by putting them into the bottom of the drills 

 when preparing the ground for sowing turnips or planting 

 potatoes, and then covering them up along with the manure. No 

 better crops of turnips or potatoes can be grown on such land by 

 any other mode than is obtained by this simple one of disposing 

 of the undecomposed sods, and thus converting them into manure 

 under the plants they are intended to nourish. 



The ploughing of lea ground intended to be sown to oats is 

 seldom commenced in Scotland before New Year, and generally 

 very little is done until February owing to the prevalence of frost 

 and snow in January. The usual and proper plan is to com- 

 mence ploughing the older leas first in order to give time for the 

 tough sod to decompose before seed-time. The clover-stubbles 

 are left last, as they are always freer^ and require less time to 

 become mellow. In South England where there is little frost, 

 comparatively speaking, to disintegrate and mellow the soil, the 

 ploughing of lea ground should be commenced and finished much 

 earlier than in Scotland ; and probably it would be found advan- 

 tageous to rib or half-plough the land across in autumn, harrow it 

 down in January, and clean-plough and sow immediately after- 

 wards. By this method the active soil would be dry all winter, 

 the vegetable matter well decomposed before seed-time, and the 

 ground easily reduced to a proper state either for the seed being 

 drilled or sown broadcast. 



In ploughing lea-ground for oats it is a good plan to use the 

 press or drill roller in addition^ especially on light or soft soils. 

 The sod or grassy part of the furrow-slice is pressed down and 

 completely buried by this machine, while the tapered periphery 

 of its wheels forms a solid and regular bed for the seed, less of 

 which is required owing to the complete manner in which it falls 

 into the hollow parts — even when sov/n broadcast. It is also 

 generally thought that neither the slug nor wireworm is so destruc- 

 tive to the young plants on press-rolled land as where it has been 

 ploughed in the ordinary way. The writer uses a press-roller for 

 pressing land for wheat, which has a sowing apparatus attached. 

 The pj^esser, drawn by two horses, goes behind two, three, or 

 more ploughs as may be required, the wheels form the seed-bed, 

 and the sowing apparatus driven from the same axle, deposits the 



