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Rural School Leaflet 



Fig. 2. — Side panicle 



Parts of grain. — The oat grain can be separated into two parts, known 

 as the hull and the kernel. (See Fig. 4.) The whole is called a grain. 



The hull has no food value, but the kernel is very 

 nutritious. In making oatmeal the hull is first 

 removed and only the kernel is milled. Oats con- 

 stitute a valuable food for young growing animals 

 or for horses at hard labor, but they are not used 

 in fattening stock. 



Food value. — The food value of the oat grain 

 depends on the percentage of hull to kernel. 

 About 2 5 per cent of a good oat is hull, but a poor 

 oat grown in a bad season or on poor soil may 

 have as high as 40 per cent hull, (Determine the 

 percentage of hull in a sample of oats by first 

 weighing a small sample and then removing 

 the hull and weighing again.) 



Manner of growth. — Oats usually produce more 

 than one head from a single seed. As the farmers 

 say, the oats " stool," that is, branch at the ground and send up 

 several stems from each seed. When sown thickly, not more than two 

 heads are produced from a seed ; but if the seeding is thin and the soil 

 rich, as many as five heads may be produced from a single seed. 



Examine oat plants on various kinds of soil and see how many heads 

 are produced to each seed. 



Editor's note. — The oat crop in New York State is so important that 

 the teacher should take opportunity to discuss it whenever interest is 

 shown. A few test questions that can be answered from the foregoing 

 text will probably lead the girls and boys to think about the subject. 

 Place the questions on the 

 blackboard and have the older 

 pupils consult farmers in the 

 neighborhood and reference 

 books, before answering the 

 questions. 



Let one of the pupils place 

 on the blackboard drawings 

 from the illustrations (Figs. 

 I and 2), and find out how 

 many of the class have ever 

 noticed that some oats have 

 true-paniclcd heads and some side-panicled heads. Appoint a com- 

 mittee of older boys to gather material for the study of oats next year. 

 This will lead to observational work. 



Fig. 3. — S pikelets 



