ON THE CULTIVATION OF OATS.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 2, Issue 30, 14 February 1850, Page 2

ON THE CULTIVATION OF OATS.

[Continued from our last.] Like barley, the oat, in some countries, continues to form a part of the sustenance of man; its principal use, however, is as food for horses, for which it is generally accounted better adopted than any other description of grain. The Oat is the easiest of culture of all corns. It grows in the stiflest clays, in moss, or in bog, provided the ground be laid sufficiently dry. The native country of the Oat is unknown. lis varieties are many ; but that which is most generally and successfully cultitated is the plant called thepo- ' lato oar, from the circumstance of its hating

been propagated, from a single stalk, taken from a otato field in Cumberland, in the year 1788 "The great use of Oats, (says the Penny CylopMdia) and the case \vit'< which they ate raised on almost every kind of soil, from the heaviest loom to the lightest sand, have made them occupy a place in almost every rotation of crops. ISotore agriculture had been subject to regular rules, the result of long experience. the land was often sown as long as any return could be obtained, beforo any means of recruiting it with manure were thought of; and the last crop which would icturn any increase of seed was generally oats. After this the land, no longer repaying the labour of ploughing and sowing, was abandoned, till, by length of time and the decomposition of roots and weeds, some renewed ferproduced." Our native readers are, we believe, from their own practice, familiar with this foolish manner of exhausting the fertility of their finest soils. If we are correctly informed, tliey have been in the liabit of taking crop after crop until the land will yield no more; and they are then compelled to cultivate, and to proceed to ruin, another fertile field, This is sad work ! It would be sad were it unavoidable, but it is still more sad when the evil can be so easily remedied by care and reflection. None of you like to part with your money, and yet by not studying how best to cultivate your land you throw away a great deal of gold and silver. You must pay attention to the change of crops—such as, after potatoes, wheat,; barley to succeed wheat; —after barley to lay the pround in grasses—grasses to be followed by Oats; and, the land, having been well manured, to be then planted with turnips, which, if fed ofl'with sheep, will then be in the finest condition to yield another crop of barley. This system, instead of destroying, will enrich your land exceedingly, and wo need scarce, wo imagine, 101 l you that by enriching your land you must inevitably enrich yourselves. "The beßt oats (continues the Cyclopaedia) are raised in Scotland and in Fricsland, and in both countries the land is carefully cnltivated. In Scotland, oats are generally sown on n grass layer which has been in that state for some years, and sometimes on old pastures which are broken up lor that purpose. The crops exceed in bulk and weight of grain all that the most sanguine person, unacquainted with tho system, would expect, and in many sea ions not favourable for the wheat crop, oats

ore much more profitable." Tho tiuih of these observations may bo easily tested. Loudon gives the average wheat produce of England at 24 bushels nn acre. Of oati, lie says, 80 bushels an acre are reckoned a good crop in the North, but the produce is often 96 and 100 bushels.— The average wheat crops of Van Diemen's I,and may be taken at 2-t bushels ail acre. 50 or 60 bushels are considered a fair return of oats although in fine belts, upon the banks of the river Ouse, we have soen upwards of 100 bushels an ncre reuped, with ft raw nearly six feet high. We now come to consider which will put the most money in the pocket of the grower—namely, 24 bushels of wheat or 60 bushels of oats. Turning to a late number of a Launceston paper, we find the price of wheat to be staled at 3s. ; that of oafs at Is. (Jd. per bushel: therefore, the produce of the wheat acre amounts to £3 12s. —that of the oats to J,'t 10s. : so that llicre is a superiority jn favour of oats, to the amount of eighteen shillings an acre. In looking at these calculntions, it will ha well for our native friends to be premonished, that in countries of a climate in some degree similar to that of the Northern portion of New Zealand, such as the South of France. Spain, or Italy, oats are almost unknown ; and, as they flourish best in a cold country, the chances ,tre that their culture would be more profitable in tlie middle island than in tho warmer latitudes around Auckland. " Wherever (lie land is not of a good quality, and wheat is apt to fail, oats are a much eater crop. A heavy loam is best suited for oats —they require a certain degree of mois-< ture, and a deep soil is very favourable to their growth. On land which has been trenched, alter careful draining, if required, oats will thrive wonderfully without requiring so rich a si as barley or wheat." Tli<i .'and to lie sown should be as free as possible from weeds, mid the seed should be got in early. In Van Diemen's Land oats are v»ry generally sown in the months of April and May, experience having shown that Autumnal cropping in that country is invariably the surest. " Clover and grass seeds may be sown among oats with equal advantage, as they will seldom grow so high as to be laid, and ymotlier the young clover. Oats are most Vequently sown broadcast, but if the soil has leen previously loosened, it is a much bettei lan to plough the seed in—from five to six usliels an acre being the usual quantity of ;ed. Tho best oats, both in quantity and lality, are those which are sown upon lan A

previously in grass: liarly oats should be cut before they are (lead ripe." " In somo countries the oats are g?ven to horses in the straw, without thrashing thein; and where the quantity can bo regulated [as it may easily bo done by using a chaff-cutter], the practice is good. The horses masticato the corn better in the chair, and the Btraw is wholesome. In France and Germany the practice of baking oats, as well as rye [of which grain we shall speak hereafter], into loaves for horse-food, is gaining ground, and is said to be attended by an evident saving of food."