24 



CHAPTER III 

 CEREALS (continued) 



OATS (Avena saliva). The oat plant sends up stems similar 

 to those of wheat, but its flowers are not arranged in the same 

 manner. Each stem ends in a cluster with many irregular 

 branches. 



The spikelets usually consist of two flowers, but the upper 

 one is generally undeveloped. The spikelet is joined to the 

 stem by a very slender stalk, so that it nods in the slightest 

 breeze. 



The glumes are large and quite enclose the flowers. Each 

 flower is surrounded by two pales, and on the lower pale, 

 a little above the middle, is a long awn which projects far 

 beyond the glume. 



Oats, such as we give to horses, are enclosed in their pales, 

 but the grains which are ground to make oatmeal have been 

 divested of them ; they still have, however, a skin or outer 

 coating, and the meal obtained by grinding them after this 

 coating has been removed is generally known as groats : it 

 corresponds to white wheaten flour. 



Oats rival, or even excel, wheat in nutritive qualities, and 

 they contain more oil than any other grain except maize. 



CULTIVATION. They need a cooler and moister climate than 

 wheat or barley, and can be grown in more northern lands. 

 Almost any kind of soil suits them, though they thrive best 

 on a rich one. 



SOURCES OF SUPPLY. In Scotland oats form the most charac- 

 teristic crop and they are grown as far north as the Orkneys. 



In Ireland, too, large crops are produced, while in England 

 the acreage under them is greater (or was in 1913) than that 

 under wheat. 



In our empire Canada stands first in the production of 

 oats ; they form, indeed, her second greatest crop, and she 

 stands fourth among the oat-producing countries of the world. 



