244 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



through the united operations of the insect race. How wonder 

 fully displayed, therefore, are the wisdom and goodness of the 

 Creator in so nicely balancing the destroyer and his parasitic 

 enemies, as to keep man, naturally prone to indolence, ever on 

 the alert ! and yet, when the countless hordes of noxious insects 

 fall like an irresistible plague upon his crops, that Hand which is 

 ever ready to befriend mankind arrests the scourge. Myriads of 

 parasitic insects are let loose, multiplying as their prey in 

 creases ; the threatening scourge passes over with less loss than 

 could have been anticipated : and in the succeeding year, to the 

 astonishment of the farmer, instead of the mischief being in 

 creased, not an insect enemy is to be seen.&quot; * 



2. OATS. Oats are cultivated largely in Great Britain. In 

 Scotland and Ireland, they are cultivated extensively for food for 

 the population ; and, when the meal is of the best quality, in 

 some forms in which it is cooked, it is not only palatable, but 

 extremely agreeable. Porridge is prepared merely by boiling it 

 in water, with some salt thrown in, until it reaches a proper con 

 sistence, and in this form is ordinarily eaten with milk. Brose 

 is prepared simply by scalding the meal with boiling water, and 

 throwing in a little salt. This is likewise eaten with milk. 

 Oatmeal cakes are made of oatmeal, and spread out to a thin 

 ness not exceeding a quarter of an inch, and baked to a crisp. 

 In many cases, I found a bitterness in the flour, which I appre 

 hended arose from the seeds of some weed having been ground 

 up with it ; but, with this exception, the porridge and the brose ; 

 when eaten with a plenty of cream and sugar, (a little, as I 

 thought, to the consternation of some of my Scotch friends,) was 

 a most agreeable dish. A coarse quality of meal, in such cases, is 

 preferred to that which is fine. It will not do to say that it is 

 not a nutritious substance. The allowance, formerly, of a Scotch 

 laborer was a peck of oatmeal per week, and two Scotch pints, 

 or four quarts, of milk per day ; and this comprehended the 

 whole of his subsistence. Where more hardy or more skilful 

 laborers are to be found ; where we are to look for a finer race 

 of people than the Scotch, more erect, more muscular, more 

 energetic, with more of physical or of intellectual power, I know 



* Curtis on Insects affecting Corn Crops. 



