OATS 



tution, as is usual with those who habitually overeat them- 

 selves, is delicate and unsound. 



No cultivated plant could exist for more than a season if 

 man did not look after it and protect it from its rivals and 

 weeds. Moreover, they are a curiously assorted lot. 



Wheat probably came from Asia Minor, Swedes from 

 Scandinavia, Mangelwurzel from the Mediterranean, and 

 Potatoes from Chile. Turnips and Carrots are indeed 

 native Britishers, though the original wild carrot or 

 turnip would never be recognized as such by any ordi- 

 nary person. 



The history of every one of them is interesting. The 

 Oat is the true Teutonic and Scandinavian grain, which has 

 more "fibre" than any other cereal. There is an inter- 

 esting passage in Froissart's Chronicles describing the com- 

 missariat of those hardy Scotch borderers who raided and 

 ruined the northern English counties whenever they felt 

 inclined to do so.^ They lived for the most part on the 

 cattle of their enemies, but each man carried a small sack of 

 oatmeal and a griddle, or iron plate, on which to make oat- 

 cake. So that each man supported himself. His little 

 rough pony also was quite able to look after itself. 



That hardy plant, the Oat (A vena sativa) can be culti- 

 vated as far north as 69.50° N. lat. It is a native of 

 Siberia and Western Europe. 



It was oatmeal that supported the Norsemen who con- 

 quered Normandy and England, and who even dominated 

 the Mediterranean. The Swedes of Gustavus Adolphus and 

 the Danes of Canute also lived mainly upon oatmeal and 

 porridge. It is true that in England oats are abandoned to 

 the horses, but those horses are the best in the world. 



* Or whenever they could do so successfully. {Publisher's note.) 



270 



