OATS (Arena eativa) is a well-known species of the genus Arena, a plant of the family of the Grantinece. [AvEN a, in NAT. HIST. Div.) We shall here only consider those varieties which are cultivated for their grain, principally as food for horses, and in some cases for men also, when ground into oatmeal or grits.
The great use of oats, and the ease with which they are raised on almost every kind of soil, from the heaviest loam to the lightest sand, have made them occupy a place in almost every rotation of crops. Before agriculture bad been subjected to regular rules, the result of long experience, the land was often sown as long as any return could be obtained, before any means of recruiting it with manure were thought of ; and the last crop which would return any increase of the seed was generally oats. After this, the land, no longer repaying the labour of ploughing and sowing, was abandoned, till, by length of time, by the decomposition of roots and weeds, and the replenishment by the action of atmospheric solvents of the store of inorganic matter in a soluble condition, some renewed fertility was produced. The exhaust ing character of the plant is to some extent explained by the quantity of mineral matter removed from one acre by an ordinary crop of, say 48 bushels : 96 lbs. of soluble silica, 23 lbs. of phosphoric acid, and 36 lb., of potash are thus taken from the land. Some farmers, on account of the exhausting character of the crop, prefer buying all their oats in the market to raising them on their own land. Where the soil is well adapted to the growth of wheat and barley, which bear a better price, this may be a judicious plan ; but as a general rule, it is always more profitable to raise pats for home consumption than to trust to a fluctuating market. With proper management, a crop of oats may give as great a profit on the beet land as any other crop, when it is considered that it requires less manureeand produces an abundance of straw, which is very fit for the winter food of horses and cattle, especially when aided by roots or other succulent food. There are nearly 2,000,000 acres of oats grown annually in Ireland, nearly 1,000,000 acres in Scotland, and probably 1,250,000 acres in England. This is four times as much as of wheat in Ireland, four times as much as of wheat in Scotland, and one-third as much as of wheat in England.
The colder climate of the two former districts over the greater part of their surface is what makes the oat the more prevalent crop.
The best oats are raised in Scotland and in Friesland, and in both countries the land is carefully cultivated. In Scotland, oats are gene rally sown on a grass Layer which has been in that state for some years, and sometimes on old pastures which are broken up for the purpose. The crops exceed in bulk and weight of grain all that the most sanguine person, unacquainted with the system, would expect, and in many seasons, not favourable for the wheat crop, oats are much more profit able. Wherever the land is not of a good quality, and wheat is apt to fail, oats are a much safer crop, especially in retentive soils, as rye is on poor sands.
When oats are sown after turnips, cabbages, or any other green crop, the land should be well ploughed, if the green crop was not consumed on the spot, and a moderate supply of manure will be well repaid by the increased produce. A heavy loam is best suited for oats : they require a certain degree of moisture, and a deep soil is very favourable to their growth. On land which has been trenched, or where the sub soil plough has been used, after careful draining if required, oats will thrive wonderfully, without requiring so rielea soil as barley or wheat. The roots are hardier and have eatronger vegetative power. When once they have struck deep into the soil, a good crop, according to tho quality of the land, may be relied on.
When oats aro sown after artificial grasses, the laud Is seldom ploughed more than once, and the seed is sown on the fresh mould which has been turned up ; but unless the land be very free from weeds, it would be better to plough the sward with a shallow furrow early in autumn. Before winter the scarifier would break tho rotten sward, which might then be buried deep by another ploughing. The land would be ready for sowing early in spring, which is a great advantage, both as to the quality of tho oat crop and the earlier harvest, especially in those districts whore the latter part of the autumn is apt to be stormy and rainy. The land thus treated would be clean, and the fallow, which is often resorted to of necessity after a crop of oats, might be dispensed with, as the weeds have been destroyed and buried deep.