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AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF M-liV.-WA3HiKGT0.N-. 
CONDUCTING EDITOR, PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 
ORANGE JUDD, A. M. ALLEN & CO.,189 Water-st., New-York 
VOL. XIV.—NO. 4.] NEW-YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 1855. [NEW SERIES.—NO. 82. 
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E3TSEE LAST PAGE.^gJ 
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ters should be addressed to Mr. Orange 
.Tudd, (the Conducting Editor). 
Letters inclosing subscriptions and on oth¬ 
er business should be directed to Allen & 
Co., Publishers, and also those referring to 
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J®“ Every one writing to the Editor or 
Publishers of this journal will please read 
“ Special Notices ,” on last page. 
CULTIVATION OF OATS. 
Their Use and Importance in the United 
States. —Oats have been an object of culti¬ 
vation from the earliest period of the settle¬ 
ment of this country. They have never con¬ 
stituted an article of human food here, ex¬ 
cept with a very few immigrants who had 
been accustomed to them in their native 
land. It has been questioned whether the 
heavier kinds, as the Imperial, the Potato, 
and the Poland oats, might not, with skillful 
preparation, be introduced into our hospitals 
and among the laboring poor, with manifest 
advantage. They are a light yet nutritive 
diet, and in all cases, we believe, wholesome; 
as is shown by the stalwart forms and brawny 
limbs of such of the better class of Scotch 
and Irish peasantry.as are accustomed to 
eating oar meal. But our summers are too 
warm and dry to produce the heavier kinds 
in.the perfection they are grown abroad, in 
the cooler and moister climate of Great Brit¬ 
ain ; and the more suitable adaptation of our 
soil and climate to the growth of Indian corn, 
which, though less nutritive, is equally 
wholesome and palatable, will probably for¬ 
ever preclude the introduction of oats to any 
extent among us, as human food. 
Their true value is as food for working 
animals. No other grain will secure , (with 
the exception probably of wheat and barley.) 
pound for pound, more working capacity in an¬ 
imals, than sound, heavy oats; and it is as a 
food for horses, mules, and working oxen 
that they are generally used. Like beans, 
they constitute an excellent food for sheep, 
the large proportion of nitrogen in both con¬ 
stituting an important element of wool. 
They are sometimes fed to poultry, pigs, 
and fattening cattle, which is very well as 
affording a change of diet; but they should 
not be l-elied on for the rapid production of 
fat, as they are deficient in the elements 
necessary for the speedy, yet economical 
ripening of animals for the shambles. 
Limit of their Growth voithin the United 
States. —Oats are essentially a north-loving 
grain. They are nowhere raised in greater 
perfection than in Scotland, latitude about 
56°. They mature finely to the extreme 
northern borders of the Union, but they at¬ 
tain their perfection within our limits, prob¬ 
ably between 43° .and 45°. South of 36° 
they seldom yield a full, heavy berry ; and 
perhaps they are not a profitable crop south 
of 38°. The Egyptian oat has, however, 
been found to yield well, in certain seasons, 
as low down as southern Mississippi and 
Georgia, or below 30° North latitude. 
Quantity Produced in the United Stales .— 
The aggregate of the oat crop was returned 
in the Census Report for 1840, as over 123,- 
000,000 bushels ; and for 1850, as more than 
145,000,000. 
Soil and Situation. —Any soil and situation 
—if not too far south—that will give a good 
yield of wheat, will produce a fine crop of 
oats ; and much that is too wet or cold for 
the former, will afford a satisfactory return 
of the latter. No soil is better suited to the 
oat than what is termed a loam ; and if this 
approximates to a stiff clay, it does not im¬ 
pair its adaptedness for oats, provided it be 
well drained, and properly broken up. Sandy 
or light land is not adapted to them. Oats 
are a heavy drain upon a soil, and no large 
crop can be relied upon except on a strong 
soil. 
Manures from the barn-yard ought not to 
be applied directly to this crop, unless pre¬ 
viously thoroughly rotted, nor then in over¬ 
doses. The mineral manures, such as lime, 
plaster, salt, ashes, and also bone-dust, gua¬ 
no, or superphosphate, may be applied, in 
moderate quantities, with benefit. If there 
be too much stimulus to the growth of oats, 
they will not take up a sufficient proportion 
of silex to give a proper support to the stalks, 
as the silicate of potash mainly constitutes 
the skeleton of the plant; and without a 
full equivalent of this, the plant crinkles or 
lodges long before it matures. A friend, who 
employed an excellent Scotch farmer, soon 
after the Peruvian guano was introduced into 
this country, sent him a few bags, with in¬ 
structions to sow 300 pounds per acre, on the 
field allotted for oats, which was previously 
in good condition. Thinking his employer 
somewhat demented in limiting the quantity 
to such a trifle, as he deemed it, he applied 
about 700 pounds per acre, and the result 
was, as might have been foreseen, the early 
lodging of the stalks, and the total loss of 
the crop. 
Preparation of the Ground. —The field for 
oats should be early prepared for the recep¬ 
tion of the seed. If stiff land, it is better to 
plow near the close of the preceding autumn, 
then sow early in the spring without addi¬ 
tional plowing. Of course, deep and thor¬ 
ough pulverization is essential to this crop, 
equally with almost any other. The use of 
the heavy harrow and field-roller in prepar¬ 
ing the soil, is essential in those instances 
specified for the wheat crop. (See page 385 
of the last volume of our paper.) 
Varieties of Seed Oats. —Forty or more 
varieties of oats are reckoned in Europe, 
most of which have originated from acci¬ 
dental specimens found in the oat fields. 
We say accidental, according to the current 
phraseology; but nothing is accidental in 
Nature, or produced without sufficient cause, 
and strictly in accordance with the inevita¬ 
ble laws impressed upon the plant or animal. 
These laws are simply hidden, and it is only 
because unknown to us, we call them acci¬ 
dents. These varieties are all unquestion¬ 
ably the effects of self-hybridization, or of 
long-continued cultivation in particular soils 
and climate, which gradually impart a fixed 
character to the plant. We have tried many 
of the best European kinds, which have 
proved decidedly superior on their first in¬ 
troduction here ; but owing to our dry and 
hot summer climate, the seed is liable to de¬ 
generate. We, howevei - , know a gentleman 
towards the east end of Long Island, who 
has cultivated a heavy variety he received 
from Washington ten or twelve years ago, 
and has maintained their distinctive charac¬ 
ter of plumpness and weight till last year, 
when the excessive drouth lessened the 
weight, though it did not in any respect, di¬ 
minish the exterior plumpness of the grain 
This experiment confirms our belief, that 
some of the heavy varieties may be main¬ 
tained in nearly their original excellence 
even in this country, with careful culture. 
The kind usually cultivated here is the 
White common oat. The Black is often 
raised in western New-York and Pennsylva¬ 
nia. Both varieties are elongated with a 
tendency to awns, but are hardy and pro¬ 
ductive. With a kindly soil and under prop¬ 
er management, the heavier, round, plump, 
awnless kinds are the largest yielders. Such 
are the White Poland, the Imperial, the Po¬ 
tato, and the Dyock or Egyptian oats. 
Quantity of Seed per Acre. —Too thin 
seeding is the practice in this country. 
