8 FARMER'S CALENDAR,[FEB

Black Oats are more hardy, and may be sown as early in February as the land will admit. Seed, from three to six bushels per acre; but I am in- clined to believe, the Oats thrown upon the sur- face by the harrows andlost, form the chief reason for such an increased quantity of seed. They are commonly harrowed.in, upon land ploughed in autumn, and would pay well for a seed plough- ing, which would bring the land toa finer tilth. If is only on fresh soils that Oats are expected to be very productive; in the general course of husbandry, they do not seem to share so much of the farmer’s attention as his other crops, never receiving the benefit of manure.‘There is no doubt, however, but that Oats would pay well for manure, could it be spared, and that by such at- tention, even seven or eight quarters per acre might be obtained, which is nearly double the common product. In cheap times for wheat, such practice might be particularly eligible. Oats have been both dibbled and drilled in some few places, but thesuccess has not been well ascertained; the row culture of this grain, yet deserves further trial, for several obvious reasons: the Tartarian or Reed Oat, which produces such large quantities of long, husky corn, has been lately improved on the farm of a curious cultivator, by picking the seed, and sowing only the shortest and plumpest kernels. It may appear strange practice, but I have heard of Black Oats sown upon light land under furrow, and kept clean with the hoe, as a preparation for a wheat crop. PrasE—These are generally looked upon as a risk