80 ON VARIATIONS IN THE COMPOSITION OF OATS. 



The production of food in these instances also showed how 

 greatly good cultivation enables the yield of corn to be increased 

 in quantity, and, at the same time, that it becomes of greater 

 value. The composition of the oats produced upon each imperial 

 acre may be stated as follows : — 



Acreage yield of Oats under 



Good cultivation. Bad cultivation. 



lbs. lbs. lbs, lbs. 



Substances useful as food — 



2150 220 



Great as such variations as these are for the same extent of 

 land, we shall obtain even more accurate ideas of the differences 

 in the feeding value of the produce, by comparing the composi- 

 tion of one bushel of each growth : — 



o* 



Composition of one bushel of Oats 

 . grown under 



Good cultivation. Bad cultivation, 



lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs 

 Substances useful as food — 



Flesh-forming matter, ... 3 -i 



Fat and heat-producing matter, . 28 14| 



31 15 



Substances of little or no use as food — 



Cellulose, &c., . . . . 6^ 3| 



Mineral matter, .... 1 | 



Water, 5| 2| 



12 



Weight per bushel, . 43 22 



The influence exerted upon the quality and the yield of oats, 

 by the more or less perfect drainage of the land, was also ex- 

 amined. The produce of two fields, having soils of similar 

 character, and situated under similar conditions of climate, was 

 found to differ as follows : — 



The land, which had been properly drained, yielded 38 bushels 

 of oats per imperial acre, weighing 42 1 pounds per bushel, whilst 

 the undrained land gave only 26 bushels of oats, weighing 37 

 pounds per bushel. The chemical analysis of these specimens of 

 oats gave the following results : — 



