1877 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
135 
Talks on Farm Crops.—No. 2. 
By the Author of “ Walks and Talks on the Farm," 
“ Harris on the Pig," etc. 
“ Shall we sow barley or oats, ’ ’ asked the Deacon, 
“ or shall we give np both and plant corn ? ” 
“ One would suppose,” said the Doctor, “ that an 
intelligent farmer would have all his plans formed 
beforehand, and would know what crops he was go¬ 
ing to put in, and where.” 
“ True,” said I, “but of all men, a farmer must 
stand ready to change his plans. He will not do it 
capriciously, or without looking carefully into all 
the details. But if, after thinking over the matter, 
he is convinced that it will be better to sow oats 
instead of barley, or corn rather than either, or 
beans instead of corn, and if he knows where it is 
going to land him, let him not hesitate, but make 
the change promptly and boldly. I presume every 
farmer, in looking back, can see where it would 
have been far better to have given up sowing oats 
or barley, and to have planted corn instead. Such, 
at least, is my own case. And still further, I am 
6ure that many times it would have been better if J 
had given up all idea of putting in any crop on cer¬ 
tain fields, and simply summer-fallowed them.” 
“ This was before you had drained your land,” 
6aid the Doctor, “ and when a day’s rain would set 
back your field work for a week.” 
“ We have not time to discuss this matter now,” 
said I, “ all I can say is, that if I had a piece of land 
in prime condition, I should rather sow barley than 
oats. But if the land was cold, cloddy, poor, and 
weedy, 1 would rather run my chances with oats 
than with barley ; and if the season was wet, and I 
was backward with my work, I should be strongly 
inclined to give up sowing either oats or barley, and 
put the land into corn. If we did not get much 
corn, we should be able, by the free use of the cul¬ 
tivator, to clean and mellow the soil, and make it 
in better condition for barley or oats next spring.” 
Of all the ordinary grain crops, barley requires 
the richest and best land. A poor crop is a nui¬ 
sance. It is difficult to harvest, and worth little 
when harvested. Good six-rowed barley, last fall, 
weighing 48 lbs to the bushel, would have sold for 
$1 per bushel much more readily than poor barley, 
weighing 44 lbs. to the bushel, would have sold for 
70 cents per bushel. I have had a crop of barley 
of 12 bushels per acre, and I have had a crop aver¬ 
aging over 50 bushels per acre. Of course, in the 
former case, I was inclined to throw the blame on 
the “ season,” and in the latter to take the credit 
to myself. But, in fact, the difference in the two 
crops was largely due to the condition of the land, 
the preparation of the soil, and the time of sowing. 
Last year my whole crop of barley averaged 39 
bushels and 10 lbs. to the acre. I do not think the 
whole crop of the neighborhood averaged 15 bush¬ 
els per acre. 
The Deacon looked as though he thought I was 
in a boastful mood. But in truth 1 am far from 
entertaining any such feeling. These are not times 
calculated to foster a self-satisfied spirit. But it is 
very evident to my mind, that the only way to make 
money by farming is, to adopt a better system of 
agriculture. We must make our land cleaner, and 
we must keep better stock, feed higher, and make 
richer manure. We shall then grow better barley, 
and, taking one year with another, find the crop a 
decidedly profitable one. 
In regard to whether it is better to sow oats or 
barley, much depends on climate and soil. In sec¬ 
tions where oats do well, and barley usually fails, 
it would be unwise to sow barley. But in those 
sections where the climate is alike favorable for 
barley or oats, and where it is a question of soil 
and preparation, it may be observed : 
1st. That oats sometimes do well on an old sod, 
but barley rarely, if ever, does so.—2nd. Oats 
ripen later than barley, and while it is very desirable 
to sow oats as early as the land can be got into 
good condition, still you stand a better chance of a 
crop from late sown oats, than from late sown bar¬ 
ley.—3d. Oats will do far better on low, mucky 
land, than barley. If such land is well drained and 
is in good heart, and in.a fine mellow condition—as 
after a well cultivated corn, potato, or root crop—a 
great crop of barley may sometimes be grown, es¬ 
pecially if the land has been limed, but the chances 
are altogether more favorable for a great crop of 
oats.—4th. On low, mucky land, that is only par¬ 
tially drained, and which cannot be worked early 
in the season, it would be folly to sow barley. If 
sown at all, I would drill in oats, if the land was 
dry enough to admit the use of the drill; or if not, 
sow the oats broadcast, and if they could not be 
harrowed in, let them sprout on the surface, and 
roll the land when it is firm enough to hold up the 
horses. It would be better, however, to summer- 
fallow such land, working it thoroughly, and make 
it clean and mellow, and then seed it down heavily 
with timothy, (and perhaps red-top), next August. 
At any rate, do not sow barley.—5th. Oats will do 
better on heavy clay land, than barley. This is the 
rule. The exceptions are rare. The heaviest crop 
of barley I ever saw, was on a field of heavy clay 
land that was summer-fallowed the year previous 
for wheat, by three plo wings, and then not sown to 
wheat in the fall, but plowed again in the spring, 
early, and sown to barley. Everything was favor¬ 
able, and the crop was immense.—6th. On weedy 
land it is better to sow oats than barley. Drill in 
the oats deep, and use a plenty of seed. Roll the 
land either at the time of sowing, or after the oats 
are up. Then, when the weeds are sprouted, and 
are in the seed-leaf, go over the field once or twice, 
or three times, if necessary, with a light, fine-toothed 
harrow, such as the Thomas smoothing harrow, for 
the purpose of killing the young weed-plants. 
Oats can be harrowed with less injury to the plants 
than barley. And if the soil and weather are favor¬ 
able, and the operation is performed at the right 
moment, thousands of weeds will be destroyed, and 
the stirring of the ground will be favorable to the 
growth of the oats. 
“Would you sow two-rowed barley or six- 
rowed ? ” asked the Doctor. 
If for my own use I would sow the two-rowed ; if 
for sale, the six-rowed, for the reason that the latter 
is in greatest demand, and brings 10 cents a bushel 
more than the two-rowed. 
The two-rowed is later than the six-rowed; it 
does not germinate so quickly as that, and should 
be sown earlier. The straw is longer and stronger, 
and the grain considerably heavier than the six- 
rowed, and it is more nutritious. 
But so long as the six-rowed commands the most 
money, it is the most profitable kind to grow. 
“ It is strange,” said the Doctor, “ that the poor¬ 
est barley should bring the best price. Usually 
poor things are easier produced than good ones.” 
“True,” said I, “and this barley case is only an 
apparent and not a real exception. Six-rowed bar¬ 
ley is preferred because it malts quicker; but the 
brewers are very anxious to get the very best six- 
rowed barley they can find. And it is not difficult 
to understand why it is easier to raise an average 
sample of the better (two-rowed) variety, than to 
produce an extra sample of the inferior (six-rowed) 
variety. But we have not time to dwell on this 
point. On good soils, and in a favorable climate, at 
present relative prices, it is more profitable to raise 
six-rowed than two-rowed barley, provided we suc¬ 
ceed in raising and harvesting a superior sample. 
I have said six-rowed barley can be sown later 
than two-rowed ; but it is nevertheless important 
to get in the seed as early as the soil can be proper¬ 
ly prepared. Some good farmers plow their corn- 
stubble in the fall, and drill in the barley in spring* 
without plowing. The English farmers prefer to 
sow on a “ stale furrow; ” but this does not mean 
fall-plowed land. They plow the land early in 
spring, and let it lie a few weeks before sowing. 
Sometimes we can do the same thing here. We can 
plow as soon as five or six inches of the surface 
soil is thawed out, but while the soil underneath is 
frozen. Let this lie exposed for a week or two, 
until the surface soil is dry and warm, and then 
harrow thoroughly and drill in the seed. 
I usually sow 21 bushels of seed per acre If the 
land is in good condition, 2 bushels is a plenty. 
I once accidently sowed barley with a drill set for 
sowing wheat, and used the wheel for sowing 24 
bushels of barley, and of course only put on 14 
bushels. I did not discover the mistake until after 
the barley came up, when it was too late to put on 
more seed. The land was in prime condition, and 
the crop averaged, if my memory serves me, 515- 
bushels per acre. At any rate it was a noble crop. 
A bushel or two of gypsum, per acre, is some¬ 
times sown on the barley with decided advantage. 
Last spring I sowed a field with barley, in which 
were some poor sandy knolls. On these we put on 
a light dressing of barnyard manure—and there we 
had decidedly the best barley in the field. 
“ Yes,” said the Deacon, “ I think, where you ma¬ 
nured, you had 50 bushels to the acre.” 
It is usually thought that barley, in this country, 
does far better on rather heavy loam than on a san¬ 
dy loam, and this is usually the case—simply, as I 
think, because the heavier soil, when well worked, 
is richer than the sandy soil. But make the sandy 
soil rich enough, and I am inclined to think you 
will get a, good crop. And on such a soil you can 
get it in earlier than on the heavier land. 
Farmers who sow barley on light dry land, would 
probably find it to their advantage to sow 150 lbs. 
of nitrate of soda and 150 lbs. of superphosphate 
to the acre, or 250 lbs. of prepared Peruvian guano 
guaranteed to contain ten per cent of ammonia. r 
“Are these manures equally good for oats?” 
asked the Doctor.—Yes, and will pay just as well, 
and possibly a little better, provided the oats and 
oat-straw are worth as much per 100 lbs. as barley 
and barley-straw. When you can get from 11 to 2 
cents per lb. for oats, and when the straw is want¬ 
ed, these manures can be used on oats to decided 
advantage. 
I want to make one remark about using artificial 
manures. You will waste your money if you sow 
them on land not in good mechanical condition. If 
your land is wet and cold, or cloddy, or weedy, you 
need not go the chemist. You had better go to 
work. Put your land in good condition for the 
seed, and manures will help you, but not until then. 
Of late years, I seldom sow oats alone. I think 
oats and peas sown together pay better. I have 
had some grand crops. If cut before the peas are 
dead ripe, and the crop is got in without exposure 
to rain, the straw is nearly as valuable as clover 
hay—especially if you do not thrash very clean 1 
“I do not see what there is to be gained,” said 
the Doctor, “by sowing two crops on the same 
land. Last year you-sowed wheat and rye together. 
You had a good crop of rye, but the wheat was no¬ 
where. Farmers tell me that by sowing oats and 
barley together, they get a larger yield per acre 
than from either alone. But I do not see why.” 
“ I believe it, nevertheless,” said the Deacon. 
“In the case of oats and peas,” said I, “you 
must recollect that they have very different habits 
of growth. It seems to be proved that oats, barley, 
and wheat require a liberal supply of nitrogen in 
the surface soil, while clover, peas, and beans, take 
their nitrogen from a lower layer of soil. And if 
this is the case, there may be good reason to expect 
a larger crop of oats and peas sown together, than 
for either sown alone. They have two fields to feed 
on instead of one.” 
The main point is, to be sure that the soil is in 
good condition. It is very desirable to get the crop 
in early. I have had the best success on stubble 
land; say after com, well manured and plowed in 
the fall; or after wheat, where the clover sown 
with the wheat failed. In the latter easel manured 
the land for the oats and peas, and had an enormous 
growth. The peas, I suppose, got the plant-food 
from the lower layer of soil, which the clover would 
have had if it had not been killed by the drouth. 
I may menti@n that I have had very “ bad luck ” 
with clover for several years. I have this year a 
very promising catch on rye stubble. But the field 
has not been sown to oats and peas. And it has 
occurred to me that oats and peas are not as good a 
crop to precede wheat, seeded with clover, as oats 
and barley alone would be. The peas may remove 
