I was told to scatter these liberally in my youth (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
wild oats
'these liberally in my youth' is the definition.
The definition suggests an adverb but the answer is not.
'i was told to scatter' is the wordplay.
'to scatter' indicates an anagram.
'i'+'was'+'told'='iwastold'
'iwastold' anagrammed gives 'WILD OATS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for wild oats that I've seen before include "that rakes are used to sow?" , "These should be sown while you are young" , "Sow these cereals while you're young (4.4)" , "Grasses" , "These are usually sown in youth" .)