Farming of Oxfordshire. 
215 
average yield of the county may be taken at 36 bushels. On 
the adhesive soils that are unkind for barley, and when land is 
in a high state of cultivation, oats are taken instead of barley. 
The oats stand up better, and if they do lodge are not so much 
damaged. Oats are also planted after beans and wheat, and on 
a clover ley on poor soils. There are two classes of this grain ; 
the potato oats, which are called Dutch ; and the Tartarian oats, 
kno\vn as black and white Tartars. The Tartars are sown on 
the hills and on the strong lands, the Dutch on the lighter 
loams. Not many oats are sown on the stonebrash, and still 
fewer about Banbury. The yield of the short oats may average 
56 bushels ; Tartars one-fourth more. Indeed, some wonde-rful 
crops of Tartars are grown: 12 to 15 quarters are occasionally 
heard of, while in one instance a yield of 17 quarters per acre 
was produced. It is common to sow a sack of oats, but on the 
stonebrash thicker seeding is general. The season for planting 
white Tartars is from February to April, and the Dutch and 
black Tartars from March to the middle of May. 
One-eighth of the land is sown with broad or red clover. Its 
return only once in eight years does not on light soils guarantee 
a crop ; and to ensure a plant, some excellent farmers drill the 
seed instead of sowing it. The clover is deposited with a Suffolk 
drill, having the turnip-seed barrel, the coulters being 6 inches 
apart. It is best done across the barley when it is up, and is 
afterwards rolled in. On most soils the clover is sown alone, 
without any mixture of rye-grass, and from 12 to 20 lbs. of seed 
are used. The clover is most commonly mown the first time, 
and afterwards penned off. Better crops of wheat are frequently 
grown after the clover has been twice mown. The clover roots 
increase in size much more than when fed, and so afford greater 
nourishment for the wheat. Sometimes the second crop is seeded; 
but if seed is grown, the clover should be fed first, or cut very 
early, and then shut up for seeding. The second crop is apt to 
blight, and comes too late to be saved with any certainty. A 
good crop of clover-hay may average 30 cwt., and the second 
crop seldom amounts to a ton per acre. Trefoil and Dutch 
clover are grown principally for sheep feed, and are mixed with 
rye-grass to form the hay seeds on the stonebrash. Italian rye- 
grass is extensively planted for feeding on black and heathy 
land. The quantity of seed sown is about 2 bushels. On one 
or two farms a very large amount of Italian rye-grass has been 
grown for seed ; the yield is from 3 to 5 quarters. Rye-grass 
being a cereal is but a poor preparation for wheat. 
Since the last Report, a most important improvement has been 
introduced in the cultivation of leguminous crops by the adoption 
of the winter bean. It was first grown about 15 years ago in 
