February  2?,  1808. 
JOURNAL  OR  HORTICULTURE!  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
197 
day  behind  the  fair,  and  to  pay  landlord,  labourer,  and  the  rate 
collector,  to  say  nothing  of  the  provision  for  one’s  own  house¬ 
hold,  taxes  our  utmost  energies  and  causes  us  to  strain  every 
nerve  Twenty  years  ago  Oats  instead  of  Wheat!  why,  what  a 
heresy  to  breathe  such  a  thing,  much  less  to  carry  it  out !  The 
farmer,  guilty  of  such  a  misdemeanour  would  run  the  gauntlet 
of  adverse  criticism  at  every  market  ordinary  for  miles  round, 
and  might  see,  if  he  chose,  the  covert  sneer  of  his  workmen. 
Grow  food  for  horses  instead  of  men  !  what  folly  !  It  has  taken 
us  long  to  realise  that  we  ourselves  cannot  possibly  provide 
bread  stuff  for  our  ever-increasing  population,  that  from  far 
distant  lands  rich  argosies  must  pour  into  our  markets  endless 
quarters  of  golden  grain,  grain  which  in  dryness  and  colour  far 
surpasses  aught  that  we  could  produce  in  this  our  colder  and 
less  sunny  clime.  To  be  dependent  on  the  foreigner  for  the  very 
bread  we  eat!  What  a  state  of  things  !  All  our  rich  Wheat 
lands  that  we  looked  on  as  the  backbone  of  our  prosperity 
practically  given  up  because  by  no  mode  of  culture  known  to  us 
can  they  possibly  make  adequate  returns  in  face  of  bad  prices 
and  severe  competition.  Even  if  it  paid  to  grow  Wheat,  we  are 
now  far  too  luxurious  in  our  tastes  to  go  back  to  the  dark 
coloured,  heavy,  indigestible  bread  of  our  childhood  bread  that 
after  a  wet  harvest  was  almost  uneatable.  Granted  that  after  a 
fine  harvest  our  own  flour  is  much  the  “  tastier  ”  of  the  two,  yet  it 
is  not  so  well  (even  at  its  best)  adapted  to  culinary  purposes  as 
the  dry  flour  from  “  furrm  ”  parts. 
The  land  has  to  be  cultivated  somehow,  profitably  if  possible 
and  what  is  there  that  can  in  a  measure  take  the  place  of  the 
Wheat  crop  ?  We  must  bring  practical  good  sense  to  bear  on 
the  question,  and,  meeting  the  fore  gner  on  his  own  ground 
produce  something  that  is  beyond  his  power  of  cultivation,  or 
something  that  is  far  superior  in  quality ;  and  if  we  get  smaller 
profits  than  of  yore,  hope  for  quicker  returns.  We  may,  too,  be 
less  out  of  pocket  by  growing  what  requires  less  labour  in  pro¬ 
duction  ;  though  not  for  one  moment  do  we  advocate  starving 
the  land  of  good  tilling.  “  In  the  sweat  of  thy  brow  shalt  thou 
eat  bread,’’  holds  good  yet,  and  it  is  only  by  constant  care  and 
attention  that  the  thistle  and  other  noxious  growths  are  kept  at 
all  under. 
Oa*s,  at  one  time  confined  to  the  cold,  wet  districts  of  Scot¬ 
land  and  Ireland,  and  to  the  high  wold  situations  where  Wheat 
would  not  grow,  are  now  coming  fast  to  the  front  as  a  more 
generally  cultivated  crop.  So  far  we  have  not  yet  horseless 
carriages,  and  as  no  form  of  machinery,  however  complex  and 
ingeni'  us,  can  take  the  place  of  the  weight  carrying  hunter, 
there  is  still  a  market  for  well  grown  nutritious  Oats.  Indeed, 
only  the  narrow-minded  would  confine  the  use  of  Oats  to 
horses. 
Has  the  animal  yet  been  discovered  to  which  Oats  are 
injurious  ?  We  think  not  ;  the  straw,  too,  is  much  more  valu¬ 
able  as  a  food  than  either  that  of  Wheat  or  Barley,  especially  in 
the  case  of  cows,  as  it  materially  aids  in  the  production  of  milk. 
Barley  straw,  on  the  contrary,  would  soon  dry  the  be-t  cow  ever 
calved  Horses,  too,  work  well  on  Oat  straw,  as  it  forms  a  good 
basis  for  the  production  of  muscle.  Indeed,  for  all  young 
growing  stock  this  straw  stands  next  to  hay  as  a  staple  article 
of  food. 
Oats,  nutritious  in  the  highest  degree,  are  one  of  the  most 
valuable  of  our  cereals,  and  one  capable  of  much  improvement 
Far  seeing  men  know  this,  and  prove  it  by  introducing  and 
growing  new  varieties  by  better  culture,  and  by  placing  them 
higher  on  the  dietary  table.  With  our  earlier,  and  generally 
drier  harvests,  the  English  Oat  crop  stands  a  much  better 
chance  of  being  garnered  without  waste,  and  under  proper 
management,  must  and  does  prove  a  most  productive  crop.  In 
this  early  season  it  would  be  advisable  to  get  the  seed  in  at 
once,  that  is,  on  medium  soils.  On  light,  poor,  or  weak  soils 
the  sowing  may  be  left  at  least  a  month  later,  so  as  to  prevent 
the  young  plant  suffering  from  late  frosts — frosts  that  no  skill 
can  guard  against,  or  no  power  foresee — and  hardy  as  the  Oat  is, 
it  may  still  suffer  considerably  from  frost.  A  well  worked  seed 
bed  is  desirable,  but  Oats  will  grow  and  do  well  without  that 
extremely  fine  mould  necessary  to  the  Barley  plant  Of  course, 
if  time  and  opportunity  allow,  make  your  mould  as  good  as 
possible,  but  you  may  be  sure  of  an  Oat  crop  where  one  of  Barley 
might  be  extremely  doubtful.  For  instance,  in  a  wet  seed  time, 
when  the  season  is  fast  advancing,  an  Oat  crop  will  grow  where 
Barley  would  only  be  a  failure. 
Now-a-days  a  crop  of  Oats  is  often  sown  instead  of  Wheat 
on  old  seeds  or  ley;  and  here  a  great  benefit  is  reaped  by  the 
farmer  from  his  being  able  to  guage  the  seeds  up  to  the  end  of 
J anuary.  All  farms  have  not  an  adequate  acreage  of  grass ;  and, 
indeed,  on  any  farm  where  a  great  head  of  stock  is  kept  old 
seeds  are  extremely  valuable,  and  make  capital  feed  for  in  lamb 
ewes.  On  high  wold  and  purely  arable  farms,  this  is  an  immense 
advantage.  In  preparing  the  land  for  Oats  it  should  be 
ploughed  at  least  six  or  eight  weeks  before  drilling  time,  and 
when  it  is  at  all  possible,  the  roller  should  be  set  at  work  to 
solidify  the  land  as  much  as  possible. 
After  “  seeds,”  Wheat  is  very  liable  to  grub,  and  so  also 
will  Oa’s  if  not  sown  on  a  solid  subsoil;  and  nothing  is  more 
disappointing  than  the  loss  of  a  crop  from  this  (prevenfible) 
cause  After  the  corn  is  sown,  out  with  the  roller  again  to 
“  sadden  ”  the  ground  that  has  been  loosened  by  the  necessary 
working.  To  get  a  h  althy  well-rooted  plant,  this  is  an  opera¬ 
tion  that  must  by  no  means  be  neglected.  A  leading  authority 
of  the  day,  in  a  well-known  agricultural  paper,  speaks  strongly 
in  favour  of  ‘‘drilling”  as  against  “broadcast”  sowing,  and 
gives  4  bushels  per  acre  as  the  proper  quantity  of  seed  ;  he,  too, 
suggests  the  desirability  of  drilling  2  bushels  lengthways  and 
2  bushels  across  the  field,  and  his  reason  for  so  doing  is  that 
the  plant  has  a  greater  breathing  space  and  more  room  to 
develop  and  expand.  As  Oat  straw  is  such  a  valuable  corn- 
modi  y  increase  its  growth  and  stability  as  much  as  possib^. 
Sulphate  of  ammonia,  1  cwt.  per  acre,  and  3  cwts.  of  phosphatic 
manure  will  lengthen  straw  and  strengthen  grain. 
Farmers  are  becoming  more  alive  to  the  fact  o?  the  desira¬ 
bility  for  constant  change  of  seed.  It  is  not  obligatory  to 
always  go  to  the  expensive  seed  raiser,  and  to  give  fancy  prices 
for  an  article  that  may  or  may  not  suit  your  land,  but  by  a 
little  judicious  inquiry  farmers  may  and  do  make  “  even  swops  ” 
among  themselves  During  the  last  few  years  Oats  have,  by 
careful  culture,  improved  greatly  in  quality,  and  we  append  the 
names  of  a  few  (very  few)  of  the  leading  varieties  ;  many  more, 
and  perhaps  better  ones  will  suggest  themselves  to  the  reader. 
All  we  want  to  impress  is  the  fact  that  to  make  the  most 
out  of  his  land  he  must  give  it  every  advantage.  It  is  the  worst 
economy  to  say,  “  Oh !  anything  will  do  for  seed  ”  There 
will  be  a  difference  of  some  quarters  per  acre  between  good 
and  bad,  and  these  are  not  the  times  to  throw  away  the  slightest 
chance. 
The  great  objection  to  Oat  crops  is  their  exhaustive  effect 
on  the  soil — in  fact,  on  light  sand  with  gravel  subsoil  Oats 
should  never  be  grown  at  all,  except  for  some  very  urgent  reason. 
On  good  land,  a  nice  but  no:  heavy  crop  of  Barley  may  be 
grown  after  Oats-a  “pretty”  sample,  but,  of  course,  a  good 
dressing  of  chemical  manure  will  be  necessary.  Here  are  our 
selections  of  Oats  : — 
Garton's  Abundance. — Yellow  in  colour,  very  heavy,  and  a 
good  cropper. 
French  Black  Cluster — Yery  black  in  colour,  of  be  t  quality 
among  black  Oats,  early,  and  heavy  croppers 
Black  Tartarian.  —  The  most  popular  and  reliable  ;  very 
productive,  but  varies  much  in  quality,  and  is  not  in  great 
demand  for  hunters. 
