On the Cultivation of Oats, 



129 



Harvesting the Oat Crop. — All the earlier varieties of oats 

 should be cut raic, as they are apt to shed their seeds when 

 allowed to ripen completely. The sandy oat is, perhaps, the only 

 sort that may be allowed to stand until the straw is uniformly 

 yellow, without incurring loss from the grain shedding out, either 

 by a moderate breeze of wind or by the operation of reaping. 

 Late or common oats are less liable to shake when ripe ; and the 

 straw, even although entirely deprived of its green colour, still 

 retains a considerable amount of sap, a circumstance which may 

 account in some degree for its superior forage qualities. The straw 

 of early oats, on the contrary, when quite ripe, is sapless and 

 brittle, and, unless cut a little green, makes very indifferent 

 fodder. In neither case, however, is it advantageous to permit 

 any kind of oats to become dead ripe before commencing to reap ; 

 for although cut ten days before this, the ripening process will 

 proceed perfectly well in the sheaf, and certainly with much less 

 risk. The writer's experience has for many years been in favour 

 of cutting all the early sorts of oats when the green and yellov/ 

 colours were about equally mixed ; and in every instance where 

 this has been practised, the result as to quality and quantity, both 

 of the grain and straw, has been perfectly satisfactory.* 



When oats are cut with the scythe, the operation should be 

 performed by cutting up to the standing corn, as there is less risk 

 of rippling and shaking out the grain than when cutting aioay 

 from it. In Scotland the hook is generally preferred to the 

 scythe for reaping oats ; for the crop is generally so heavy and 

 laid, and otherwise twisted together, that the scythe at the best 

 would make but miserable work. Six reapers and one bandster 

 complete what is termed a hand-iohi; and they will cut down two 

 acres of good oats in a day. In some districts of Scotland the 

 reapers are paid 2)d. per threve, of 24 sheaves each, 12 inches in 

 diameter. The bandster receives from 10^. to 11^. a week, with 

 victuals ; and he is generally hired for a month. An acre of 

 good oats generally averages about 32 threves (768 sheaves), 

 which, at 'Sd. per threve, costs 8^. for reaping; and if we add 2s. 



* An amusing instance of the prejudice which some farmers have against cutting 

 grain before it is perfectly ripe occurred in reference to myself in the harvest of lc:48. 

 I had begun my harvest before any of my neighbours; and one of them, coming into a 

 field of rather unripe looking potato-cats in course of being cut down, sarcastically 

 remarked, " Well, after that we need not care when we begin our harvest." Another 



farmer, some time after, remarked to a miller, that " Mr. was cutting his oats 



quite green, and quite unfit for being reaped." The miller asked him to step into his 

 premises, and he would show him a parcel of new oats he had just received. After 

 examining them, the farmer admitted ihey were certainly as fine oats as he had ever 



seen. " Well," replied the miller, " these are Mr. *s oats that you and others l)ave 



been ridiculing him for cutting so soon." The oats were 43 lbs. per bushel; and 

 although threshed out of the field yielded 18 1 Scotch pecks of oatmeal to six bushels. 

 This is at the rate of 216 lbs. of oatmeal to the quarter of oats. 



VOL. XII. K 



