HISTORY OF OATS 



313 



more rapidly than either. The export of both grain and oat- 

 meal has about trebled during five years, while wheat and maize 

 have about doubled. (189, 364) The principal importers of grain 

 are Great Britain and South Africa ; and of oatmeal, Great 

 Britain, Germany, Netherlands and South Africa. 



427. Commercial Grades. — The Illinois Board of Railroad and 

 Warehouse Commissioners recognizes the following classes and 

 grades of oats : 



White oats, Nos. i, 2, 3 and 4. 

 White clipped oats, Nos. i, 2 and 3. 

 Oats, Nos. I, 2, 3 and 4. 



In the Chicago market much the larger proportion of oats 



dealt in are white oats, and usually more of No. 3 than No. 4, 



more of No. 4 than No. 2, while seldom does a car grade No. i. 



The following are the rules for grading white oats : 



" No. I white oats shall be white, sound, clean, and reasonably free from other 

 grain. 



" No. 2 white oats shall bs seven-eighths white, sweet, reasonably clean and rea- 

 sonably free from other grain. 



" No. 3 white oats shall be seven-eighths white, but not sufficiently sound and 

 clean for No. 2. 



" No. 4 white oats shall be seven-eighths white, damp, badly damaged, musty, or 

 for any other cause unfit for No. 3." 



The rules for white clipped oats are identical for similar grades, 

 except No. i white clipped oats must weigh thirty-six pounds ; No. 

 2, thirt}'-four pounds, and No. 3, twenty-eight pounds to the meas 

 ured bushel, while white oats are not graded by weight. The 

 rules for grading oats are identical with those for white oats, 

 except where color is indicated it reads " mixed oats." 



III. HISTORY. 



428. History. — While the origin of the cultivation of wheat 

 can be traced with some probability to a warm climate, and that 

 of r}^e tc 1 cold climate, oats we find occupying an intermediate 

 position. They were not cultivated by the ancient Egyptians 



