threshing machines are furnished with what is called a hummelling machine, already described (2649.); and where this is wanting, it is customary to put the grain, accompanied with a portion of threshed straw, a second time through the machine. Where barley has been mown, the whole of the straw requires to be twice threshed, independently of the necessity of getting rid of the ears.

4685. The produce of barley, taking the average of England and the south of Scotland, Donaldson considers, might be rated at thirty-two bushels; but when Wales and the north of Scotland are included, where, owing to the imperfect modes of culture still practised, the crops are very indifferent, the general average over the whole will not probably exceed twenty-eight bushels the acre. Middleton states it as varying in England from fifteen to seventy-five bushels per acre. The average produce of the county of Middlesex, he says, is about four quarters of corn and two loads of straw per acre.

4686. The uses of barley are various. In Wales, Westmorland, Cumberland, and in the north, as well as in several parts of the west of Scotland, the bread used by the great body of the inhabitants is made chiefly from barley. Large quantities of the barley cultivated in England are converted into beer, ale, porter, and what is called British spirits, as English gin, English brandy, &c. The remainder, beyond what is necessary for seed, is made into meal, and partly consumed in bread by the inhabitants of the above-mentioned districts, and partly employed for the purpose of fattening black-cattle, hogs, and poultry. There is a much greater share of the Scotch barley consumed in distillation, in proportion to the quantity cultivated, than there is in England. Exclusive of what is used for seed, the Scotch barley is either converted into beer or ale; or made into potbarley, or into meal, for the use of the inhabitants in the more remote and less cultivated parts of the kingdom; or, lastly, into whisky. In The Report of Middlesex it is stated, that much of the most ordinary barley is given to poultry: the rest is sold to the maltsters, except so much as is reserved for seed.

4687. But malt is the great purpose to which barley is applied in Britain. To understand the process of malting, it may be necessary to observe that the cotyledons of a seed, before a young plant is produced, are changed by the heat and moisture of the earth into sugar and mucilage. Malting grain is only an artificial mode of effecting this by steeping the grain in water and fermenting it in heaps, and the arresting its progress towards forming a plant by kiln drying, in order to take advantage of the sugar in distillation for spirit or fermentation for beer. The grain of barley contains starch and sugar; and the chemical constituents of both these ingredients are very nearly alike. In the process of malting, a portion of the starch is converted into sugar, so that the total quantity of sugar, and consequently the source of spirit, is increased by the transformation.

4688. To choose a proper sample of barley for malting, observe the directions given for choosing seed barley. (4670.)

4689. Of pot-barley there are two sorts, pearl and Scotch; both are produced by grinding off the husk, and the pearly barley is produced by carrying the operation so far as to produce roundness in the kernel. It is used in soups, gruels, and medicinal drinks. 4690. Barley meal is ground like oatmeal or flour; the coarser sort, with the bran, is used for fattening live stock, especially pigs and poultry, but fine bolted barley flour, made into a thin pottage or pudding, and spread out in thick cakes, and toasted on a hotplate of metal, forms a light breakfast bread, much esteemed in some parts of Scotland. It is served in a recent state, hot, and spread with butter and honey, and eaten in several folds. Two parts of barley flour, one of wheat flour, and one of rye, are said to make a light and very agreeable loaf bread.

4691. The produce of barley in flour is 12lbs. to 14lbs. of grain. Sir H. Davy found 1000 parts of barley meal to afford 920 parts of soluble or nutritious matter, viz. 790 of mucilage or starch, 70 of sugar, and 60 of gluten.

4692. Barley straw is chiefly used for litter and packing; it is unfit for thatch or rope making, and of little value as fodder.

4693. The diseases of barley are few, and chiefly smut, which it is found cannot be prevented by pickling and liming.

SECT. IV. The Oat.-Avena Sativa, L. Trian. Dig. L. and Gramineæ, J. L'Avoine, Fr.; Haber, Ger. ; and Vena, Ital.

4694. The oat is a very useful grain, and more peculiarly adapted for northern climates than either wheat, rye, or barley. Its native country is unknown, unless the wild oat be considered as the parent species, which is highly probable. The culture of the oat is chiefly confined to latitudes north of Paris. It is scarcely known in the south of France, Spain, or Italy; and in tropical countries, is culture is not attended to. In Britain it has long been very generally cultivated, formerly as a bread corn, but now chiefly as horse food. Of all the grain this is the easiest of culture, growing in any soil that admits of ploughing and harrowing.

4695. The varieties of oats are more numerous than of the other grains, and some of them very distinctly marked. The principal are as follow:

4696. The white oat or common oat (fig. 556 a) in most general cultivation both in England and Scotland, and known by its white husk and kernel.

4697. The black oat, known by its black husk ; cultivated on poor soils, in the north of England.

4698. The red oat, known by its brownish red husk, thinner and more flexible stem, and firmly attached grains. It is early, suffers little from winds, meals well, and suits windy situations and late climates. It is understood to have been originated in Peebleshire, on the estate of Magbie-hill, by which name it is sometimes known.

4699. The Poland oat, known by its thick white husk, awnless chaff, solitary grains, short white kernel, and short stiff straw. It requires a dry warm soil, but is very prolific.

4700. The Friesland or Dutch oat, has plump thin-skinned grains, mostly double, and the large one sometimes awned. It has longer straw than the Poland, but in other respects resembles it.

4701. The potatoe oat has large, plump, rather thick-skinned grains, double and treble, with longer straw than either of the two last sorts. It is almost the only oat now raised on land in a good state of cultivation in the north of England and south of Scotland, and usually brings a higher price in the London market than any other variety. It was discovered growing in a field of potatoes in Cumberland, in 1788, and from the pro. duce of the single stalk which there sprung up by accident,

probably from the manure, has been produced the stock now in general cultivation.

4702. The Siberian or Tatarian oat (b), is considered by some as a distinct species. The grains are thin and small, and turned mostly to one side of the panicle, and the straw is coarse and reedy. It is little cultivated.

4703. There are various other varieties, as Church's oat, the Angus oat, the dun oat, &c., but they are either too local or obsolete to require particular notice. In the oat, as in other plants extensively cultivated, new varieties will always be taking place of old ones.

4704. To procure new varieties adopt the mode by selection, by which, as appears above, the potatoe and red oat were brought forward; or proceed systematically by cross impregnation, as directed for raising new varieties of wheat. Degeneracy, Brown observes, has taken place to a certain extent in the potatoe oat; but it is presumed that the consequences might be removed with ease, were first principles returned to. To make a selection of the strongest ears, which carried the purest grain, is not a difficult business; and were this selection attended to by half a dozen farmers in a district, it is obvious, that the breed, or variety, might be preserved pure and uncontaminated. If slovenly farmers were not provided with good seed, it would be their own fault, since, if they would not take the trouble to select and breed for their own use, they might always be provided by those who were either better qualified for making the selection, or were more attentive to the interests of agriculture. (Brown.)

4705. In choosing a sort from among the varieties described, the potatoe and Poland, are the best for lowlands, and the red oat for uplands, and late climates in a state of good cultivation. For inferior soils the white or common oat, and for the poorest of all the black oat may be adopted.

4706. The soil for oats may be any kind whatever, from the stiffest clays to moss or bog, provided it be laid sufficiently dry. The most tenacious clays, and meagre gravels and sands, where scarcely any useful seed-bearing plant, excepting buck-wheat, could be grown, will produce a crop of oats if ploughed at a proper season, and the seed judiciously sown and covered.

4707. The preparation of the soil for oats is less than for any other grain. It is almost always the first crop on newly-broke up lands; and as it prospers best on a soil not too finely pulverised, it is commonly sown on one earth. In regular rotations, oats are chiefly sown after grass; sometimes upon land not rich enough for wheat, that had been previously summer-fallowed, or had carried turnips; often after barley, and rarely after wheat, unless cross-cropping, from particular circumstances, becomes a necessary evil. One ploughing is generally given to the grass-lands, usually in the month of January, so that the benefit of frost may be gained, and the land sufficiently mellowed for receiving the harrow. In some cases, a spring furrow is given when oats succeed wheat or barley, especially when grass-seeds are to accompany the crop. The best oats, both in quantity and quality, are always those which succeed grass; indeed, no kind of grain seems better qualified by nature for foraging upon grass-land than oats; as a full crop is usually obtained in the first instance, and the land left in good order for succeeding ones. (Tr. on Rural Affairs.)

4708. The climate for oats should be cool and moist; when dry and warm, the panicles are so dried and contracted, that they cease to convey sufficient nourishment to the ears, which thus never become plump, but thick husked, long awned, and unproductive in meal. This is very often the case with the oats in Scotland in a very dry year, and very common in the south of England most years.

4709. The season of sowing oats is from the last week in February to the end of April. About the middle of March is preferred by the best farmers. No preparation is ever given to the seed; but it should be plump, fresh, and free from the seeds of weeds. Oats sown in autumn are generally killed during winter, the plant being in this respect more tender than wheat, rye, or barley bigg.

4710. The quantity of seed, where oats are sown broad-cast, is usually from four to six bushels to the acre. Land sown with potatoe oats requires less seed, in point of measure, than when any of the other sorts are used; first, because this variety tillers better than any other, and next, because having no awn, a greater number of grains are contained in a bushel.

4711. The mode of sowing vats is almost universally broad-cast; but where they are sown after turnips, or on other well pulverised soils, some adopt the row culture.

4712. The after-culture depends on the mode of sowing, but seldom consists of more than weeding before the flower-stalks begin to shoot up.

4713. In harvesting oats in England, they are generally cut down with the scythe and carried loose to the barn or stack; but in the northern districts, and where threshing machines are used, they are tied into sheaves if mown, but, for the most part, reaped with the sickle, in order in both cases to facilitate the process of threshing. Oats are ready for the scythe or sickle when the grain becomes hard, and the straw yellowish. They should generally be cut before they are dead ripe, to prevent the shedding of the grain, and to increase the value of the straw as fodder. They rarely get much damage when under the harvest process, except from high winds, or from shedding, when opened out after being thoroughly wetted. The early varieties are much more liable to these losses than the late ones; because the grain parts more easily from the straw,, an evil to which the best of grain is at all times subject. Early oats, however, may be cut a little quick, which, to a certain extent, lessens the danger to which they are exposed from high winds; and if the sheaves be made small, the danger from shedding after rains is considerably lessened, because they are thus sooner ready for the stack. Under every management, however, a greater quantity of early oats will be lost during the harvest process than of the late ones, because the latter adhere firmly to the straw, and consequently do not drop so easily as the former. (Brown.) In harvesting oats in wet seasons, the practice of gaiting the sheaves (2940.) is generally adopted. In Sweden, in most seasons, the oat crop is dried on frames or poles (683.), and in Russia, not only oats, but barley and rye are kiln-dried in the straw.

4714. Kiln-drying oats and other corns in the straw has been found necessary, and is very generally practised through the north of Russia, Livonia, Courland, and Lithuania, being the last operation of harvest for preserving all kinds of corns, pease, beans, and buck-wheat. They are dried in the fields as much as can be; but, when brought home, they are kiln-dried, and are then ready to be either threshed out immediately, or put up in barns, without any danger of either corn or straw becoming musty or rotting. The common practice of the boors is, during winter, to thresh out by degrees, as in this country, their oats and barley, in order to have straw fresh for their cattle, such straw being their only provender. The process of kiln-drying by no means prevents the germination of the grain when used for seed, while it not only preserves the grain and straw, but improves their taste and salubrity. It enables Russia to export large quantities of rye and wheat with less risk of damage to the grain, than is incurred by other nations of the north of Europe. 4715. The kiln (fig. 557.) in general and established use throughout Russia, for the purpose of drying corn in the straw, is heated commonly by fires of wood. It is a simple and cheaply-erected structure, the walls eight feet high, and fifteen feet square within: At this height there are two strong cross beams (a), to support the small timbers, laid over them as ribs. The corn stands in sheaves above these ribs (b), closely set up, the band ends of the sheaves down, and

d

557

the corn or grain ends up: the walls then rise above the ribs about five or six feet more, the kiln being closed by a simple ceiling of cross joists at this height, covered with thin turf. Any cheap and ordinary roof answers to cover the whole. The fire-place is constructed so as to throw back the ascending spark; a small porch (c), directly opposite to the fire-place, prevents violent blasts of wind, and covers from rain the fuel and the attendant. About 500 sheaves (twenty-five stooks) of corn are dried at one time. It is put on in the evening, and left on the kiln through the night, after the wood has been burned into charcoal, and the door above the fire-place closed. At one end of the kiln there is frequently an open shed or barn (d), for convenience in bringing corn to, or taking it from the kiln.

4716. The produce of oats is generally considered greater and of better quality in the northern than in the southern counties; and the reasons are obviously that, in the latter, more attention is paid to their culture, and the climate is more favorable for the maturation of the grain. Ten quarters an acre is reckoned a good crop in the north, but the produce is often twelve and thirteen quarters, and the straw from two to three and a half loads per acre.

4717. The produce of oats in meal is 8lbs. for 14 lbs. of corn. Sir II. Davy found 100 parts of oats afford 59 parts of starch, six of gluten, and two of saccharine matter.

4718. The use of oats in the north, in Ireland, and in some parts of Yorkshire and Derbyshire, is partly for meal and partly for horse food. In the south it is almost entirely for horse-food, poultry, and groats for gruel. It is occasionally malted and used in distillation. The fine powder which is produced by husking the corn, or making grist, forms the sowens of the Scotch (the flumerty of the Irish) an agreeable light and wholesome supper dish.

4719. The diseases of the oat are few. Sometimes it is found attacked by the smut; but the more common injury sustained by oats is from wire-worm, or larva of insects which generally abound in lands newly broken up from turf. One of the most certain practices of avoiding these is, by not ploughing the ground, especially if old turf, till immediately before sowing. By this means the insect is turned down, and before it can work its way to the surface (if ever it does), the corn is beyond its reach. In this way gardeners destroy and retard the progress of the gooseberry caterpillar by digging under the bushes, for it is found that the eggs and larvæ of insects, like seeds and bulbs, when buried too deep in the ground, have their progress retarded, or their vital principle destroyed. (Encyc. of Gard. 4663.)

SECT. V. Cereal Grasses cultivated in Europe, some of which might be tried in Britain. 4720. The cereal grasses which the climate of Britain does not readily admit of cultivating, are the millet, maize, and rice.

4721. Of the millet there are three distinct genera, the Polish millet (Digitaria), cultivated in Poland; the common millet (Panicum), or panic grass, cultivated in Germany, and sometimes in this country; and the great or Indian millet (Holcus, cultivated in India, Italy, and America.

4722. Of the common millet there are three species, the Panicum Germanicum (fig. 558 a), a native of the south of Europe; the P. miliaceum (b), a native of the East Indies; and the P. Italicum (c), also of Indian origin.

4723. The common or German millet (Panicum Germanicum, a), rises with a jointed reed-like stalk, about three feet high, and about the size of the common reed, with a leaf at each joint a foot and a half long, and about an inch broad at the base where broadest, ending in an acute point, rough to the touch, embracing the stalk at the base, and turning downwards about half the length. The stalks are terminated by compact spikes, about the thickness of a man's finger at bottom, growing taper towards the top, eight or nine inches long, closely set with small roundish grain. It is annual, and perishes soon after the seeds are ripe. There are three varieties of it, with yellow, white, and purple grains. It has been formerly cultivated for bread in some of the northern countries.

4724. The cultivated millet (Panicum miliaceum, b), rises with a reed-like channelled stalk, from

three to four feet high; at every joint there is one reed-like leaf, joined on the top of the sheath, which embraces and covers that joint of the stalk below the leaf, and is clothed with soft hairs; the leaf has none, but has several small longitudinal furrows running parallel to the midrib. The stalk is terminated by a large loose panicle hanging on one side. Of this species there are two varieties, the brown and yellow! the latter of which was formerly in cultivation, and is now sometimes sown for feeding poultry, and as a substitute for rice.

559

4725. The Italian millet (Panicum Italicum, c), rises with a reed-like stalk, near four feet high, and much thicker than that of the preceding; the leaves are also broader. The spikes are a foot long, and twice the thickness of those of the common millet, but not so compact, being composed of several roundish clustered spikes; the grain is also larger. There are two or three varieties of this, differing only in the color of the grain. It is frequently cultivated in Italy (whence its trivial name), and other warm countries. It is a native of both Indies, and of Cochin China.

4726. The Polish millet, or manna grass of the Germans (Digitaria sanguinalis, formerly Panicum sanguinale, fig. 559.), is a low decumbent annual plant, seldom rising above nine inches or a foot high, with hairy leaves and slender panicles. It tillers much, and forms a close tuft, spreading and rooting at the joints. It is a native of England but not common, but grows in abundance in Poland, and is sometimes cultivated; the seeds being used like those of the other millets as a substitute for rice or sago.

4727. The great or Indian millet (Holcus

560

sorghum, L. Sorghum vulgare, W. en. fig. 560. Honque sorgo, Fr.; Sorgsamen, Ger.; Sagina, Ital. and Meloa, Span.), has a stem which rises five or six feet high, is strong, reedy, and like those of the maize, but smaller. The leaves are long and broad, having a deep furrow through the centres

i

where the mid rib is 'depressed in the upper surface, and is very prominent below. The leaves are two feet and a half long, and two inches broad in the middle, embracing the stalks with their base. The flowers come out in large panicles at the top of the stalks, resembling at first appearance the male spikes of the Turkey wheat; these are succeeded by large roundish seeds, which are wrapped round with the chaff. This grain is a native of India, where it is much used to feed poultry, and is frequently sent to Europe for the same purpose. It is much cultivated in Arabia, and most parts of Asia Minor; and has been introduced into Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and some parts of Germany, also into China, Cochin China, and the West Indies, where it grows commonly five or six feet high, or more, and being esteemed a hearty food for laborers, is called negro guinea corn. Its long awns or bristles defend it from the birds. In England, the autumns are seldom dry and warm enough to ripen the seed well in the field. In Arabia it is called dora or durra; the flour is very white, and they make good bread of it, or rather cakes, about two inches in thickness. The bread which they make of it in some parts of Italy is dark and coarse. In Tuscany it is used chiefly for feeding poultry and pigeons, sometimes for swine, kine, and horses. Cæsalpinus says, that cattle fed on the green herb are apt to swell and die, but thrive on it when dried. They make brushes and brooms of its stalks in Italy, which are sent to this country, which Ray observed in the shops at Venice. Of this species there are two distinct varieties, known by their black and red husked seeds, besides subvarieties.

4728. The only sorts of millet which can be cultivated with success in this country, are the German, cultivated, and the Polish sorts. According to Professor Thaer, the cul

tivated is to be preferred, as having the largest grain.

4729. The soil for the millet should be warm, sandy, rich, and well pulverised to a good depth. The seed is sown in May, very thin, and not deeply covered. In the course of its growth, no plant, Professor Thaer observes, is more improved by stirring the soil, after which it grows astonishingly fast, and smothers all weeds.

4730. In harvesting the millet, great care is requisite not to shed the seed; and as it ripens rather unequally it would be an advantage to cut off the spikes as they ripen, as is done in reaping maize. No grain is easier to thresh, or to free from its husk by the mill. It is used instead of rice, and in Germany bears about the same price. It produces a great bulk of straw, which is much esteemed as fodder.

4731. The great Indian millet will grow in this country to the height of five or six feet, but will not ripen its seeds or even flower if the season is not dry and warm. If its culture is attempted, it should be raised in a hot bed and transplanted.

4732. The Zizania aquatica (fig. 561.) might be cultivated on the margin of ponds for its seeds, which much resemble those of Polish millet. It is exceedingly prolific, grows in great luxuriance and produces abundance of bland farinaceous seeds, in all the shallow streams of the dreary wilderness in north-west America, between the Canadian lakes and the hilly range which divides Canada from the country on the Northern Pacific ocean. Its seeds contribute essentially to the support of the wandering tribes of Indians, and feed immense flocks of wild swans, geese, and other water-fowl, which resort there for the purpose of breeding. Productive as is this excellent plant, and habituated to an ungenial climate, and to situations which refuse all culture, it is surprising, says Pinkerton (Geog, vol. iij. 330.), that the European settlers in the more northern parts of America, have as yet taken no pains to cultivate and improve a vegetable production, which seems intended by nature to become, at some future period,

4733. The festuca fluitans resembles the zizania, and the seeds are used in Germany like those of Polish millet. Various species of panicum, hordeum, and bromus, afford tolerable supplies of edible seeds.

4734. The maize or Indian corn (Zea mays, fig. 192.) may be cultivated in this country in very dry warm situations, especially if the dwarf red-grained variety be adopted. The straw forms an excellent fodder, and the grain as a bread-corn is much liked by some, but though it abounds in mucilage it contains little or no gluten, and is not likely to be much used by those who can procure wheaten or even rye bread.

4735. The rice (Oriza sativa, fig. 562.) has been tried in this country, and if sown very early, would probably ripen its seeds. The hill variety, which does not require watering, would probably succeed best. But there is no inducement to cultivate this and other grains or seeds when they can be imported at so low a rate. We merely introduce them to record the resources of British agriculture in case of necessity. 4736. The buck-wheat (Fagopyrum) is vulgarly considered as a grain; and the canary grass (Phalaris) is a gramen cultivated for its seed; but neither being bread-corn grasses, we have classed them among manufactorial plants. (Chap. VIII. Sect. IV.)