146 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



Mr. Brewer, in his report on the cereals in the last census, remarks 

 upon the indefinite knowledge which we have of the compo.sition of oats 

 grown under varied conditions and the necessity of a hundred or more 

 analyses for an intelligent understanding of the effects of environment 

 on the plant. Of the samples which we have collected, 179 have been 

 analyzed without finding any marked peculiarities due to climatic con- 

 ditions, with the exception that the average of 18 samples from the Pa- 

 cific slope was lower in albuminoids and richer in fiber than the avjc rages 

 for other parts of the country. The hulls from the West contain more 

 ash than those from the East and more fiber, but are not markedly dif- 

 ferent in other ways, although, like the kernels, they are somewhat de- 

 ficient in albuminoids. As a whole this grain is the richest in oil and 

 albuminoids of all the cereals. 



Average composition of oata. 



Kernels. 



HuUs. 



Albaiuinoida.~ 



Fiber 



Oil 



Ash .. 



Water t. 



Per cent. 

 U. 31 

 1.3h I 



8.14 1 



2.15 I 

 0.93 1 



Per cent. 

 2.48 

 17.88 

 (*) 

 5.59 

 5.22 



* Not determined. 



The average of albuminoids for the different States varied from 16.09 

 for Ohio to 10.76 for Washington Territory, the latter locality sustaining 

 its reputation, gained with wheat, for poverty in nitrogen. 



The extremes in composition were as follows : 



Extremes in the composition of the kernels of oats. 



The highest percentage of albuminoids in the preceding figures was 

 over 1 per cent, higher than in any other determination ever made on 

 any cereal in this country, and the lowest is 2 per cent, higher than the 

 lowest for wheat. It is also interesting to observe that among so many 

 specimens, one hundred and seventy-nine, only three fell below 10 per 

 cent., four below 11 per cent, and twelve below 12 per cent. At the 

 same time only thirteen are above 17 per cent, and twenty-three above 

 16 5 so of one hundred and seventy-nine specimens all but twenty-eight, 

 or 84.1 per cent., are within the limits of 12 and 16 per cent., a rather 

 small variation, and as the averages for all the States and parts of the 

 country, except the Pacific coast, do not vary far from 14.3 per cent., 

 oats, as regards chemical composition, cannot be said to be very sus- 

 ceptible to the influence of their environment. 



The chief quality to judge oats by, therefore, is their weight per 

 bushel, which is an index of the proportion of kernel to husk, and the 



