, therefore, manures
which are readily available, and their demands on the different
fertilising ingredients are very similar to barley. The manures which
will pay best, consequently, for oats, are nitrate of soda, used as a
top-dressing, and superphosphate of lime, applied along with the seed.
Probably upon no other crop is nitrate of soda so safe and so effective
as upon oats. In some respects, however, oats differ strikingly from
barley.

_A very hardy Crop._

In the first place, oats are a much hardier crop than barley or wheat.
They can grow on a wonderfully wide range of soil, and under
comparatively adverse circumstances, both of climate and situation. They
are better suited for a damp climate such as our own than a warm
climate. They may be described as of all crops the least fastidious, and
will flourish on sandy, peaty, or clayey soils. While this is so, they
show a preference for soils rich in decayed vegetable matter. It is for
this reason that they flourish so well on soils freshly broken up from
pasture, and are often the first crop to be grown on such soils.

_Require mixed Nitrogenous Manuring._

Stoeckhardt has found, in experiments on the manuring of the oat crop,
that they greedily absorb nitrogen during nearly the whole period of
their growth, and that, consequently, it is desirable to manure them
with a mixed nitrogenous manure which shall contain nitrogen, both in a
readily available form to supply the plant during the early stages of
its growth, and in a less available form for the later stages of
growth. He was of the opinion that in this way a continuous and
satisfactory growth of the crop would be promoted.

_Arendt's Experiments._

The oat-plant has been made the subject of many elaborate
investigations. Of these, those carried out by Arendt are the most
elaborate and best known. In these experiments the composition of the
oat-plant at different stages of growth was investigated. It was found
that the oat-plant increased during the whole period of its life, and
that two-thirds of the nitrogen absorbed was absorbed during the later
period of growth. It has since been shown, however, that the absorption
of nitrogen is very much influenced by circumstances. Indeed its
composition is peculiarly susceptible to the influence of manures, and
especially the influence of weather. Thus Arendt found that the
assimilation of nitrogen is checked by cold wet weather; while, on the
other hand,