iii  its  Effect  on  Cultivation. 
G53 
same  country.  It  is  retarded  by  elevation  in  coming  to  maturity 
in  the  same  proportion  as  wheat,  and  could  not  be  cultivated  at 
a higher  level  than  wheat  but  for  the  short  period  of  its  growth. 
Oats  are  quite  opposed,  as  to  the  effect  of  climate,  to  the  two 
preceding  kinds  of  grain.  Oats  are  native  to  our  climate  ; hence 
they  grow  wild,  and  are  frequently  difficult  to  eradicate.  Now, 
any  plant  growing  wild  must,  from  the  very  nature  of  things, 
always  be  easier  to  cultivate  than  an  exotic.  They  differ,  too, 
from  barley  and  wheat,  in  requiring  a humid  climate.  Thus 
whilst  barley  is  cultivated  extensively  in  Asia  and  the  eastern 
parts  of  Europe,  oats  are  unknown  there.  The  Mongol  feeds 
his  horses  and  himself  often  on  barley,  but  is  unacquainted  with 
the  cultivation  of  oats ; and  we  have  thus  on  a grand  scale  the 
development  of  what  is  witnessed  in  our  islands.  Barley,  as  if 
seeking  a more  genial  climate,  succeeds  best  in  the  eastern  parts 
of  our  islands,  and  requires  much  care  even  there.  Oats  having 
on  account  of  the  general  humidity  of  our  climate  a favourable 
situation  throughout  its  whole  extent,  yet  prefer  the  western  and 
most  humid  parts  thereof.  As  illustrative  of  the  above,  it  was 
found  by  Lord  Clarendon  in  1847  that  out  of  3,313,579  acres  in 
Ireland  under  corn  culture,  2,200,870  acres  were  oats  ; twice  as 
many  acres  as  of  all  the  other  kinds  of  grain  together.  * 
Oats  will  succeed  at  a much  greater  elevation  above  the  sea  in 
our  climate  than  barley,  and  therefore  in  reckoning  on  elevations 
suitable  the  line  may  be  made  to  extend  from  200  feet  to 
250  feet  higher  than  the  preceding  which  I have  given  for 
barley.  Hence  in  the  hills  of  Yorkshire  and  Lancashire  I have 
frequently  seen  oats  at  the  height  of  1150  feet,  and  in  Scotland  oats 
are  cultivated  at  the  height  of  900  feet  to  1000  feet  in  the  lead- 
hills  of  Lanarkshire,  and  in  the  slope  of  the  Pentland  Hills  in 
Mid-Lothian.  Oats,  on  account  of  the  comparative  small  quan- 
tity of  inorganic  matter  they  contain  (only  about  one-third  of 
that  of  wheat)  .t  are  particularly  suited  for  peaty  and  other  soils 
* Notwithstanding  the  deficient  agriculture  generally  in  Ireland,  Mr.  M‘Culloch  gives 
the  average  of  oats  at  5 quarters  per  acre  in  Ireland,  the  same  as  in  England  and 
Scotland;  whilst,  he  gives  the  average  of  wheat  in  England  4 quarters,  in  Scotland 
3j  quarters,  and  in  Ireland  at  3 quarters.  Of  Barley  Mr.  M‘Culloch  gives  the  average 
produce  in  England  4 quarters  2 bushels,  in  Scotland  4 quarters,  and  in  Ireland  only 
3j  quarters.  And  whilst  there  are  in  England  3,800,000  acres  of  wheat  and  1,500,000 
of  barley,  in  Scotland  there  are  of  wheat  350,000  acres  and  of  barley  430,000.  In 
Ireland,  of  wheat  450,000  acres  and  barley  400,000.  From  the  preceding,  it  appears 
that  in  Ireland  oats  afford  an  equal  crop  to  what  they  do  in  England;  whilst  wheat, 
and  barley  are  estimated  to  yield  nearly  one-third  more  in  England  than  in  Ireland, 
showing  that,  as  to  oats,  the  favourable  climate  in  Ireland  makes  up  for  deficient  culti- 
vation. It  appears  also  from  the  Parliamentary  Papers  for  1849,  that  during  the  dry 
years  of  1S26  and  1827  there  were  twice  as  many  oats  imported  into  England  as 
wheat  in  1820,  and  five  times  as  many  in  1827  ; whilst  in  the  wet  years  of  1828  and 
1829  there  was  imported  into  the  United  Kingdom  nearly  four  times  as  many  quarters 
of  wheat  as  oats,  thus  showing  in  a striking  manner  the  favourable  effect  of  moisture 
upon  oats,  and  of  dryness  upon  wheat. 
'■  Liebig  on  Agricultural  Chemistry,  p.  143. 
VOL.  XI.  2 U 
