OAT S.
AN ADDRESS
Delivered before a Meeting of the New Hamp¬
shire Board of Agriculture, holden at
Epsom, in 1886.
BY JOSEPH B. WALKER.
Qj
MANCHESTER, N. H. :
PRINTED BY JOHN B
I 8 8 7 .
CLARKE
: MA
I
\
OATS.
“ A grain which in England is usually fed to horses, but in Scotland supports
the people.” — Dr. Johnson.
1. Nativity of oats.
2. Importance of the oat crop in the
United States.
3. Oat crop in New Hampshire.
4. Varieties of oats.
5. Best climate for oats.
6. Best soil for oats.
7. Chemical composition.
8. Fertilization.
9. Weight of oats and value.
10. Different methods of raising oats.
11. Accidents to oat crop.
12. Cutting and curing.
13. Profit in raising oats.
14. Oat meal.
15. Comparison of United States ce¬
reals.
16. Comparison of New Hampshire
cereals.
17. Agricultural progress in New
Hampshire.
I.
NATIVITY OF OATS.
Of the nativity of oats we have but an imperfect knowledge.*
The Bible, while it speaks of wheat and barley, says nothing of
oats. Indeed, I have found no mention of this grain previous to
the Christian era. Since then it continually appears in agricul¬
tural history, and with increasing frequency as we approach
modern times.
* “ It was cultivated by the prehistoric inhabitants of Central Europe, and is found in the
remains of the late habitations in Switzerland, but Prof. Heer states that it did not appear
until the bronze age and long after the appearance of wheat and barley.” — U. S. Census,
Vol. Agriculture, p. 493.
4
It may be considered, therefore, as a comparatively modern
grain, developed very likely from the plant bearing the name of
“wild oats” ( aveiia fatua). I may, perhaps, be pardoned the
remark that the sowing of wild oats by youthful hands has, at
times, resulted in a type of manliness whose excellence ranks as
high in the physical as do the finest varieties of avena sativa in
the vegetable world. I would not, however, be understood as
recommending the frequent sowing of such a crop by such hands.
We are told that that worthless Roman emperor Caligula (A.
D. 12-41) fed his favorite horse, Incitatus, on gilded oats out of
a golden cup. Suetonius says that “ for this favorite 'animal, be¬
sides a marble stable, an ivory manger, purple housings, and a
jeweled frontlet, he appointed a house, with a retinue of slaves
and fine furniture, for the reception of such as were invited in the
horse’s name to sup with him. It is even said that he intended
to make him consul.” However valuable or cheap the horse
may have been, he was, without any doubt, the superior of his
master. Nevertheless, the folly of the latter has preserved for us
the fact that oats were known in Roman agriculture at that
remote period, but we have traced them no further.
II.
IMPORTANCE OF THE OAT CROP IN THE UNITED STATES.
Oats rank third in importance among our American cereals.
The crop of 1879 was 4°7>859,999 bushels. They grow in almost
all sections of the United States, from the southern frontier of
Texas to the northern line of Oregon, and from the eastern side
of Maine to the swamps of southern Florida. Indeed, their
northern line of culture extends far beyond our Canadian frontier
up to the great peninsula of our arctic territory of Alaska. In
Europe they thrive luxuriantly in all parts of Ireland and Scot¬
land. They are at home in Norway, Sweden, and all the north¬
ern countries of that continent. Their northern limit is con¬
terminous with that of rye and barley, reaching up to and even
within the arctic circle.
5
III.
THE OAT CROP IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
We should expect, therefore — as in fact we do — to find this
cereal flourishing in this cold state of ours. If we cannot com¬
pete with Florida in the production of oranges and bananas, we
can beat her and all the other Southern states in raising oats.
The oat crop, which has always been an important one in New
Hampshire, is very largely a northern crop. The yield south of
the Ohio River ranges from less than ten up to twenty-five bushels
per acre. North of this line it varies from twenty-five up to
sixty, seventy, and even ninety bushels. The amount of oats
raised in 1879 north of the thirty-ninth parallel of latitude was
over three hundred and sixty-three millions (363, 020,399) of
bushels, while south of it the crop amounted to less than forty-
five millions (44,818,600). More than one half of all the oats
raised in the United States grow where the July temperature is
from 70° to 750, and only about one quarter (27.7 per cent)
where it is from 75 0 to 8o°.
The seventeen Northern states — Connecticut (27.52), Maine
(28.76), Massachusetts (31.23), Michigan (33-93), Minnesota
(37.87), Nebraska (26.18), New Hampshire (34.51), New Jersey
(27.00), New York (29.79), Ohio (31.49), Oregon (28.92),
Pennsylvania (27.34), Rhode Island (28.58), Vermont (37.59),
Illinois (32.24), Indiana (25.02), and Iowa (33.57) — gave in
1879 an average yield per acre of 36.79 bushels, while the seven¬
teen Southern states — Alabama (9.36), Arkansas (13.33), Cali¬
fornia (26.85), Florida (9.76), Georgia (9.06), Kansas (18.77),
Kentucky (11.35), Louisiana (8.56), Maryland (17.75), Missis¬
sippi (9.87), Missouri (21.34), North Carolina (7.67), South
Carolina (10.39), Tennessee (10.08), Texas (20.56), Virginia
(9.47), and West Virginia (15.04) — gave a yield of but 13.48
bushels.
In 1849 New Hampshire raised
In 1859 “ “ “
In 1869 11 “ “
In 1879 “
973,381 bushels.
r,329,2I3 “
1,146,451 “
1,017,620 “
6
or about one fourth of one per cent of the whole crop of this
country.
During the year last mentioned the crop occupied 29,485 acres,
and yielded a return of 34.51 bushels per acre.
THE OAT CROP IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
The following table gives the number of acres devoted to this
crop in each county, the quantity raised in each, and the product
per acre : —
OATS 1879.
COUNTIES.
Acres.
Bushels.
Bushels
per acre.
Belknap .
1,149
33,941
29+
Carroll .
1,381
35,227
25+
Cheshire .
2,535
90,774
35+
Coos .
5,666
228,698
40+
Grafton .
9,7i9
360,902
.37+
Hillsborough .
1,772
49,441
28T
Merrimack .
2,692
75,039
27+
Rockingham .
i,i55
26,572
23+
Strafford .
520
12,546
24+
Sullivan .
2,896
104,480
36+
Whole state .
29,485
1,017,620
Av. 34-51
It appears by this that the largest amounts were raised in Graf¬
ton and Coos, and the smallest in Rockingham and Strafford, the
two first named having produced 589,600 bushels, more than one
half (57 per cent) of the entire crop of the state, the former
raising thirty-seven and the latter forty bushels to the acre ;
while the two last named produced but 39,118 bushels, raising,
respectively, the first twenty-three and the last twenty-four bushels
per acre.
IV.
VARIETIES OF OATS.
There are four general kinds or classes of oats in cultivation,
each of which has marked characteristics. These are very easily
distinguished from one another, and are : —
7
i. The Class Avena Sativa (Fig. i), which embraces all those
varieties in which the seed branches shoot out from the stalk on
all sides and form a symmetrical and rounded top. This class is
familiar to us all, and has a stalk varying in height, according to
culture, soil, and climate, from one to four feet.
2. A class not common with us, Avena orientalis (Fig. 2), in
wh ch the seed branches shoot out from one side only of the stem
8
and form a kind of mane, resembling somewhat that upon a
horse’s neck. Hence the name of horse-mane oats which this
class sometimes bears. It is a bearded oat, and more hardy than
that first mentioned. It has a seed which is long in proportion
to its size, and grows readily on poor soil, flourishing where the
former would not live. It is sometimes called the Tartarean oat.
It makes a good food for horses, but is not a desirable kind to
grind into meal.
Fig. 2.
9
3. The naked oat (Fig. 3), Avena nuda, which bears its seeds
loose in the surrounding husks. It is small, and has been con¬
sidered a degeneration from the common oat. It is common in
Austria, where its flour is considered important as a food for
invalids.
1
Fig- 3-
4. The walking oat, Avena sterilis , whose seeds are inclosed
in stiff, hairy husks, each having a long, hygrometric awn twisted
often closely upon itself when dry, but which, upon absorbing
moisture from dew or rain, slowly uncoils, and in that act imparts
to the seed a movement over the ground and into any fissures
which may chance to be open to receive it. From this character¬
istic it often has an animated appearance, and is perpetuated by
self-planting. It is valuable only as a curiosity, and may doubt¬
less be found in the seed stores by any one wishing to test its
peculiar qualities.
Whether these four classes are distinct species, I will not un¬
dertake to say. They certainly possess marked and distinct char¬
acteristics. It is with the first that we are particularly concerned,
and to this I shall largely confine what I may say upon the sub¬
ject now under our consideration.
There is another division of oats into white, black, and dun,
the latter being probably a hybrid from the two first. There is
also another still into winter and spring oats. But it will hardly
pay us to tarry to dwell upon these.
The number of different varieties under these general classifica¬
tions are very numerous, particularly in oat-growing countries.
10
In his report upon British agriculture, made nearly fifty years
ago, the Rev. Henry Coleman states that he found no less than
fifty distinct varieties in the museum of the Highland Agricul¬
tural Society. Mr. John C. Morton, in his Cyclopedia of Agri¬
culture, presents a list of as many, with accompanying descrip¬
tions of a part of them. This is as follows, viz. : —
cultivated oat [Avena Sativa), white species.
1. Potato.
2. Sandy.
3. Hopetown.
4. Early Angus.
5. Sheriff.
6. Barbachlan.
7. Cumberland Early.
8. Friesland or Dutch.
9. Old Poland or Tam Finlay.
10. Dyock or Davidson’s.
11. Flemish.
12. Kildrummy or Halkerton.
13. Siberian Early White.
14. Strathallan Irish or Earish.
15. Late Angus.
16. Gray Angus.
17. Drummond.
18. Capar Grange or Grange of Both-
19. Blainslie. [ric.
20. Georgian.
21. Early Kent.
22. New Early Essex.
23. Blue Major.
24. Malbiehill.
25. London Dun.
26. Danish.
27. Poland.
28. Three-grained.
29. Agyleshire.
30. Cleland.
31. Lancashire Witches.
32. Tuscany Early.
33. Church’s or Churrick’s.
34. Hanquiside.
cultivated oat [Avena lativa), black, dun, or red-colored and
PARTI-COLORED SPECIES.
35. Common or Old Black.
36. Common Dun.
37. Winter Dun.
38. Brown or Archangel.
39. Red Essex.
40. Orleans Early Brown.
cultivated OAT [Avena Orientalis), white species.
41. Common White Tartarean. | 42. Early White Tartarean.
cultivated oat [Avena Orientalis ), BLACK species.
43. Early Black Tartarean.
WILD OAT [Avena Fatua), OCCASIONALLY CULTIVATED FOR MAKING
OAT HAY.
44. Common Wild. | 45. Marked Bearded.
*46. Short.
A vena Brevis.
naked OAT (Avena Nada)y not cultivated.
47. Common Naked. | 48. Small Naked.
Danthonia Strigosa.
49. Bristle-pointed.
Avena Stenlis , occasionally grown as a curiosity.
50. Animal or Fly.
Still another division of oats is frequently made, designated as
early and late oats, one little regarded by the average farmer, but
not unfrequently of great importance to him. If summer droughts
are common in his locality and must be avoided so far as may be,
to secure a successful crop, he had better secure varieties matur¬
ing in the briefest periods, and sow them as early as practicable,
thereby making sure to his crop the moisture which the spring
and early summer are likely to afford. The early varieties are also
best adapted to lands which cannot be worked until late and
afford an abridged growing period. Such lands will often give
good crops of early oats, while they would be quite unlikely to
mature crops of the later varieties.
If droughts are not anticipated and the growing season is of
good length, the late varieties will generally be preferable. As in
the case of Indian corn, the farmer must suit his seed to the
climatic character of his locality.
V.
BEST CLIMATE FOR OATS.
The fact that more than half of our oat crop should have
grown in the two most northern counties of the state is a marked
one, and suggests some inquiry as to the climatic preferences of
oats.
The best authorities all agree that this grain delights most in a
cool, moist atmosphere of pretty equable temperature. Some of
the best oats of Europe are raised in Ireland and Scotland, where
cool weather and much dampness prevail during the growing
12
season. While England is not warm enough to mature Indian
corn, most parts of it are too dry and warm to produce as good
oats as are produced in Scotland. The heaviest oats and the best
come from high latitudes and moist localities. Four fifths of our
oats are raised where the spring and summer rainfall is from fif¬
teen to twenty-five inches.
If to a moist climate there be added a high temperature, the
rapidity of growth would doubtless be hastened, a coarser straw
would be produced, and, possibly, larger and heavier seeds of
high quality- Further experimentation, however, is necessary to
settle this last point. Thus far the best oats, either for cattle feed or
for meal, have been found in countries having a cool summer cli¬
mate. Where dry and hot summers prevail, subject to droughts,
the oat crop does not attain a maximum yield or quality of
either seeds or straw. * The latter is likely to be short and thin ;
the former to be few and of light weight.
VI. '
BEST SOIL FOR OATS.
While oats grow upon all kinds of soil, from sand to clay, they
flourish most upon moist soils well pulverized and fairly en¬
riched. One year with another, heavy oats cannot be raised on
light and dry soils. Sooner or later the crop will languish, and
the yield of straw and grain will both be light.* To be sure, the
farmer must use such soils as he has, and if they are but indiffer¬
ently adapted to this crop, he must seek new seed pretty often
from cooler ground and climate. By this means he can maintain
a higher standard of weight than he will be able to do by sowing
continually seed of his own raising. If one aims for maximum
crops of oats of high quality, he must seek them on moist, loamy
ground and under such circumstances as. will secure uninterrupted
growth during the whole season from sowing to harvest.
*A little experience of my own during the past season illustrates this remark. My oat
crop was raised upon a piece of land some sixty rods long, whose surface lay in slight alternate
hollows and ridges running square across it. The former were moist all the while the crop was
growing, but the latter, catching every ray of the sun and opposing every passing breeze, were
dry, and became quite so during one or two periods of sharp drought. The consequence was
that while the crop as a whole measured up thirty-six bushels to the acre, the hollows gave
double the amount of straw and grain given by the ridges
13
If you will allow me to quote from my own experience, I will
say upon this point that the highest yield of oats I have any
record of having raised upon my farm was fifty-eight bushels to
the acre. About the same time a neighbor of mine, on land very
like my own, and not eighty rods distant, was wont to get ninety
bushels with no better culture.* This fact simply shows that in
the case of oats, as in that of grass, corn, and other crops, partic¬
ular soils have special aptitudes for particular crops, and that it is
for the farmer’s interest, so far as he can, to raise his oats on such
of his soils as are best adapted to their production.
VII.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION.
The following table of the chemical compositions of oats,
Indian corn, and rye shows at a glance the comparative feeding
value of each of these. The calculations, which have been made
water-free, are taken from the United States Census of 1880 : —
GRAINS.
Oats (average of 20 analyses)
Indian Corn (8-rowed Flint) . .
Rye (New Hampshire variety) .
Oat Straw (water-free) ....
Rye Straw (water-free) ....
Wheat Straw (water-free) . . .
Corn Fodder (white Flint field-dried)
Ensilage (corn fodder from Mass.)
rG
in
<
Albuminoids (pro¬
tein).
Fiber.
Carbohy d r a t e s
(Starch, Gum,
etc.)
ri
3- 29
12.76
10.07
68.31
5-57
1.65
13.86
2.61
76.30
5-58
2.12
13.24
2-34
80.65
1.65
2.07
2.63
68.96
30.19
1-15
9.18
7.88
39-08
40.82
3-°4
3-44
2.38
40.48
50.96
2.74
5*13
7-57
33-o6
52.49
i-75
6.47
7.00
37.08
46.48
2-95
From these figures it appears that the percentage of albumi¬
noids in oats is 1.10 less than in corn, and .48 less than in rye.
* Mr. George M. Smith, of Stark, showed the writer of this paper a bin of oats which he
raised in 1886, and which yielded one hundred and twelve bushels per acre and weighed
forty pounds per bushel.
14
Also that the percentage of carbohydrates is 7.99 per cent less
than in corn, and 12.34 less than in rye; while the comparatively
worthless fiber is almost four times as great in oats as in either of
the other two.
It also appears that the percentage of albuminoids in oat straw
is 5.25 per cent less than in rye straw, .25 per cent greater than
in wheat straw, and 4.94 per cent less than in corn fodder. While
the comparative values of these grains may agree with our expe¬
rience in their use, those of their straws will generally awaken
surprise.
Now, let us look a little further and see what are the compara¬
tive requirements of each of the three cereals, oats, corn, and
rye. According to Mr. Joseph Harris, every thousand pounds
(air-dried) of oats and of oat straw contain
Pounds of Nitrogen.
In grain 19.2
In straw 5.6
24.8
Pounds of Potash.
Pounds Phos. Acid
4.4
6. 2
8.9
I.9
13-3
8. 1
and that a crop of fifty bushels of oats (weighing thirty-two
pounds per bushel) and one and a half tons of straw per acre will
require a supply of 50.50 pounds of nitrogen, 36.54 pounds of
potash, and 16.74 pounds of phosphoric acid from each acre.
These, at the common prices of twenty cents a pound for
nitrogen, four for potash, and eight for phosphoric acid, will
amount to $12.90.
The crop, at forty-five cents a bushel for the oats and ten dol¬
lars a ton for the straw, will come to $37.50, leaving to pay for
labor, etc., a balance of $24.60.
But it will be really greater than this, as the atmosphere and
the soil will supply a considerable percentage of the plaat food
required. Theoretically, this statement is not far from correct.
Practically, it is not so, as we shall be unlikely to realize the fifty
bushels per acre. At thirty, however, the profit would be a fair
one.
I think it will be apparent upon any careful calculation, that a
good oat crop is a paying crop, but that, as in the case of every
15
other, the profit will vary with the return per acre. While fifty,
forty, or even thirty bushels will be profitable, twenty will hardly
pay the cost of raising, as the straw and grain will be as poor in
quality as the yield is in quantity. With oats as with all other
grains, maximum crops are generally the most profitable.
Oats have generally been considered an exhausting crop. How
they compare in this respect with corn can readily be determined
by comparing the requirements of the oat crop as just mentioned
with those of the corn crop.
Fifty bushels of oats and one and one half tons of straw require
50.50 pounds of nitrogen, 36.54 pounds of potash, and 16.74
pounds of phosphoric acid.
The product of an acre in corn, say sixty bushels of corn and
two tons of stalks, will require 72.96 pounds of nitrogen, 50.83
pounds of potash, and 41.02 pounds of phosphoric acid, or about
40 per cent more of nitrogen, about 30 per cent more of potash,
and a little over 100 per cent more of phosphoric acid.
So that a good corn crop is more exhausting than an average
oat crop. We must not, however, forget that the value of the
latter (oats) as figured above is $37.50 an acre, while the former
(corn), at eighty cents a bushel for the grain and $6.00 a ton for
the stalks, will amount to $60.00. Value for value, therefore,
they are about equally exhausting of the plant food in the soil.*
VIII.
FERTILIZATION.
The fertilization of an oat crop is a matter attended with some
embarrassment. Too rich a soil will give an undue weight of
straw without a corresponding yield of grain. Too poor a soil
can afford only a scant crop of light straw and light grain. In
* This will appear from a simple comparison of the value of the nitrogen, phosphoric acid,
and potash in these two crops with the value of the crops.
Their value in 60 bushels of corn and 2 tons of stalks is $19.92
“ 50 “ oats ” 2 “ straw is 13.72
Value of corn crop as stated above . 60.00
“ oat “ “ . 37-5°
In other words, the value of the fertilizers in the corn crop is thirty-three and one fifth per
cent of the value of the crop, and the value of the same in the oat crop is thirty-six per cent.
So that the value of soil exhaustion by an oat crop very little exceeds the same by a crop of corn.
16
the former case the oats are liable to lodge and fail to fill well.
In the latter the grain will stand upright, for the simple reason
that it is not heavy enough to fall down. In neither case is the
crop a satisfactory one.
The amount of manure required for a good crop of oats depends,
of course, upon the condition of the soil. This may be such as
to demand none at all. But this is but rarely the case.
An acre of good oats, say of one and one half tons of straw and
fifty bushels of grain, contains of
Nitrogen, 50.50 pounds, worth at 20 cents . $10. 10
Potash, 36.54 “ “ 4 “ . . 1.46
Phosphoric acid, 16.74 “ 8 “ 1.34
$12.90
If the ground and atmosphere are in condition to afford these in
the above amounts, it is evident that no fertilization will be
necessary. If, however, it requires enrichment, the amount of
this will depend upon the amount of plant food the soil unaided
can afford. My own experience suggests that five hundred pounds
of Bradley’s X. L. Phosphate or its equivalent, applied to an ex¬
hausted soil, will not suffice. Twice that amount, affording
Nitrogen ..... 28.66 pounds.
Potash ..... 18.50 “
Phosphoric acid . . . . 104.50 “
costing, at $35.00 a ton, $17.50, might, perhaps, be sufficient.
This would afford some six or seven times as much phosphoric
acid as the crop could appropriate, and about one half as much
nitrogen and potash as it must have. But whether sufficient or
not, this could hardly be considered an economical application.
Indeed, we may strongly suspect, until further experimentation
demonstrates the contrary, that highly soluble, artificial fertilizers
cannot be economically applied to an oat crop, except in formu¬
las devised for that crop. It is pretty intricate and uncertain
business for us common farmers to use exact percentages, partic¬
ularly upon soils the exact conditions of which we may be unable
to ascertain. I find, however, by rude experimentation on good
17
oat ground partially exhausted, that two cords and a half of good
horse-manure, costing $15.00, besides the expense of applica¬
tion, will secure under fair conditions a yield of from forty to
fifty bushels per acre. If others here present have arrived at
better results, I hope that they will report them before the close
of this meeting.
IX.
WEIGHT AND VALUE OF OATS.
Different varieties of oats are valuable in proportion to their
weights, which vary greatly, all the way from twenty to fifty
pounds per bushel. Some of the Scotch oats reach the latter fig¬
ure. So, also, do some of those raised by Oregon farmers.
In other words, the value of the oat kernel depends upon its
amount of meat, and the heavy varieties yield more of this, pro¬
portionately, than the light ones. Says a writer in the last Cen¬
sus Report: “ The strengthening or muscle-producing power of
oats depends upon the amounts of their albuminoids, and, as a
whole, the proportion of the albuminoids is greater in the heavy
oats than in the light ones, amounting t<^ but seven or eight per
cent in some of the lighter varieties analyzed, and rising to more
than fourteen per cent in some of the others.”
Therefore, as oats are sold virtually by weight, the greater the
weight of a crop, the greater, of course, will be its value.
The legal weight of a bushel of oats varies in the different states
all the way from twenty-six pounds in Maryland to thirty-six
pounds in Oregon.* It is at once apparent, therefore, that it is
for the farmer’s interest to raise the heaviest varieties which his
soil and climate will allow. In comparing different crops, the
comparison should be between different weights rather than quan¬
tities raised upon equal areas.
Whenever the producer finds his oats growing lighter, he may
*The number of pounds required by statute in some of the different states and territories to
make a bushel of oats is as follows: In Maryland, 26; in Maine, New Jersey, and North
Carolina, 30; in California, Connecticut, Dakota, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New
Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ver¬
mont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, 32 ; in Nebraska, 34 ; in Montana and Utah,.
35 ; in Oregon and Washington, 36.
It appears, therefore, that 32 pounds is the general requirement, twenty-six out of the
thirty-five states above named requiring that number.
18
be sure that it is time to be changing his seed for a heavier
variety from a more favorable region ; just as the vegetable or
truck farmers on the irrigated lands in the vally of the Po intro¬
duce new seeds as fast as their products deteriorate, and thereby
maintain their standard.
X.
DIFFERENT METHODS OF RAISING OATS.
During the last thirty years I have tried several of the more
common methods of raising oats, to all of which experience sug¬
gests objections of more or less importance.
I. I began by including oats as the second crop in the rotation
prevailing in my locality, viz., corn the first year, oats the sec¬
ond, and grass the following six ; upon sod ground broken for
the first crop, and manured with ten cords of stable-manure per
acre. Two serious objections to this method were soon developed.
First , the oats, owing to an excess of fertilization, grew very
i
rank, giving a heavy, weak straw which was sure to cripple or
lodge before time of harvest. You all know what the cutting of
a piece of heavy, lodged oats means — much slow, tedious labor,
unsatisfactory stooks, and an amount of coarse straw of inferior
quality, out of all fair proportion to the yield of grain.
Second. Seeding down to grass with this crop was found objec¬
tionable. The catch was unsatisfactory, owing partly to the
shading and smothering of many of the tender grass stalks in their
infancy, and partly to their entire destruction upon the spots oc¬
cupied by the stooks during their period of drying. This method
was therefore abandoned.
II. I next resorted to the other extreme, and sowed oats with¬
out manure upon exhausted sod land broken up the previous fall.
A few years’ experience demonstrated fully that a condition of
soil which will not produce a good crop of grass will fail to afford
a satisfactory yield of oats. This method, after a few trials, was
also abandoned.
III. It had become apparent that when one has an individual
on his hands who cannot live satisfactorily with any others, he
had best be provided for by himself. Of late years I have culti¬
vated oats as a special crop, and had better success.
19
My oats are now raised upon sod ground broken up in the fall,
and in the following spring thoroughly pulverized and manured
with two and one half cords of good stable-manure per acre or its
equivalent, either plowed or harrowed in according to its fine¬
ness. In either event it is thoroughly disseminated thoughout
the seed bed. On my ground, this amount of manure, yielding
about twenty-seven pounds of nitrogen, twenty-six of phosphoric
acid, and thirteen of potash, added to the natural fertility of the
soil, has sufficed. Upon this, oats are sown by a seed -sower at
the rate of three and one half bushels per acre, and rolled in.
They have been found to lodge far less than when cultivated as
first stated, and give a fair return. My crop the past season, which
encountered several short droughts, was raised upon ground con¬
sisting of dry ridges and moist intervening hollows. The latter
probably gave something over forty bushels to the acre : the for-'
mer, less than thirty. The piece as a whole measured up at
thrashing just thirty-six bushels to the acre. This rather moder¬
ate crop was due in part to the unsuitableness of portions of the
land for an oat crop. To the remark that one should not raise
oats on such land, it may be said in reply that the farmer must
use for his crops such land as he has.
I am aware that this method is open to criticism. My old
neighbor, Mr. Richard Bradley, now dead, after a prolonged life
of active experience and observation, was wont to say that he had
never met but three perfectly honest men in his life, and that one
of those was not quite honest. So of this last method, I would
say that it is not quite satisfactory, but it is the best I have yet
attained unto. Some of you, very likely, have got further on
towards perfection in this work, and I hope we may hear from you
in a few moments. Of this, however, I feel sure, that maximum
crops of oats of the best qualities require, besides good culture,
either a moist soil or a damp climate, and that they prefer both.
Early sowing — say from the last part of April to the first part of
May in the central part of this state — of early varieties will secure
early maturity of crop, and help towards an escape from rust. A
good seedbed will promote rapid growth, and invite the rain and
moisture to penetrate the soil, thereby rendering assimilable the
plant food in the ground, and the maintenance of an uninter¬
rupted growth.
20
There is sometimes an advantage in sowing, instead of one, a
mixture of several kinds of oats maturing at or very near the same
time. This comes mostly from the dissimilar habits of different
varieties. Some shoot up in single stalks at considerable dis¬
tances from one another. Others produce several stalks from
each seed, and cover the ground more densely. If this be in good
condition, the yield of grain on a given area is generally gov¬
erned a good deal by the number of stems. These, too, when
standing thick, help support one another, and are better able to
resist the force of wind and rain. Thick sowing, also, in a meas¬
ure, shields the ground from the sun’s rays and prevents rapid
evaporation of the soil’s moisture.
This has not been a common practice with us, but the expe¬
rience of foreign farmers has been such as to commend it, and I
am satisfied that we shall do well to test it by our own.
The question as to the proper quantity of seed per acre for a
crop of oats has given rise to much discpssion, and opinions and
practices* have been various, ranging all the way from the ex¬
tremes of from one to eight bushels. The object sought is to
fairly cover the ground with the growing crop, and a moment’s
reflection must convince any one that the quantity should vary
with the variety sown and the condition of the ground. If it be
one which sends up few stalks, more seed will be needed than if
it be a kind which produces many. At the same time it is use¬
less to over-seed land in low condition in the hope of getting a
good crop by an undue number of stalks.
It is impossible, therefore, to establish any rule of universal
application. The cultivator must study surrounding conditions,
and adjust the quantity of seed to these as well as he can. Com¬
mon sense and personal experience will generally guide a man
aright. After successive trials every season for the last thirty
years, I have found that most of my lands require a seeding of
about three and one half bushels per acre. Your better or poorer
lands than mine, as the case may be, may vary a good deal from
this quantity. One may just as well attempt to fix the quantity
of water to be mingled with a glass of toddy without regard to
the strength of the “ rotgut ” or the coating of the “toper’s”
stomach who is to swallow it, as to settle arbitrarily upon one
fixed quantity of seed for an oat crop.
21
/
With us, oats are usually sown by hand. Machine-sowing,
however, has been practiced to some extent during the last ten
years, and for various reasons is the preferable way. The work
is more quickly accomplished, and the quantity scattered can be
more accurately gauged during the progress of it. If the usual
area is not large, say not over eight or ten acres, a little hand-
sower, costing five or six dollars, is all the machine required, and
a man of ordinary capacity can learn its use in ten minutes. If,
however, the areas are extensive, and particularly if it be desira¬
ble to sow phosphates as well, a larger machine operated by
horse-power becomes necessary.
XI.
ACCIDENTS TO THE OAT CROP.
There are three serious accidents to which the oat crop is
peculiarly liable, viz., drought, rust, and lodging. Fortunately,
however, it is rarely subjected to all three of these in a single
season. If it be pinched with drought, it will not fall down, and
rust seldom deems it an object to strike a light crop. But
whether these come singly or by twos or threes, their presence
is objectionable, and should be avoided if possible.
1. Drought. — The best remedy I know of for drought is early
sowing, a favorable soil, a deep seed bed of fine tilth, manured
as highly as the crop will bear, and no higher. These conditions
will secure all the moisture the rains, dews, and fogs afford. The
crop will be well advanced early in the season so as to shield the
ground and prevent rapid evaporation, while its early maturity
will abridge the period of its exposure to the dry spells to which
the summer may be subjected.
2. Rust. — I do not know that we can do very much to pre¬
vent rust. The use of the very best and most healthy seed may
aid somewhat in this direction. In fact, anything favoring a
vigorous and rapid growth is a protection. In the vegetable as in
the human family, the individuals of most abundant vitality and
strength stand all exposures best. Early maturing oats are, as a
general thing, most likely to escape this pest of the oat field, and
such varieties should be carefully selected.
22
3. Lodging. — The means just suggested will be found in some
degree efficient for the prevention of the lodging of an oat crop.
The pretty frequent change of seed with a view to raising the
greatest weight of grain upon the least amount of straw may also
aid somewhat in the effort to keep the straw upright until it is
ready to cut. So, also, will particular care as to the sufficient
and least sufficient fertilization of the field. Too heavy manuring,
resulting in heavy straw, will be quite sure, by the aid of some
shower attended by wind, to lay the crop as flat as the lily-pads
of a muck-pond, thereby preventing the full development of the
heads and seriously diminishing the promised yield.* If one
would secure a maximum crop of oats he must give himself to a
meeting of the requirements of that one crop, and not treat it as
part of a rotation, or sacrifice its particular wants to those of
others coming before or after it.
XII.
i
CUTTING AND CURING.
The methods of curing oats will vary with the character of the
ground and crop. If the area be large, tolerably level, and
smooth, an oat crop may be most economically cut by a horse¬
power reaper and binder. If the reverse is the case, we must de¬
pend upon the sickle, the cradle, or the scythe. The high price
of labor has rendered obsolete the first of these. The difficulty
of finding men knowing how to use it is displacing the second,
and in many sections the mowing of this crop has already become
the general practice. This requires no skilled labor, and the crop
may be removed from the field in a short time after it is cut — an
important consideration if the land is to be seeded to grass the
same season. The straw, of course, will be left in a tangled con¬
dition, but this is an objection of little weight with persons who
have their oats thrashed by a machine. In that event all straw is
left in uniform condition after thrashing, whatever this may have
been before it was cut.
The time of cutting will vary, of course, according to the pur-
* It is the practice of some farmers to sow a small quantity of rye with their oats. The
stiffer stalks of the former are supposed to give additional support to those of the latter, while
a slight admixture of the smaller cereal rather increases than diminishes the value of the crop.
23
pose for which the crop has been raised. If designed for forage
simply, it should be cut while in the milk, and dried like hay
before it is housed. If grain be the main object sought, it should
stand until the straw is nearly dry, particularly if it is to be
housed soon after cutting. If it is to be bound in sheaves and
stooked, it may be cut while the piece is partially green, as the
grain and straw will both ripen in the shock. The scattering of
loose seeds over the ground, incident to the mowing process, will
also be largely avoided by early harvesting.
I have generally found that when land is sown to grass imme¬
diately after the removal of a mowed oat crop, a new growth
springs up and covers the tender grass plants. This, if thick, had
best be removed before the frost prostrates it, lest it smother them.
The binding and stooking of oats can be neatly and well done,
or done very poorly. If the sheaves be large and the stooks built
solid, the oats will dry imperfectly and slowly. In this case, if
the ground has been previously sown down to grass, this will be
killed upon the spots occupied by the stooks. The sheaves,
therefore, should be small, neatly bound, and so arranged as to
allow a free circulation of air around them. Care in this regard
will abridge the period of drying, the stooks will touch but a por¬
tion of the ground they cover, and the limited spots of grass
killed or retarded in growth will be restored by or before the
next season by the advances of the surrounding plants.
Stooks of various styles are common. The sheaves may be set
up a short distance apart and in a circle, all sloping toward a
common center, and neatly capped (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4.
24
Sometimes, when the oats are nearly dry enough for the barn,
and the weather seems permanently fair, the bundles may be left
unprotected (Fig. 5), or be set up a few together without any
cap, covered sometimes, perhaps, by a single sheaf laid horizon¬
tally upon the top of them (Figs. 6 and 7).
Fig. 6.
The more common way, however, and probably the better one,
all things considered, is to allow four bundles standing six inches
25
apart in a line to slant against four others similarly placed at an
inclination of some seventy-five or eighty degrees. After placing
Fig. 7.
a single sheaf at each end of this collection, the whole may be
covered with a neat cap formed of two inverted sheaves firiply
bound together (Fig. 8). The ways of making sheaves are various,
Fig. 8.
and the best are those which most perfectly secure the protection
and speedy drying of the grain.
26
XIII.
IS THERE ANY PROFIT IN RAISING OATS?
This question can generally be answered in the affirmative by
the New Hampshire farmer. The amount of profit must depend,
of course, upon the amount of his skill and energy, and upon the
character of his ground and his climate. Almost anywhere in
this state he can raise his oats at a less price than he can buy
them.
In the central part of the state, where labor is high, the expense
and return of an acre of oats on favorable ground are about as
follows, viz. : —
$3-°°
15.0°
5.00
2.40
3-5°
4.00
- $32.90
$22.50
15.00
- $37-5°
$4.60
If it be urged that this is a small profit, it may be said in reply
that on land worth fifty dollars an acre, this is a return of nine
and one fifth per cent. This surely ought to pay a satisfactory
interest and all reasonable taxes. The land is as safe an invest¬
ment as United States consols, and the crop pays far better.
Besides, by smart farming and favorable conditions, this return
may be a good deal increased, while the expense of it may be
somewhat diminished.
Expense .
Breaking up one acre of sod ground
2^/2 cords of stable-manure . . , .
Harrowing ground and applying manure
3*4 bushels of seed, sowing, and rolling
Cutting and housing .
Thrashing 50 bushels at 8 cts. .
Return.
50 bushels grain at 45 cts.
1 y2 tons straw at $10.00 per ton
Unexpended manure left in soil unknown
Profit .
27
XIV.
OAT MEAL.
That conceited, intolerant, altogether disagreeable, learned, and
glorious old fellow, Dr. Samuel Johnson, who lived in London and
made the best dictionary of the English language ever made, up to
his time ; and who was as little partial to a Scotchman as he was to
a clean shirt, defined oats as a “ grain which in England is gen¬
erally fed to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.’ ’
“Yes,” retorted the canny Scotch Lord Elibank, “and where
else will you see such horses and such men?” This badinage
occurred a hundred years ago, and oat meal has now become an
important article of food for “the people” of England and
America as well as of Scotland ; and, to one who likes it, none
can be more palatable, and certainly none can be more healthy.
We formerly got our oat meal from abroad, where the process
of manufacture consisted —
1. Of kiln-drying the oats, that the shells of the kernels might
the more readily be removed.
2. Of passing them through a mill where stones had been set
sufficiently far apart to remove these shells from the meats within
them by a kind of rolling process.
3. Of a sifting operation whereby the hulls and meats were
separated from one another. This done, the latter were ground
a second time, or not, according to the fineness of the meal de¬
sired, the coarser product being intended for porridge or “ par-
ritch,” as the Scotch call it, and the finer for cakes.
But we are now making as good oat meal in the United States
as is made in any part of Europe, and our processes of manufac¬
ture are not inferior to any in use abroad. Instead of restricting
themselves to two, our American millers turn out at least three
or four different kinds of meal, varying in fineness from the un¬
broken meats of the oat kernels down through successive grades
to that of flour.
The three specimens I here submit to your examination (Figs.
9, 10, and n) were found on sale at two of the Concord gro¬
ceries, and more, doubtless, could have been collected had the
28
effort been made. But these suffice to illustrate what I have
said, and persons wishing further information upon the subject
can easily procure it. The specimen marked 9 is called
“Pearled Oats,” and is the coarsest variety manufactured, con¬
sisting simply of the unbroken seed with the hull removed.
Those marked 10 and n are varieties in most common use.
Fig. 9.
Fig. 10.
Fig. II.
The best oats yield about one half of their weight of meal,
and from the meal standpoint are the most profitable for the
farmer to raise. Very likely from every other the same may
also be true.
The use of oat meal as an article of human food has largely
increased during the last fifteen years. Hardly a grocer in our
larger towns does not find it for his interest to keep a good supply
of it in variety for his customers. As in Dr. Johnson’s day, oats
is still “ a grain in England usually fed to horses,” but is no
longer restricted to these outside of Scotland. And, indeed, we
can but believe that were the old fellow now living, he would
29
daily fill himself as full of oat-meal porridge, and with as much
gusto, as he was wont to do with tea, when he had an opportunity,
from Mrs. Thrale’s teapot.
XV.
COMPARISON OF CEREALS IN THE UNITED STATES.
The whole number of our principal American cereals is but
six, viz.: Barley, buckwheat, corn, oats, rye, and wheat. Rice
is an important cereal, but its production is confined to but thir¬
teen states. The relative importance of these, based upon acre¬
age and production, is shown by the following table taken from
the United States Census Report of 1880 : —
TABLE.
GRAINS.
Acres.
Bushels.
Barley .
L997J27
43,997,495
Buckwheat .
848,389
11,817,327
Corn .
62,368,504
1.754,591,676
Oats .
16,144,593
407,858,999
Rye .
1,842,233
I9,83L595
Wheat .
35,430,333
459,483,137
It appears from this that in point of acreage Indian corn ranks
first, occupying nearly twice the area of wheat, and nearly four
times that of oats. If looked at from the standpoint of produc¬
tion, the same order prevails, the corn yield being almost four
times that of wheat and more than four times that of oats.
It is difficult to realize the significance of the figures in the
above table. If, however, we apply to them some large unit of
measurement it may aid us in that effort. The area of the oat
crop is 16,144,593 acres. Were the thousands of fields aggregat¬
ing this amount gathered in one and laid down upon New Eng¬
land, it would cover all of New Hampshire, all of Vermont, all
of Connecticut, all of Rhode Island, and lap over nearly a mil¬
lion (920,180) of acres on Massachusetts. A very respectable
field certainly as regards size. If the four hundred and eight
80
millions of bushels, equal to 497,587,978 cubic feet, which consti¬
tuted the oat crop of 1879, were collected in one rectangular pile
upon an area equal to that covered by the national capitol at
Washington, it would rise to a height of more than three thousand
feet, or six times that of the Washington monument.
XVI.
COMPARISON OF CEREALS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
The relative importance of oats among the cereals in New
Hampshire is seen by a glance at the following : —
TABLE.
GRAINS.
Acres.
Bushels.
Value.
Barley .
3,46i
77,877
$ 70,089
Buckwheat .
4,535
94,090
47,055
Indian Corn .
36,612
1,350,248
1,147,710
Oats .
29,485
1,017,620
457,929
Rye .
3, 212
34,638
54,513
Wheat .
11,248
169,316
169,316
88,559
2,743,789
$1,946,602
Of a total acreage of 88,559 acres devoted to cereals, 29,485,
or thirty-four per cent of the whole, are given to oats. Of a total
yield of 2,743,789 bushels of cereals, 1,017,620, or thirty-seven
per cent, were of oats. Of a total value of $1,946,602, the sum
of $457,929 attaches to the oat crop.
As regards acreage, production, and value of crop, oats in this
state stands second to corn only, a fact which suggests the climatic
adaptiveness of all parts of New Hampshire to the requirements
of this grain. While even corn, our leading cereal, flourishes
but indifferently in some sections, oats is at home in all. In the
valleys and along the streams ; upon the dividing ridges and table¬
lands ; at the level of the sea and three thousand feet above it ;
everywhere, indeed, where useful vegetation is possible, from In¬
dian stream to Massachusetts’s line, oats are a reliable crop. And
31
for it there is a constant demand, which the farmers of the state
but partially meet. Hundreds and hundreds of car-loads of oats
come in from abroad to supplement our own deficiencies.
That the farmers of New Hampshire can supply these, without
outside aid, there can be no reason to doubt. Our present aver¬
age yield is but thirty-four and a half bushels per acre. Most of
the varieties cultivated are of light-weights. Our oat acreage is
less than three per cent of our arable area. The bestowal of in-'
creased thought and energy upon this crop, a considerable in¬
crease of its acreage and a wise care in the selection of seed,
accompanied by an enterprising purpose to double it, would easily
lead to the attainment of this end.
XVII.
AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
But not only as respects the oat crop ought we, as New Hamp¬
shire farmers, to make advances, but along the line of all the
cereals as well ; indeed, of all the agricultural products with
which we have to do ; of the root crops and grass crops, of the
returns of our flocks and herds and dairies.
I have never despaired of the future of our New Hampshire
agriculture. I have seen the populations of many of our farm¬
ing towns diminishing year after year. I have seen farm after
farm given up first to pasturage and afterward to forest. I have
seen the product of many, still worked, growing less year by
year, yet I have ever been confident of our future.
In the development of this great nation thousands of our best
and ablest men and women have been called to other states to
assist in laying there the same foundations their forefathers had
helped to lay here. We have missed them, and their absence has
been felt severely. Still, our dear old commonwealth has yet
left to her sons and daughters just as good ; brains as active, eyes
as keen, arms as strong, hearts as noble and heroic. To despair
of our agriculture under the shadow of these fleeting clouds is
to yield to a fear unworthy of our lineage, and to confess to a
blindness as to what is transpiring all about us, of which we
should all be ashamed. For the temporary dullness in the move-
32
ments of the great interest to which we are devoted is but the
pause which always precedes transition, the preparation for a new
departure, the taking of breath for a rise to a higher plane of life
and enterprise.
During my agricultural life I have seen the mowing-machine
and reaper appear for the first time in our fields to displace the
scythe and cradle ; the wheel horse-rake, to substitute for tedious
toil a pleasant recreation ; the hoe and clumsy spike-tooth har¬
row, slow in their imperfect work, yield to soil-pulverizers
which do better work in half the time. I have had the pleasure
to welcome the advent of the tedder, the manure-spreader and
the seed-sower, which have changed the tedium of coarse labor
to pleasant occupation. And just now we are all rejoicing at the
coming of the sulky plow, upon which the farmer rides forth
alone in the morning, and, after a short day’s work, returns but
little fatigued, leaving behind him in his field two acres of in¬
verted sod as the result of his nine or ten hours’ work. By the
aid of this one implement he has broken up twenty-five per cent
more ground in a day than he formerly did, and at one third of
the expense. Surely, if any one has reason to bless the inven¬
tive genius which has done so much to increase the efficiency of
the machinery employed in his occupation, it is the farmer.
But we must not forget that there is a moral progress, of far
more value than any of a physical nature, which directs the latter
and stimulates its activity. Our New England character has
doubtless been a most important power in moulding for good the
successive longitudinal belts of new states which from one decade
to another have come into being upon our western frontier. Yet,
the strength of this has been moral mainly, based upon intelli¬
gence, correct ideas of religious liberty and restraint ; clear con¬
victions of right and wrong and of the personal obligations due
from the individual to his Creator, to his neighbor, and to the
state.
The strength of the state and the prosperity of its industries
rest clearly upon the character of its citizens. It was their moral,
and not their physical, power which enabled that little band of
conscientious, liberty-loving men and women up in the valleys of
the Waldensian Alps to defy for ages the assaults of the papal
33
power, until a united Italy called them down to the plains to es¬
tablish everywhere, from the head-waters of the Po to the Strait
of Messina, the great principles which they had preserved in
purity to the appointed time.
Let us remember that we are not farmers only, but citizens as
well, and a part of the state. The time is fast passing and, it is
to be hoped, forever, when a tyrannical ruler can boast, “The
state, it is I.” The time is already here when its free-born citi¬
zens can say, “We are the state!” Let us read again, and
thoughtfully, the words of Sir William Jones : —
“ What constitutes a state ?
Not high raised battlements or labored mound,
Thick wall or moated gate ;
Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned ;
Not bays and broad armed ports,
Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;
Not starred and spangled courts,
Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride.
No ! men, high-minded men,
With powers as far alxjve dull brutes endued,
In forest, brake, or den,
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude ;
Men who their duties know,
But know their rights, and knowing dare maintain.”
3
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